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(CNN) -- Roma captain Francesco Totti scored two late goals as his side beat Cagliari 2-1 to ensure the Serie A title race goes down to the last week.
But treble-chasing Inter Milan edged out Chievo 4-3 to hold a two-point lead going into the final round.
Andrea Lazzari gave Cagliari the lead with a 73rd minute strike from a free kick but Tottie soon had Roma level in the Stadio Olimpico with a neat turn and shot.
An 83rd minute penalty from Totti wrapped up three points in a dramatic turnaround.
Inter also lived dangerously at the San Siro after a late Chievo fightback led to a nervy finish for Jose Mourinho's men.
Thiago Motta's own goal gave the visitors the lead before Andrea Mantovani also put through his own net to see Inter level.
Esteban Cambiasso, Diego Milito and Mario Balotelli then scored further goals for Inter who were in total command until late strikes from Pablo Granoche and Sergio Pellissier for battling Chievo.
Inter must now beat lowly Siena in their final match to wrap up the title as they bid for a Champions League, Italian Cup and Serie A treble.
"We have a true final at Siena," said Inter's top scorer Diego Milito. "We have two days to rest and then we will prepare for this game."
AC Milan's poor end to the season continued as they were beaten 1-0 at Genoa.
Giuseppe Sculli's 56th-minute goal settled the match while Milan, who will finish third, had Mathieu Flamini sent-off in the closing moments.
The battle for the fourth place and final Champions League spot will also go to the last weekend after fifth-placed Palermo and fourth-placed Sampdoria drew 1-1 in Sicily.
Samp went ahead against Palermo through a Giampaolo Pazzini penalty in the second half but Fabrizio Miccoli equalized from the spot as well with 20 minutes left.
Like Roma, they are two points adrift with a game remaining.
In other action on Sunday, Atalanta's relegation was confirmed with their 2-0 defeat at Napoli with two goals from Fabio Quagliarella.
Siena and Livorno were already down.
Juventus's 3-2 defeat at home to Parma continued their poor season with a record 14th Serie A defeat and the match was marred by crowd trouble.
The defeat ensures Juve will finish in seventh place and have to play in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League next season. | [
"What was the score in the match between Roma and Cagliari",
"Which team did Inter Milan beat to stay top of Serie A",
"Who suffered 14th defeat?",
"who was defeated",
"who beat chievo"
] | [
"2-1",
"Chievo",
"Juventus's",
"Juventus's",
"Inter Milan"
] | question: What was the score in the match between Roma and Cagliari, answer: 2-1 | question: Which team did Inter Milan beat to stay top of Serie A, answer: Chievo | question: Who suffered 14th defeat?, answer: Juventus's | question: who was defeated, answer: Juventus's | question: who beat chievo, answer: Inter Milan |
(CNN) -- Russia and South Ossetia have strongly denied news reports that a motorcade carrying the presidents of Georgia and Poland came under fire, calling the claims "a provocation" meant to destabilize the region.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, said there were "unpredictable people" in the area.
"This is a real provocation," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists on Monday. "It is not the first time that such things have happened: First they mastermind everything themselves and then accuse the Russian or the Ossetian side."
Eduard Kokoity, president of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, added: "Today's event was a deliberate provocative act of the Georgian and Polish presidents targeted at regional destabilization."
Kokoity made his comments to the Russian news agency, Interfax.
The motorcade, carrying Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Polish President Lech Kaczynski, was passing a checkpoint near Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region -- site of intense conflict between Russian and Georgian troops in August -- when shots were fired Sunday, according to the Georgian Interior Ministry.
The motorcade was not hit and there were no injuries, the Georgian Interior Ministry said. No other shooting was reported in the area.
The shots were fired from Russian-controlled territory as the motorcade passed, the ministry said.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin denied the gunfire came from its army positions.
"This is one more instance of wishful thinking on the part of Georgia," he told reporters.
After the incident, Saakashvili told reporters he would not have taken his Polish counterpart into danger intentionally and that the incident showed "you are dealing with unpredictable people" in the disputed area.
Kokoity, the South Ossetian president, countered that the Polish and Georgian presidents need to answer questions whether they informed European Union monitors of their trip.
Tensions have remained high in the area since fighting between Russian and Georgian troops broke out in August.
Georgia launched a campaign against South Ossetia, a Russian-backed separatist territory, on August 7. The following day, Russian tanks, troops and armored vehicles poured into South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian territory, Abkhazia, advancing into Georgian cities outside the rebel regions.
The two sides blamed each other for starting the conflict and have accused each other of a variety of offenses leading up to and during the fighting, including ethnic cleansing. | [
"what controlled territory were shots fired from?",
"Where does the ministry officials say shots were fired from?",
"Who denied involvement in shooting?",
"How many injuries were there?"
] | [
"Russian-controlled",
"Russian-controlled territory",
"Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin",
"no"
] | question: what controlled territory were shots fired from?, answer: Russian-controlled | question: Where does the ministry officials say shots were fired from?, answer: Russian-controlled territory | question: Who denied involvement in shooting?, answer: Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin | question: How many injuries were there?, answer: no |
(CNN) -- Russia announced Monday it might hold joint military maneuvers with Venezuela in the Caribbean, and the United States said it is scrapping a once ballyhooed deal with Moscow on nuclear technology.
The declarations come in the wake of increased tension between Russia and the United States over Russia's invasion last month of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a U.S. ally that aspires to join NATO.
Russian ships will make a port of call in Venezuela later this year and the two nations could hold joint naval exercises for the first time, both sides said.
Russia denied there was any link between Monday's announcement and the conflict in the Caucasus, although Russia has criticized U.S. support for Georgia, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has long antagonized Washington.
"This is a planned event unrelated to the current political situation and Caucasian developments," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Monday. "The exercises will not be targeted against any third party."
The agreement on the Russian visit to Venezuelan ports was reached long before the conflict in the Caucasus broke out, he said.
But he appeared to suggest Monday that Russia had proposed the joint naval maneuvers.
"If the Venezuelan side finds the proposal interesting and an agreement is reached, Russia and Venezuela may hold joint naval exercises in line with international practice," he said.
Several hours later, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington is canceling the proposed "123 Agreement" with Moscow, which would have cleared the way for more trade of nuclear technology, services and goods between the two countries.
He denied the pullout was directly linked to Moscow's actions in the Caucasus.
"Over a period of time, we've had some deep concerns about Russian behavior. And quite clearly the president has taken this action looking at the facts," he said.
Both countries had accepted the agreement and it was awaiting congressional approval.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned in an exclusive interview with CNN last week that Russia would not be pleased at the collapse of the 123 Agreement, which is named after a section of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
"This would effectively kill any possibility for our cooperation to promote the Bush-Putin initiative on nuclear nonproliferation -- which is important for the entire world," he said.
"As I said, it wouldn't be our choice, but if the United States does not want to cooperate with us on one or another issue, we cannot impose ourselves on Washington."
But experts say Congress was unlikely to have given the deal a green light, and that the White House was making the best of a bad situation.
"I think [the administration is] making a virtue out of a necessity" by pulling out, said Russia analyst Jon Wolfsthal of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, last week.
On the possibility of Russian-Venezuelan naval exercises, Latin America expert Wayne S. Smith warned against reading too much into the proposal.
"The Russians have complained about U.S. warships operating in the Black Sea, which is an area of intense interest to them. It would not be surprising if they returned the favor by having joint exercises in the Caribbean," said Smith, a 25-year foreign service veteran who ended his State Department career as chief of the U.S. Interest Section in Havana.
"It's a way of saying: 'Two can play at this game. If you think you can send ships into the Black Sea without response, you are mistaken.' "
But he said the mere fact of Russian ships operating in the Western hemisphere would not necessarily be dangerous.
"The act itself is not. Having naval exercises? Fine, as long as both sides take it for what it is. It's not a threatening gesture, it's a message."
Frank Mora, a Latin America expert at the National Defense University in Washington, said the announcement could be part of a complicated bargaining process, depending on whether relations improve between Moscow and Washington.
"Something tells me that soon enough something will happen | [
"Who downplays development?",
"What nations may hold joint naval exercises?",
"US And Russia have tensions over whom?",
"What is the source of US-Russian tensions?",
"What does Russian official deny a link to?",
"What are the Caucasian developments?",
"Who is downplaying development?",
"Who might hold joint naval exercises?",
"What do Russian officials deny?"
] | [
"Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko",
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"former Soviet republic of Georgia,",
"Russia's invasion",
"between Monday's announcement and the conflict in the Caucasus,",
"conflict in the Caucasus",
"Russia",
"Russia",
"any link between Monday's announcement and the conflict in the Caucasus,"
] | question: Who downplays development?, answer: Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko | question: What nations may hold joint naval exercises?, answer: Russia | question: US And Russia have tensions over whom?, answer: former Soviet republic of Georgia, | question: What is the source of US-Russian tensions?, answer: Russia's invasion | question: What does Russian official deny a link to?, answer: between Monday's announcement and the conflict in the Caucasus, | question: What are the Caucasian developments?, answer: conflict in the Caucasus | question: Who is downplaying development?, answer: Russia | question: Who might hold joint naval exercises?, answer: Russia | question: What do Russian officials deny?, answer: any link between Monday's announcement and the conflict in the Caucasus, |
(CNN) -- Rwandan troops have crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo to prepare for a joint operation with Congolese forces against a Hutu militia, the United Nations said.
At least 800,000 people are thought to have died during 100 days of violence in Rwanda in 1994.
"We can tell you there are Rwandan soldiers here, but I cannot confirm the numbers," said Madnodje Mounoubai, spokesman for the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Rwandans will team up "with the Congolese forces," he said Wednesday. "The Rwandan forces are in a meeting with Congolese forces and the understanding is that in the meeting they are preparing a joint operation against the FDLR," or the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda.
The Rwanda News Agency reported that Rwanda has dispatched 1,917 soldiers.
Rwanda and Congo traditionally have been on different sides of the conflict in eastern Congo.
The struggle pits ethnic Tutsis, supported by Rwanda, against ethnic Hutu, backed by Congo.
The conflict is effectively an extension of the Rwandan genocide dating back to the early 1990s, when hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed in ethnic battles between minority Tutsi and majority Hutu.
According to a statement issued last week by the Rwandan government, the joint military operation is aimed at driving out the FDLR and former members of the Interhamwe militia, "remnants of those who spearheaded the 1994 genocide against Tutsis."
Michael Arunga, a Kenya-based spokesman for the World Vision aid organization, said his colleagues in Goma -- a city in eastern Congo -- told him that Rwandan troops arrived Tuesday morning in the village of Ishsha, outside of Goma.
Arunga said he had no knowledge of Rwandan troops being in Congo before.
A U.N. statement said the FDLR has been involved in clashes since late August mainly in North Kivu, "where the national army, the mainly Tutsi militia -- known as the CNDP -- and other rebel groups ... have fought in shifting alliances, uprooting around 250,000 civilians on top of the 800,000 already displaced by violence in recent years." See photos from Mia Farrow's trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo »
A report by a U.N. Security Council panel last month said Rwanda and Congo were fighting a brutal proxy war for territory and precious natural resources in eastern Congo, and all parties involved in the conflict were using execution, rape and child soldiers as tools of war.
The report, filed by a panel of U.N. experts, "found evidence that Rwandan authorities have sent officers and units of the Rwanda Defense Forces" into Congo in support of Congo rebel leader Laurent Nkunda's fighters.
CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report. | [
"Who are the Tutsis fighting?",
"What is the conflict an extension of?",
"Neighbors have been on different sides of what?",
"What did Rwanda News Agency report?",
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"Number of soldiers Rwanda has dispatched?",
"The conflict is an extension of what?",
"What conflict was considered genocide?"
] | [
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"ethnic battles between minority Tutsi and majority Hutu."
] | question: Who are the Tutsis fighting?, answer: ethnic Hutu, backed | question: What is the conflict an extension of?, answer: of the Rwandan genocide | question: Neighbors have been on different sides of what?, answer: conflict in eastern Congo. | question: What did Rwanda News Agency report?, answer: has dispatched 1,917 soldiers. | question: How many soldiers has Rwanda dispatched?, answer: 1,917 | question: Number of soldiers Rwanda has dispatched?, answer: 1,917 | question: The conflict is an extension of what?, answer: of the Rwandan genocide dating back to the early 1990s, when hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed in ethnic battles between minority Tutsi and majority Hutu. | question: What conflict was considered genocide?, answer: ethnic battles between minority Tutsi and majority Hutu. |
(CNN) -- Rwandan troops have crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo to prepare for a joint operation with Congolese forces against a Hutu militia, the United Nations said.
At least 800,000 people are thought to have died during 100 days of violence in Rwanda in 1994.
"We can tell you there are Rwandan soldiers here, but I cannot confirm the numbers," said Madnodje Mounoubai, spokesman for the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Rwandans will team up "with the Congolese forces," he said Wednesday. "The Rwandan forces are in a meeting with Congolese forces and the understanding is that in the meeting they are preparing a joint operation against the FDLR," or the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda.
The Rwanda News Agency reported that Rwanda has dispatched 1,917 soldiers.
Rwanda and Congo traditionally have been on different sides of the conflict in eastern Congo.
The struggle pits ethnic Tutsis, supported by Rwanda, against ethnic Hutu, backed by Congo.
The conflict is effectively an extension of the Rwandan genocide dating back to the early 1990s, when hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed in ethnic battles between minority Tutsi and majority Hutu.
According to a statement issued last week by the Rwandan government, the joint military operation is aimed at driving out the FDLR and former members of the Interhamwe militia, "remnants of those who spearheaded the 1994 genocide against Tutsis."
Michael Arunga, a Kenya-based spokesman for the World Vision aid organization, said his colleagues in Goma -- a city in eastern Congo -- told him that Rwandan troops arrived Tuesday morning in the village of Ishsha, outside of Goma.
Arunga said he had no knowledge of Rwandan troops being in Congo before.
A U.N. statement said the FDLR has been involved in clashes since late August mainly in North Kivu, "where the national army, the mainly Tutsi militia -- known as the CNDP -- and other rebel groups ... have fought in shifting alliances, uprooting around 250,000 civilians on top of the 800,000 already displaced by violence in recent years." See photos from Mia Farrow's trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo »
A report by a U.N. Security Council panel last month said Rwanda and Congo were fighting a brutal proxy war for territory and precious natural resources in eastern Congo, and all parties involved in the conflict were using execution, rape and child soldiers as tools of war.
The report, filed by a panel of U.N. experts, "found evidence that Rwandan authorities have sent officers and units of the Rwanda Defense Forces" into Congo in support of Congo rebel leader Laurent Nkunda's fighters.
CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report. | [
"What has Rwanda dispatched?",
"Country where the conflict is occuring?",
"How many soldiers has Rwanda dispatched?",
"Number of soldiers that Rwanda has dispatched?",
"What is effectively an extension of the Rwandan genocide?",
"What is an extension of the conflict ?",
"What country supports Hutu?",
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] | [
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"the Rwandan genocide",
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"ethnic Hutu,"
] | question: What has Rwanda dispatched?, answer: 1,917 soldiers. | question: Country where the conflict is occuring?, answer: Congo. | question: How many soldiers has Rwanda dispatched?, answer: 1,917 | question: Number of soldiers that Rwanda has dispatched?, answer: 1,917 | question: What is effectively an extension of the Rwandan genocide?, answer: conflict in eastern Congo. | question: What is an extension of the conflict ?, answer: the Rwandan genocide | question: What country supports Hutu?, answer: Congo. | question: The Tutsi's, who are supported by Rwanda, are fighting who, who are backed by the Congo?, answer: ethnic Hutu, |
(CNN) -- Sales of Michael Jackson's albums have gone through the roof since the news of his death.
Michael Jackson's albums took the top 15 slots on Amazon.com's top 50 album downloads.
On Friday, the late singer was enjoying the commercial revival that had been eluding him in recent years, due to a lack of new material and public interest.
Michael Jackson albums took top 15 slots on Amazon.com top 50 album downloads. The story was the same on iTunes where the late singer's albums dominated seven out of the ten top slots on the site.
The 25th anniversary reissue of Jackson's 1982 album, "Thriller," which is the top selling album of all time, is at the top spot on Amazon.com. It was followed by a special reissue of 1979 album "Off the Wall" and 1987 album "Bad."
His last studio album "Invincible," which he released in 2001 came in at number 10, perhaps reflecting the public's preference for Jackson's earlier work.
On European online music retailer Play.com sales of Jackson's 10 most popular albums increased by a staggering 7,860 percent. Meanwhile, searches on Michael Jackson are up 8,900 percent and total downloads on the site have increased 5,167 percent.
The public's unprecedented rush to buy Jackson's albums has been likened to the the reaction when other music icons like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra died.
"There are an awful lot of people that think his contribution to music was huge, and as an artist he was so talented -- even though he was such a complicated artist, particularly towards the end of his life," Stuart Rowe Chief Operating Officer of Play.com told CNN.
"People want some kind of memento. They want to appreciate and listen to his music again, and mark his passing by listening to it all again."
According to Rowe because of their quality, many of Jackson's albums are perennial bestsellers, and while there was also some increase in interest in his music because of his sold out 50-date London tour which was scheduled to kick off in mid-July.
"But nothing like the effect of the news," said. "It's taken this for his music to be brought to a whole new generation of people."
Five of Jackson's solo albums -- "Off the Wall," "Thriller," "Bad," "Dangerous" and "HIStory," are among the top-sellers of all time, according to Jackson's label Sony Music.
During his career, Jackson sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide, released 13 No.1 singles.
"There's the whole sort of grieving of a superstar which the general public will go through worldwide," said Rowe. "You will hear a lot more Michael Jackson being played over the next few weeks." | [
"How many of Jackson's solo records are all-time best-sellers?",
"Whose albums dominate bestseller charts?",
"Jackson's album sales increased by how much?",
"How many solo albums are among the top sellers?"
] | [
"Five",
"Michael Jackson's",
"7,860 percent.",
"Five"
] | question: How many of Jackson's solo records are all-time best-sellers?, answer: Five | question: Whose albums dominate bestseller charts?, answer: Michael Jackson's | question: Jackson's album sales increased by how much?, answer: 7,860 percent. | question: How many solo albums are among the top sellers?, answer: Five |
(CNN) -- Sarah Palin's most ardent supporters in "real America" love to suggest that those of us who don't buy into her shtick fail to grasp why they love her, citing her realness, plain-spokenness and whatever else they can conjure up.
Folks, nice try, but as a native Texan, I've seen many politicians and wannabes over the years who had charm, wit, charisma and a twinkle in their eye.
Anyone who has listened to the best football coaches the Lone Star State has to offer will tell you that they can persuade a mother and father to send their boy to hell to fetch a glass of ice water and bring him home a better man. They could teach a politician or two how to connect with average Americans.
You want a media darling politician with substance? Try the late Gov. Ann Richards, a woman who could cut you deep and beam ear-to-ear with her motherly smile. But unlike Palin, she had a host of strong ideas in her head that actually made sense and appealed to a cross-section of folks.
Former Rep. Charlie Wilson, who died this week, was a smooth-talking Texan who loved to party hard. But when it came to politics, he knew how to get things done. The media loved him because he could sit with you and enjoy a beer over barbecue, give them a hilarious quote or two, and explain foreign policy better than Henry Kissinger.
Why haven't I cottoned to Palin? Because she portrays herself as a straight-talking politician who wants to lead a movement in the "Lower 48th" -- but is nothing more than a political celebrity willing to cash every check she can grab.
What truly exposed her for me? It was the ridiculous way she reacted in opposing ways last week to two political heavyweights who used the word "retard."
When it was reported that President Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, told a group of liberals that they were "f-----g retards" for threatening to run ads against fellow Democrats who weren't jumping on the health care reform bandwagon, Palin demanded his resignation.
As the mother of a child with Down syndrome, Palin has often used her bully pulpit to demand respect for the mentally challenged. Nothing wrong with that. It is an issue that is close to her heart, and she should be a fierce advocate for them.
Yet when one of her biggest supporters, conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, also castigated liberals by calling them "retards," Palin provided him cover, even trying to explain away his comments.
In an interview with Fox News Channel's Chris Wallace, she said Limbaugh was using satire, while Emanuel was blasting those who disagree with him. But anyone who can read or listen could hear Limbaugh calling folks he disagrees with the same. Palin even went further, agreeing with Limbaugh that liberals are "kooks."
So Emanuel and Limbaugh used the word "retard" to describe folks they disagree with, but only Rahm was wrong? Yep, that's how it is in Palin's world. The advocate for the mentally challenged was quick to pounce on someone she disagrees with politically but defended her patron saint, Rush.
Sarah, when you hold yourself up as a fierce protector of the mentally challenged, politics shouldn't enter into the equation. Either you criticize everyone who uses a word that you consider a slur, or you come across as a crass politician who is afraid to offend your chief booster.
Maybe you ought to listen to your spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, who thought you cared about the mentally challenged when she sent this e-mail to HotAir.com about Limbaugh's comment: "Gov. Palin believes crude and demeaning name-calling at the expense of others is disrespectful."
But knowing that wouldn't sit well with Rush, you backed off and gave him cover.
If you were true to your cause, you would have demanded an on-air apology from Limbaugh and scolded him for using the word. Instead, you showed your true | [
"For what reasons did Palin get so upset when an Obama aide used the word \"retard\"?",
"Who calls liberals retards?"
] | [
"mother of a child with Down syndrome,",
"Rahm Emanuel,"
] | question: For what reasons did Palin get so upset when an Obama aide used the word "retard"?, answer: mother of a child with Down syndrome, | question: Who calls liberals retards?, answer: Rahm Emanuel, |
(CNN) -- Sea The Stars showed a blistering turn of pace to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and confirm his status as one of the greatest race horses in history.
Sea The Stars finishes clear of the field to win Europe's top horse race.
It was the fifth consecutive win for the three-year-old colt, including the 2,000 Guineas and English Derby, as he claimed Europe's premier flat race on Sunday.
Trained in Ireland by John Oxx, Sea The Stars was boxed in approaching the final furlong, but jockey Mick Kinane found a gap before bursting clear of the field.
He relegated Youmzain, ridden by the returning Kieren Fallon, into second place with seven-time Arc winning trainer Andre Fabre's Cavalryman, under Frankie Dettori, in third.
Breeders Cup Turf champion Conduit was finishing fast but could do no better than fourth.
Sea The Stars started as a 4-6 favorite and was supported by a huge following, being cheered to the rafters in the ring even prior to the race.
But the Aidan O'Brien-trained Set Sail and Grand Ducal set a blistering pace with the former leading by 15 lengths entering the home straight of the mile and a half (2,400 meters) race.
Unbeaten French filly Stacelita then hit the front before 50-year-old Kinane and the superstar Sea The Stars worked their magic to emulate his dam (mother) Urban Sea who won the race in 1993. | [
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] | question: Who won the Prix de l'Arc?, answer: Sea The Stars | question: Who was the jockey of race winning horse?, answer: Mick Kinane | question: Where had they earlier won?, answer: English Derby, | question: What is the name of the horse who won the race?, answer: Sea The Stars | question: Where did the race take place?, answer: Europe's | question: How long is the Triomphe horse race?, answer: (2,400 meters) | question: Who was the Irish jockey of the horse that passed its rivals?, answer: Mick Kinane |
(CNN) -- Security forces aboard a U.S. naval vessel fired warning shots toward two approaching small boats off the Somali coast Tuesday, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
The USNS John Lenthall is one of 14 fleet refueling ships operated by Military Sealift Command.
The rounds landed in the water, prompting the boats to turn around, and no casualties were reported, the military news release said.
It is unclear whether the boats were trying to attack the 41,000-ton USNS John Lenthall, the military said.
"It is clear they were not following the international rules of the road observed by mariners around the globe," it said.
The release noted that the location of the incident, the types of boats involved and the maneuvering were all "consistent with reports from previous attacks on merchant vessels in the region."
The USNS John Lenthall is one of 14 "fleet replenishment oilers" in the Military Sealift Fleet Support Command, according to a U.S. Navy Web site. Oilers refuel Navy ships at sea and any aircraft they may be carrying.
Attacks by pirates have increased dramatically off the northern coast of Somalia in the past year, prompting the United States and other nations to step up patrols in the region.
In May, the U.S. Navy warned merchant ships to stay at least 200 miles off the Somali coast. But the U.S. Maritime Administration warns that pirates sometimes issue false distress calls to lure ships closer to shore.
The pirates are often armed with automatic rifles and shoulder-fired rockets, according to warnings from the agency. | [
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] | [
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"off the Somali coast"
] | question: what were they approaching?, answer: small | question: Where do you find pirates?, answer: Somalia | question: What do pirates do?, answer: issue false distress calls to lure ships closer to shore. | question: who prowls waters off of somalia?, answer: pirates | question: what was fired?, answer: warning shots | question: Where did this happen?, answer: off the Somali coast | question: Where were the pirates?, answer: off the Somali coast |
(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama will take a break from campaigning Thursday so he can visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii, an Obama spokesman said Monday.
Sen. Barack Obama will take a break from campaigning so he can visit his ailing grandmother.
"Sen. Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham has always been one of the most important people in his life," spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.
"In the last few weeks, her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Sen. Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her," Gibbs said.
The interruption will cause Obama to cancel Thursday events in Madison, Wisconsin and Des Moines, Iowa. He will do an event in Indianapolis, Indiana, Thursday morning before leaving and will return to the campaign Saturday, Gibbs said.
Michelle Obama will fill in for her husband on Friday at previously scheduled events in Columbus and Akron, Ohio, his campaign said.
Obama speaks about his grandmother often on the stump, describing her as an integral figure in his youth who struggled against the glass ceiling in to make a better life for him.
"She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life," he said in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. "She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well."
He and his family traveled to Hawaii in August to visit her.
The Obama team made the announcement after a busy day of trading attacks with Sen. John McCain on the Democratic presidential hopeful's readiness for office.
Monday also marked the first time that Obama appeared with Sen. Hillary Clinton during the general election season.
Clinton went to Florida, a state she won in the primary but whose delegates she could not claim, to urge her supporters to turn out for Obama on Election Day.
Clinton called Orlando and central Florida "the battleground of the battleground" and practically begged the crowd to vote early.
"We are 15 days from the finish line and we cannot falter, we cannot stop, we cannot take a single vote for granted," Clinton said Monday. "I am asking you to work as hard for Barack as you worked for me. If you made phone calls for me, make them for Barack. If you walked streets for me, make them for Barack. If you talked to your friends and neighbors for me, do it again for Barack. We cannot risk four more years of the same failed Republican policies."
Earlier in the day, McCain told a crowd in Belton, Missouri, that the next president "won't have time to get used to the office."
He was addressing comments made Sunday by Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, in which he said Obama would be tested within the first six months of his presidency.
"We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars," McCain said. "What is more troubling is that Sen. Biden told their campaign donors that when that crisis hits, they would have to stand with them because it wouldn't be apparent Sen. Obama would have the right response.
The Obama-Biden campaign released a pre-emptive response after reading McCain's scheduled remarks.
"With our nation facing two wars and 21st century threats abroad, Sen. Biden referenced the simple fact that history shows presidents face challenges from day one," Obama spokesman David Wade said. "After eight years of a failed foreign policy, we need Barack Obama's good judgment and steady leadership, not the erratic and ideological Bush-McCain approach that has set back our security and standing in the world."
Earlier Monday, Obama denounced the "say-anything | [
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(CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton said Sunday some people are using her controversial reference to Robert F. Kennedy's assassination to suggest that she meant something "completely unthinkable."
Sen. Hillary Clinton says her supporters urge her to stay in the race until it is over.
Her campaign also accused the rival Obama campaign of "inflaming" the situation and purposely taking her words out of context. But the Obama campaign said it was not trying to "stir the issue up."
In an editorial in the New York Daily News, the Democratic presidential hopeful also acknowledged her dwindling chances of winning the nomination, saying she is aware of "the odds" against her.
Headlined "Hillary: Why I continue to run," the editorial began with an explanation of her reference to the assassination when she was speaking to the Argus Leader newspaper in South Dakota. She said she was pointing out that presidential primary campaigns have continued into June.
"Almost immediately, some took my comments entirely out of context and interpreted them to mean something completely different -- and completely unthinkable," she wrote. Watch Hillary's camp insist the remark had nothing to do with Obama »
Clinton said the newspaper's editor and Bobby Kennedy Jr. issued statements arguing that was the meaning of her remark. No other member of the Kennedy family has issued a public statement on the matter.
"I realize that any reference to that traumatic moment for our nation can be deeply painful -- particularly for members of the Kennedy family, who have been in my heart and prayers over this past week," she said, in a reference to Sen. Edward Kennedy's diagnosis with brain cancer. "And I expressed regret right away for any pain I caused.
"But I was deeply dismayed and disturbed that my comment would be construed in a way that flies in the face of everything I stand for -- and everything I am fighting for in this election." Some people -- particularly a number of bloggers -- have suggested she was imagining the possibility that Sen. Barack Obama, the likely nominee, could be assassinated.
After Clinton's initial remarks to the newspaper were reported, the Obama campaign issued a statement saying the comment "was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign."
But Obama himself later said, "I don't think that Senator Clinton intended anything by it," and that "we should put it behind us."
Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe, in an interview Sunday, criticized the Obama campaign's first move. "It's unfortunate -- a hyped-up press over Memorial Day weekend, the Obama campaign inflaming it, tried to take these words out of context," he told "Fox News Sunday."
Asked about the remark by Obama himself, McAuliffe responded, "That's great, but Friday they were all part of this process. The press secretary came out and attacked Senator Clinton and got it going so the story would be around for three days."
Howard Wolfson, a Clinton adviser, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that the Obama campaign's first statement critical of Clinton was "unfortunate."
But Obama's chief strategist David Axelrod told ABC's "This Week" that "we take her at her word," and he added, "We're beyond that issue now, so certainly we're not trying to stir the issue up."
The program's host, George Stephanopoulos, noted that a member of Obama's staff sent to the media Saturday a "searing commentary" by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann slamming Clinton for her remark.
"Mr. Olbermann did his commentary and he had his opinion," Axelrod responded, adding, "As far as we're concerned, this issue is done."
On another front, Axelrod slammed Clinton for suggesting she leads Obama in the popular vote.
Clinton has been making that argument, based on figures that include Florida and Michigan, even though Obama took his name off the ballot in Michigan and neither candidate campaigned in Florida. The Democratic Party discounted both states' primaries before they took place.
" | [
"Who says the odds are against her getting nominated?",
"Whose camp says Obama intentionally stoking controversy?",
"Who's camp said Obama was intentionally stroking controversy?",
"Who says Obama is stroking controversy?",
"Who says in editorial she knows the odds are against her getting nomination?"
] | [
"Sen. Hillary Clinton",
"Sen. Hillary Clinton",
"Sen. Hillary Clinton",
"Sen. Hillary Clinton",
"Sen. Hillary Clinton"
] | question: Who says the odds are against her getting nominated?, answer: Sen. Hillary Clinton | question: Whose camp says Obama intentionally stoking controversy?, answer: Sen. Hillary Clinton | question: Who's camp said Obama was intentionally stroking controversy?, answer: Sen. Hillary Clinton | question: Who says Obama is stroking controversy?, answer: Sen. Hillary Clinton | question: Who says in editorial she knows the odds are against her getting nomination?, answer: Sen. Hillary Clinton |
(CNN) -- Seven members of a joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping patrol have been killed by a heavily armed militia group in Sudan's Darfur region, the U.N. said.
Peacekeepers drive into a Sudanese refugee camp near Farchana, east of Chad.
Five of those killed were Rwandan, a U.N. peacekeeping official said, and the other two were a Ugandan and a Ghanaian.
Twenty-two others were wounded in the attack, which was immediately condemned by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"The attackers used heavy weapons and engaged the UNAMID convoy in an exchange of fire for more than two hours," according to the statement released by Ban's spokesman.
UNAMID is the acronym for the U.N.-AU mission in Darfur. The peacekeepers are allowed to used force when fired upon directly.
"The secretary-general condemns in the strongest possible terms this unacceptable act of extreme violence against AU-U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur and calls on the government of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice," the statement said.
"The secretary-general expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the peacekeepers who lost their lives, and reiterates his appreciation for their service, valor and commitment to the search for peace in Darfur."
The ambush happened around 2:45 p.m. (1145 GMT) in northern Darfur. The rescue mission did not take place until after dark, she said.
The peacekeepers who were attacked operated out of Shangil Tobayi -- a base to the west of El Fasher.
In five years of war the U.N. says more than four million people have been affected: Two-and-a-half million people forced from their homes and more than 300,000 killed.
Sudanese officials dispute those numbers claiming only 10,000 have died -- a number they say is normal for five years of war.
U.S. President George W. Bush calls the killings genocide and has put sanctions on Sudan. The U.N. says Sudan's government is guilty of crimes against humanity and of violating international human rights laws every bit as heinous and serious they say as genocide.
In February 2008, a fresh wave of killing forced 58,000 people to flee their homes as government troops and Janjaweed militiamen retaliated against rebels.
A U.N. report said Sudan broke international law as 115 innocent civilians were killed using tactics similar to those employed in 2003, 2004, the worst years of the war.
Peacekeepers are frequently targeted by militias in Darfur, where they are trying to protect civilians from "janjaweed" militias -- nomadic Arab militias, supported by Sudan's government, which target pastoral black Africans.
Ten African Union peacekeepers were killed in October in an ambush on their peacekeeping base -- the deadliest single attack on AU peacekeepers since they began their mission in late 2004.
A U.N. commission concluded in 2005 that the Sudanese government and militias "conducted indiscriminate attacks, including killing of civilians, torture, enforced disappearances, destruction of villages, rape and other forms of sexual violence, pillaging and forced displacement" in Darfur.
In 2006, the U.N. Security Council authorized the creation of the joint AU/U.N. hybrid force of peacekeepers to protect civilians in Darfur. That hybrid force formally took over peacekeeping duties late last year from the force composed solely of members of the African Union.
Yet the force is under-manned as a result of the Sudanese government's opposition to a U.N. presence, with just over 9,500 troops of an authorized strength of 26,000. | [
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(CNN) -- Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher could be set to make a shock return to Formula One as Ferrari look for a short-term replacement for the injured Felipe Massa.
Michael Schumacher remains very much part of the Ferrari set-up as an advisor for the Formula One team.
The 28-year-old Brazilian is currently in intensive care at the AEK military hospital in Budapest after suffering a fractured skull in a freak accident in qualifying for Saturday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Massa's condition has improved in the past 24 hours with doctors taking him out of a medically-induced coma on Monday night.
He has since responded well to questions and Peter Bazso, the medical director of the hospital, claimed on Tuesday morning that Massa might be able to walk out of the hospital in 10 days' time.
Felipe Massa's crash in pictures. »
"My expectation is that he would walk out of the hospital on his own. If his recovery continues, I wouldn't rule out that he could leave within 10 days," Bazso told Hungarian TV channel M1.
"He's spending more and more time awake, talking to family and friends. I would like to point out that, although he is recovering, this is not the end of the story, he is still in a life-threatening condition. Of course, the danger is decreasing by the day."
While the news regarding Massa's condition continues to be encouraging, behind the scenes Ferrari are faced with the task of finding a replacement driver.
Doctors have said Massa will be out for at least six weeks, although there are still fears he may never return as a result of his injuries.
He will certainly miss the European and Belgian Grands Prix at the end of August, although the current four-week break before the next race in Valencia gives the Italian team time to assess their options.
On the list of likely replacements could be Schumacher -- who won five of his drivers' titles with Ferrari and works as an advisor for the team.
The 40-year-old German's representative Sabine Kehm told CNN: "There is no offer from Ferrari, but if they decided they need him, Michael would certainly weigh his options."
Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni later confirmed to the Press Association that Schumacher, who retired in 2006, was an option.
"We have said before that it is possible that Michael Schumacher could return to help us out," said Colajanni. "However, we have two test drivers at Ferrari (Luca Badoer and Marc Gene) at the moment and Michael is an advisor.
Does safety need to be improved in Formula One?
"We have not spoken to him and we will have to wait and see what happens. It is something for (Ferrari team principal) Stefano Domenicali to consider over the coming weeks.
"We need to see how Felipe is and the situation will evolve from there. We are not in any hurry, the first and foremost thing is Felipe's recovery."
Colajanni also provided further encouraging news regarding Massa, although he played down Bazso's assertion that he could walk out of hospital as early as next week.
"I think that on Monday he improved a lot but we have to remain cautious," he said. "It is not useful to put forecasts on these things. I think for the moment we should just enjoy the positive improvements that Felipe is making."
Massa was hurt when a spring that had fallen from the back of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP car struck him on the helmet at high-speed, causing him to lose control of his car and crash into a tire barrier.
On Monday, Professor Robert Veres, the surgeon who operated on Massa over the weekend, told reporters that Massa had suffered some damage to his left eye, which could threaten his future in the sport.
"It's too early to say about his future as we don't know the extent of the damage. Without an operation it's very hard to evaluate the eye's function," | [
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(CNN) -- Several large circus tents previously used by Cirque du Soleil are on their way to Haiti to be used as a temporary headquarters for the Port-au-Prince government, according to the man donating them.
The self-contained tents would replace government buildings destroyed a month ago by the devastating earthquake that killed at least 200,000 people, Nevada real estate developer Tom Schrade said Thursday.
An urgent effort is under way to provide shelter for in Haiti, ahead of the rainy season expected to hit the island nation at the end of March.
Much of the government is operating in small tents or cramped quarters in buildings that survived the January 12 earthquake.
Schrade, who bought the tents after Cirque du Soleil retired them, said his wife got the idea to donate them while they were watching coverage of Haiti relief efforts.
"It seemed like a good thing to do," Schrade said.
The tents have 33,000 square feet of interior floor space, including heating and air conditioning systems, interior and exterior lighting, toilets and 900 padded chairs, Schrade said. Thirteen steel shipping containers hold the 400,000 pounds of cargo, he said.
"Even the shipping containers can serve as apartments," Schrade said.
After an aide to the Port-au-Prince mayor confirmed the government would welcome the tents, Schrade said he called Barron Hilton -- the son of Hilton hotel founder Conrad Hilton -- for help in getting them from storage in Reno, Nevada, to Haiti.
The Conrad Hilton Foundation, already involved in Haiti relief projects, agreed to finance the shipment, he said.
Gregory Anderson, the international project manager for the Hilton Foundation, confirmed its participation.
The William J. Clinton Foundation -- the former U.S. president's nonprofit group -- will coordinate getting the big tents to Port-au-Prince, he said.
Full coverage of the earthquake's aftermath
A convoy of tractor-trailer trucks left Reno Monday night with the tents bound for the port of Miami, Florida, he said. They'll be loaded onto a ship chartered by the Clinton Foundation next week for the voyage to Port-au-Prince, he said.
Technicians hired by Schrade will travel there to supervise the set up, he said.
iReport: Looking for loved ones in Haiti
The tents, which initially cost about $5 million, were first used by Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas a decade ago. They also spent time at a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, theme park before Schrade bought them with the idea of using them at a Reno hotel, he said.
The economic downturn derailed Schrade's plan to use the tents at a hotel in Reno, he said.
Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian-based traveling circus based on street performance art. | [
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(CNN) -- Sharks attacked and killed a 38-year-old man near Stuart Beach in southern Florida on Wednesday.
The man was kite-surfing before the attack, said Capt. Mike McKinley, a spokesman for Martin County Sheriff's Department.
A lifeguard spotted him struggling in the water and large number of sharks in the area, a rescue official said. The man had been bitten several times and was bleeding profusely.
CNN affiliate WPBF identified him as Stephen Howard Schafer of Stuart.
Local coverage from CNN affiliate WPBF
The man was in cardiac arrest by the time the lifeguard helped him ashore. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Shark attacks have been on the decline, according to the International Shark Attack File, which is part of the Florida Museum of Natural History.
In 2008, there were 59 attacks worldwide, fewer than the 71 attacks 2007. That continues an annual decline since the all-time high of 79 in 2000.
Forty-one of the 59 attacks worldwide occurred in the United States, with Florida leading with 32.
Surfers accounted for 57 percent of shark attack victims; swimmers and waders, 36 percent, and divers the rest, according to the Shark Attack File.
CNN's Eve Bower contributed to this report. | [
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(CNN) -- She's been called Italy's answer to Michael Moore, and she doesn't pull any punches -- even when the subject she's taking to task is Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi.
Filmmaker Sabina Guzzanti puts the prime minister's handling of the L'Aquila earthquake, which killed nearly 300 people and devastated the city when it struck last year, under deep scrutiny in her latest documentary "Draquila -- Italy Trembles."
Recently screened at Cannes Film Festival, the documentary is creating a stir among critics and the Italian government alike.
Even though he has been dogged by allegations of corruption and fraud -- which he strongly denies -- as well as criticism of his personal lifestyle, many Italians still support Berlusconi.
There are so many scandals in Italy, the picture can get quite complicated, Guzzanti told CNN. At home, she is a well-known political satirist and critic of the government.
She decided to focus on one disaster, L'Aquila, to show how abuse of power, corruption and misinformation have contributed to what she presents as the precarious state of democracy in Italy today.
"The idea was this: Explain Italy through L'Aquila," she told CNN.
The Italian government has responded angrily to the film, whose title is a combination of the words "Dracula" and "L'Aquila."
Culture Minister Sandro Bondi refused to attend Cannes, where the film was shown as part of the festival's special screening program.
Bondi issued a statement, dismissing the documentary as "propaganda" and saying it "offends the truth and all of the Italian people."
Guzzanti is used to incurring the government's displeasure.
"Raiot," a political satire TV show she wrote, directed and acted in, was cancelled after just one episode on a state-owned television network following a defamation suit filed by Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset TV network.
In a retort, she made "Viva Zapatero," a 2005 film that examines censorship.
So, what is it about "Draquila," Guzzanti's fourth feature, that has created an uproar among Berlusconi supporters?
Guzzanti argues that Berlusconi, whose ratings were suffering when the earthquake hit in April last year, took advantage of the tragic event to improve his image and boost the public's opinion of him.
The documentary uses straightforward language to paint a stark picture of what the filmmaker sees as Berlusconi's exploitation of the tragic event.
"Opinion polls showed his popularity was plummeting. So, when, at 0332 on April 6, 2009, an earthquake awoke even those in the Big Brother house, and when it emerged an entire town was destroyed, for Berlusconi it was like God reaching out to him again," a voiceover says in the film.
Watch a clip of the film
In the wake of the quake, Berlusconi made a last-minute decision to move the G8 Summit to L'Aquila from Sardinia -- a gesture that attracted world attention -- and took advantage of photo opportunities in several trips to the leveled city.
Even more damning, though, is the documentary's examination of the reconstruction efforts in L'Aquila. In particular, the film takes issue with the role played by the Civil Protection Authority.
The film argues that the government agency has amassed such immense power under Berlusconi that it can dodge the law -- when granting reconstruction contracts, for instance -- all in the name of emergency and safety.
For Guzzanti, investigating the aftermath of the earthquake and the power of the Civil Protection Authority is a way of examining Italy's drift into authoritarianism.
"They became like a private army of the prime minister with licence of spending money and making laws," she said of the agency. "And I was shocked and started to investigate."
Her film has won praise, not only for its high degree of scrutiny, but for its even-handedness as well.
The Hollywood Reporter described "Draquila" as a "straightforward and surprisingly balanced documentary."
While her probing style and knack for ruffling feathers make it easy to draw comparisons with Michael Moore, Guzzanti distinguishes herself with an | [
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(CNN) -- Six days after official election results awarded him victory in Iran's presidential elections and four days after he compared the putative losers to fans of a losing soccer team, unleashing a wave of fury in his country, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a broadcast aired Thursday his remarks had been taken out of context.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad complained Thursday that earlier comments had been taken out of context.
"I was addressing those who started riots and set up fires and attacked people," he told the state-run news agency IRINN in an interview. "I said these [people] are nothing, they are not even part of the nation of Iran. They are alien in relation to Iran."
Ahmadinejad said that the official results, which gave him an overwhelming margin of victory that many Iranians are challenging as rigged, mean that "everybody is victorious ... We are a big family, and we have to put our hands together."
In Sunday's remarks to a rally at Vali-e Asr Square in Tehran, he said, "The Iranian nation is united. In a football match, there are 50,000 to 70,000 spectators. Those whose team has lost are angry and will do anything to vent their anger. Forty million people participated in the elections in Iran. They themselves were the players, and they determined [the outcome].
"Now four or five dirt or dust creeping from the corners may do something. But you must know that the pure river that is the Iranian nation will not allow them to put themselves on display."
His reference to unhappy Iranians as "dirt" or "dust" was seen by many as particularly galling, and he offered a qualified apology on Thursday. "I am sorry about the degree of accuracy of the news that some publicize," he said. "The very clear statement of the president is being distorted."
He said that he had noted that all 40 million Iranians had emerged as victorious in the elections, not just those who may have voted for him.
And he attempted to include supporters of Mir Hossein Moussavi, the opposition leader who reportedly lost, in his embrace.
"These all are victors of the election forum; they are all dear," he said. "We are all brothers. And I even said the road is open. Everyone should come. And nobody has the right to ask anybody else whom did you vote for. This means this is how much the government cares for the rights of the people." Watch report on online sites that support Ahmadinejad »
He added, "I am sorry that some people base their movements and political activities on these rumors that are basically untrue, and I hope this will be corrected."
Key religious conservatives have publicly complained of Ahmadinejad's treatment of the protesters in rallies demanding a new vote. Watch the latest from the streets of Tehran »
One of the critics was Habibolah Asgharoladi, a senior member of a key conservative voting bloc allied with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which represents Tehran's influential bazaar merchant class. Asgharoladi has accused Ahmadinejad of treating the pro-Moussavi demonstrators improperly and urged him to treat them with more respect.
These developments marked an extraordinary rebuke to Ahmadinejad and a rare public airing of the existing rift among ruling conservatives. Watch report on conservatives' reaction »
Other segments of Iranian society are planning to hold rallies, including the Association of Combatant Clerics. The group of influential clerics has requested permission to demonstrate on the streets of Tehran on Saturday, Iran's government-funded Press TV reported.
Khamenei has asked the authority, the Guardian Council, to recount some of the votes. But Moussavi and his supporters are demanding fresh elections. | [
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"to fans of a losing soccer team,",
"those",
"the putative losers to fans of a losing soccer team,",
"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad"
] | question: what have conservatives complained of, answer: of Ahmadinejad's treatment of the protesters in rallies demanding a new vote. | question: Who does Iranian president attempt to embrace?, answer: supporters of Mir Hossein Moussavi, | question: Who have complained of Ahmedinejad's treatment of protestors?, answer: Key religious conservatives | question: what unleashed a wave of fury, answer: to fans of a losing soccer team, | question: who was he addressing, answer: those | question: What did Ahmadinejad compare?, answer: the putative losers to fans of a losing soccer team, | question: Who spoke in broadcast?, answer: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad |
(CNN) -- Six people were killed and 13 wounded in the shelling of South Ossetia by Georgian forces, South Ossetian officials said Saturday, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
Officials of the breakaway Georgian region said the shelling was part of a Georgian military operation, Interfax reported.
Georgia initially suggested Russian peacekeepers were to blame, drawing heated denials from the Russian Defense Ministry, which called the allegation "dirty informational provocation."
Later, however, Mamuka Kurashvili, the commander of Georgian peacekeeping operations, told reporters that four people were wounded when several Georgian villages were fired upon from South Ossetia, and Georgia "had to return fire."
Women, children and the elderly were being evacuated from the conflict zone because of fears that Georgia would continue military operations against the region, according to the South Ossetian Information and Press Committee as reported by Interfax.
South Ossetia's government held a special session on the violence, the Russian news agency said.
"If Georgia continues provocative actions, we will announce the recruitment of volunteers not only in the North Ossetia but in the entire North Caucasus and also carry out general mobilization in South Ossetia," South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity told Interfax.
Georgia, located on the Black Sea coast between Russia and Turkey, has been split by Russian-backed separatist movements in South Ossetia and another region, Abkhzia. Accusations often fly on both sides, and the South Ossetian leadership has alleged that Georgian troops stage attacks to create a pretext for military action.
South Ossetia declared its independence from Georgia in the early 1990s after a bloody war there between ethnic Georgians and Ossetians. The region's independence is not internationally recognized.
Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian troops participate in a mixed peacekeeping force there and have maintained a fragile peace broken occasionally by fighting.
On Friday, as reports of the shelling began, Russia expressed "its most serious concern about the escalation of tensions in South Ossetia." Moscow said it was taking measures to prevent escalation of the conflict as it urged both Georgia and South Ossetia to look for diplomatic ways to calm the situation. | [
"Is Russia to blame?",
"Who fired on Georgian villagers first?",
"Who are being evacuated?",
"Were there many victims in the village?",
"What country is being split?",
"Where is this happening?",
"Who is being evacuated?"
] | [
"Georgia initially suggested Russian peacekeepers were to blame, drawing heated denials from the Russian Defense Ministry, which called the allegation \"dirty informational provocation.\"",
"South Ossetia,",
"Women, children and the elderly",
"killed and 13 wounded",
"Georgia,",
"South Ossetia",
"Women, children and the elderly"
] | question: Is Russia to blame?, answer: Georgia initially suggested Russian peacekeepers were to blame, drawing heated denials from the Russian Defense Ministry, which called the allegation "dirty informational provocation." | question: Who fired on Georgian villagers first?, answer: South Ossetia, | question: Who are being evacuated?, answer: Women, children and the elderly | question: Were there many victims in the village?, answer: killed and 13 wounded | question: What country is being split?, answer: Georgia, | question: Where is this happening?, answer: South Ossetia | question: Who is being evacuated?, answer: Women, children and the elderly |
(CNN) -- Six-year-old Makayla Sitton didn't get to act in The Nutcracker Ballet. The night before she was to go on stage, she was shot to death with three others in a home in Jupiter, Florida.
"I do not know how we're ever going to recover from this, but we know where she is. She is in heaven," her father, Jim Sitton, told CNN affiliate WPTV-TV of West Palm Beach, Florida.
"God has blessed us with this beautiful girl, and he just took her home a little bit earlier than we wanted," he said, struggling to hold back tears.
Police were searching Friday for a suspect in the deaths of Makayla and three others: twins Carla Merhige and Lisa Knight, 33, and Raymonde Joseph, 76, police said.
Patrick Knight and Clifford Gebara were wounded in the shooting, police said.
Officers were looking for Paul Michael Merhige, 35, who is thought to have left the area armed, said Jupiter police Sgt. Scott Pascarella. The dead were Merhige's twin sisters, his aunt and 6-year-old cousin.
Interviews with family members suggest that Merhige "had ongoing resentment" for some of his relatives, said Sally Collins-Ortiz, a spokeswoman for Jupiter police.
One of the victims -- Knight -- was pregnant, Collins-Ortiz said Friday. The U.S. Marshals have joined the search for Merhige, she said.
The shooting occurred about 10 p.m. ET Thursday. Pascarella said he did not know the motive.
Merhige is thought to have driven away in a blue 2007 Toyota Camry with Florida license plate number W42 7JT, the officer said.
CNN's Leslie Tripp contributed to this report. | [
"what did the police say",
"Who is Paul Michael Merhige?",
"what age is Paul micheal",
"where in florida was this at",
"What are police searching for?",
"what was the cause of death"
] | [
"Patrick Knight and Clifford Gebara were wounded in the shooting,",
"suspect in the deaths",
"35,",
"in a home in Jupiter,",
"a suspect in the deaths of Makayla and three others:",
"shot"
] | question: what did the police say, answer: Patrick Knight and Clifford Gebara were wounded in the shooting, | question: Who is Paul Michael Merhige?, answer: suspect in the deaths | question: what age is Paul micheal, answer: 35, | question: where in florida was this at, answer: in a home in Jupiter, | question: What are police searching for?, answer: a suspect in the deaths of Makayla and three others: | question: what was the cause of death, answer: shot |
(CNN) -- Skier Paul Wampach, a 49-year-old manager from Chicago, Illinois, hardly matches the stereotype of a hostel dweller: an under-30 backpacker from outside the United States who can't afford fancy lodging.
Travelers looking to meet new people might consider staying at hostels, say experts.
For the fifth time in two years, Wampach plans to head to the Fireside Inn in Breckenridge, Colorado, where he's booked a dorm-style room for less than $40 a night during his ski vacation.
"If I'm traveling by myself, there's no reason to splurge," said Wampach, who is single and described himself as neither rich nor poor. "That $40 or $50 [I save on lodging] goes to food, beer and ski-lift tickets." And amenities such as Internet access and a hot tub at the hostel add creature comforts to the trip.
Wampach's travel habits are consistent with a growing number of travelers called "flashpackers."
They are usually over 30, in mid-to-late career and can afford higher-end hotels but instead choose budget options -- albeit better-furnished and well-kept ones -- because it fits their lifestyle, said Mark Vidalin, Marketing Director for Hostelling International USA, a nonprofit network of hostels. Flashpackers also tend to stay connected by traveling with gadgets and seeking accommodations with free Wi-Fi, Vidalin said.
The term "flashpacker" likely originated in Australia, and combines the term "flash" -- meaning "stylish" -- with "backpacker," according to Vidalin.
Flashpackers and regular backpackers are booking hostels at U.S. vacation destinations in full force this year. Attendance at hostels has been consistently rebounding from lows following the September 11, 2001.
This year's turbulent economy appears to be fueling demand for hostel space.
Heading into ski season, Loree Weisman, the owner of the Crested Butte International Lodge and Hostel in Crested Butte, Colorado, said her hostel bookings are trending ahead of the town's other lodging options -- and up about 25 percent from her bookings by the same time last year.
Amid the unsteady economy, she said, people "don't want to give up a vacation, but they might need to adapt a vacation."
Instead of canceling pricey vacations due to economic fears, many travelers are rejecting accommodations with private bedrooms and bathrooms.
They're going for hostels with their dorm-style bunk beds, community bathrooms, and, most importantly for many hostel dwellers, shared living spaces.
"There's a sense of community, and there's a social aspect to it that's pretty significant," said Jim Williams, editor of "The Hostel Handbook" and a former hostel owner. "That is the heart of hostelling. You don't go to a hotel and lock the door."
Wampach agreed, saying that hostels offer "a tremendous way to meet people from different cultures and talk to people you wouldn't normally talk to."
But the communal atmosphere of hostels leaves many travelers skeptical, particularly Americans, Williams said.
"Americans have privacy issues. If you suggested to most people they were going to share a room with five other people, most of them wouldn't want to do it," he said.
What if a roommate snores or what if he smells or doesn't stop talking? -- these are legitimate questions for travelers considering the hostel option, said Williams.
Frequent hostel dweller Mandy Creighton, 30, said she enjoys the overall hostel experience, but it's a "huge challenge" to "walk through the room and to my room without having to talk to 20 people."
Creighton and her partner, Ryan Mlynarczyk, 32, who are documentary filmmakers from Sebastopol, California, are bicycling around the United States for a year and stopping in ecologically sustainable communities along the way.
Their choice to stay in hostels is rooted in a desire to maintain a green lifestyle by sharing resources as well as saving money.
Mlynarczyk experienced the other side of the privacy issue when he stepped | [
"What are Americans uncomfortable with?",
"Who are professionals older than 30?",
"What is the heart of hosteling?"
] | [
"communal atmosphere of hostels",
"\"flashpackers.\"",
"\"There's a sense of community, and there's a social aspect to it that's pretty significant,\""
] | question: What are Americans uncomfortable with?, answer: communal atmosphere of hostels | question: Who are professionals older than 30?, answer: "flashpackers." | question: What is the heart of hosteling?, answer: "There's a sense of community, and there's a social aspect to it that's pretty significant," |
(CNN) -- Skier Paul Wampach, a 49-year-old manager from Chicago, Illinois, hardly matches the stereotype of a hostel dweller: an under-30 backpacker from outside the United States who can't afford fancy lodging.
Travelers looking to meet new people might consider staying at hostels, say experts.
For the fifth time in two years, Wampach plans to head to the Fireside Inn in Breckenridge, Colorado, where he's booked a dorm-style room for less than $40 a night during his ski vacation.
"If I'm traveling by myself, there's no reason to splurge," said Wampach, who is single and described himself as neither rich nor poor. "That $40 or $50 [I save on lodging] goes to food, beer and ski-lift tickets." And amenities such as Internet access and a hot tub at the hostel add creature comforts to the trip.
Wampach's travel habits are consistent with a growing number of travelers called "flashpackers."
They are usually over 30, in mid-to-late career and can afford higher-end hotels but instead choose budget options -- albeit better-furnished and well-kept ones -- because it fits their lifestyle, said Mark Vidalin, Marketing Director for Hostelling International USA, a nonprofit network of hostels. Flashpackers also tend to stay connected by traveling with gadgets and seeking accommodations with free Wi-Fi, Vidalin said.
The term "flashpacker" likely originated in Australia, and combines the term "flash" -- meaning "stylish" -- with "backpacker," according to Vidalin.
Flashpackers and regular backpackers are booking hostels at U.S. vacation destinations in full force this year. Attendance at hostels has been consistently rebounding from lows following the September 11, 2001.
This year's turbulent economy appears to be fueling demand for hostel space.
Heading into ski season, Loree Weisman, the owner of the Crested Butte International Lodge and Hostel in Crested Butte, Colorado, said her hostel bookings are trending ahead of the town's other lodging options -- and up about 25 percent from her bookings by the same time last year.
Amid the unsteady economy, she said, people "don't want to give up a vacation, but they might need to adapt a vacation."
Instead of canceling pricey vacations due to economic fears, many travelers are rejecting accommodations with private bedrooms and bathrooms.
They're going for hostels with their dorm-style bunk beds, community bathrooms, and, most importantly for many hostel dwellers, shared living spaces.
"There's a sense of community, and there's a social aspect to it that's pretty significant," said Jim Williams, editor of "The Hostel Handbook" and a former hostel owner. "That is the heart of hostelling. You don't go to a hotel and lock the door."
Wampach agreed, saying that hostels offer "a tremendous way to meet people from different cultures and talk to people you wouldn't normally talk to."
But the communal atmosphere of hostels leaves many travelers skeptical, particularly Americans, Williams said.
"Americans have privacy issues. If you suggested to most people they were going to share a room with five other people, most of them wouldn't want to do it," he said.
What if a roommate snores or what if he smells or doesn't stop talking? -- these are legitimate questions for travelers considering the hostel option, said Williams.
Frequent hostel dweller Mandy Creighton, 30, said she enjoys the overall hostel experience, but it's a "huge challenge" to "walk through the room and to my room without having to talk to 20 people."
Creighton and her partner, Ryan Mlynarczyk, 32, who are documentary filmmakers from Sebastopol, California, are bicycling around the United States for a year and stopping in ecologically sustainable communities along the way.
Their choice to stay in hostels is rooted in a desire to maintain a green lifestyle by sharing resources as well as saving money.
Mlynarczyk experienced the other side of the privacy issue when he stepped | [
"What are \"flashpackers\"?",
"What are flashpackers?",
"What are many Americans uncomfortable with?",
"What is the \"heart of hostelling\"?",
"What is a \"flashpacker\" ?"
] | [
"usually over 30, in mid-to-late career and can afford higher-end hotels but",
"The term \"flashpacker\" likely originated in Australia, and combines the term \"flash\" -- meaning \"stylish\" -- with \"backpacker,\"",
"the communal atmosphere of hostels",
"\"There's a sense of community, and there's a social aspect to it that's pretty significant,\"",
"They are usually over 30, in mid-to-late career and can afford higher-end hotels but"
] | question: What are "flashpackers"?, answer: usually over 30, in mid-to-late career and can afford higher-end hotels but | question: What are flashpackers?, answer: The term "flashpacker" likely originated in Australia, and combines the term "flash" -- meaning "stylish" -- with "backpacker," | question: What are many Americans uncomfortable with?, answer: the communal atmosphere of hostels | question: What is the "heart of hostelling"?, answer: "There's a sense of community, and there's a social aspect to it that's pretty significant," | question: What is a "flashpacker" ?, answer: They are usually over 30, in mid-to-late career and can afford higher-end hotels but |
(CNN) -- Soccer fans should not "dwell" on the hand ball committed by French player Thierry Henry, former teammate Zinedine Zidane said in his defense Saturday.
French forward Henry admitted to using his hand illegally to set up the goal that gave his team a 2-1 aggregate victory Wednesday against Ireland. France's victory pushed Ireland out of a spot at the 2010 World Cup.
"What I just want to say is that Thierry Henry is not a cheater, even if it is a big foul and he committed it, let's not dwell on it," former teammate and captain for the French team, Zidane said to CNN affiliate BFMTV. "I don't think he should take more blame. It's a fact of the game that's certainly difficult to accept for the Irish but something that happens very often on the football field. I just want to say that's a lot for Henry to take."
And Zidane knows what it's like to be in the spotlight -- for the good and bad.
Zidane won every major honor in the game, including the 1998 World Cup. But during the last game of his 18-year professional career, he head-butted Italy's Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup final game. France lost that match.
France won Wednesday's match that has some Ireland fans feeling cheated.
Video replays from the game shows Henry used his hand to stop the ball going out of play in extra time before he passed to William Gallas, who then scored the goal that secured France's place in the World Cup.
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) requested a replay of Wednesday's controversial game, but the governing body of world football, FIFA, declined Friday.
The Irish association also called on the French Football Federation to replay the game.
"We regret that despite our best efforts for a replay, which would have restored the integrity of the game in front of a world-wide audience, our calls appear to have fallen on deaf ears at the French Football Federation," FAI chief John Delaney said in a statement. "Without doubt, the credibility of fair-play has been damaged by this incident in front of a world-wide audience."
In its bid for a do-over, the FAI pointed to precedent set in 2005 when a World Cup qualifier between Uzbekistan and Bahrain was replayed after the referee was found to have committed a technical error.
But a FIFA spokesman said the precedent did not apply to Wednesday's game because the referee in the 2005 match "saw the incident in question and simply failed to apply the proper rules."
The FAI plans to "continue to call on FIFA to take action to ensure that such damaging examples of cheating are not allowed to recur," Delaney said. | [
"who comes to defense of thierry",
"who is thierry henry",
"what does henry set up",
"what does henry admit"
] | [
"Zinedine Zidane",
"French player",
"the goal that gave his team a 2-1 aggregate victory Wednesday against Ireland.",
"using his hand illegally to set up the goal"
] | question: who comes to defense of thierry, answer: Zinedine Zidane | question: who is thierry henry, answer: French player | question: what does henry set up, answer: the goal that gave his team a 2-1 aggregate victory Wednesday against Ireland. | question: what does henry admit, answer: using his hand illegally to set up the goal |
(CNN) -- Somalia said a senior al Qaeda operative tied to several attacks in East Africa was killed Monday in a U.S. strike in southern Somalia.
Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan, pictured on the FBI's Web site, reportedly was tied to al Qaeda's East Africa operations.
Intelligence sources have confirmed to the Somali government that Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan was killed, Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle said Tuesday.
"We welcome that attack because those people targeted were murderers, and they are unwanted and unwelcome in Somalia," Gelle said.
Nabhan's death will have "a major impact" on al Qaeda's operations in the Horn of Africa, according to one regional analyst.
U.S. special operations forces used a helicopter to fire on a car Monday in southern Somalia, killing several people, including one they believed was Nabhan, U.S. officials told CNN earlier.
Nabhan, 30, was born in Kenya and had been tied to attacks that included the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, according to the sources. More than 200 were killed, and 4,000 wounded in those attacks, most of them Kenyans.
The United States targeted Nabhan in an airstrike in southern Somalia near the Kenyan border in March 2008, U.S. officials said at the time.
In February 2006, the FBI announced that Nabhan was wanted for questioning in connection with the 2002 suicide bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel and the unsuccessful attack on an Israeli charter jet in Mombasa, Kenya.
Ten Kenyans and three Israelis -- including two children -- were killed when three suicide bombers detonated a car bomb outside Mombasa's Paradise Hotel in November 2002.
The bombing took place within minutes of an unsuccessful missile attack on an Israeli charter jet, which was taking off with 261 passengers and 10 crew members.
President Obama signed off on Monday's operation, a senior U.S. official said. The United States had been monitoring the situation for days and had intelligence that Nabhan was in the area, the U.S. officials said.
The officials who talked to CNN are familiar with the latest information on Monday's strike but did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The U.S. helicopter flew from a U.S. Navy warship offshore, while the ship kept watch on the operation, one of the sources said. The warship was ready to rescue the American troops if they got into trouble.
Farmers in the southeastern town of Barawe, Somalia, said they witnessed the assault. They said helicopters attacked a car and its occupants and that at least two people died. The witnesses said some helicopters landed and that some of the injured or dead were pulled into at least one helicopter.
A U.S. official said the troops landed to take away the body believed to be that of Nabhan for positive identification.
Nabhan is believed to be an associate of al Qaeda member Harun Fazul, who was indicted in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies.
The U.S. military has long sought Nabhan because he is believed to be deeply involved in al Qaeda's East African operations, a senior U.S. official said last year.
"He was certainly one of the leading al Qaeda figures in East Africa," said Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst for the International Crisis Group, an independent advisory and analysis organization.
Nabhan "has been living in the shadows" in Somalia and not much is known about his recent activity, Abdi said.
"The fact that he is now out of the picture will have a bigger impact on al Qaeda than on Al-Shabaab," he said, referring to the Islamist militia in Somalia that has ties to al Qaeda. "He is a man with an important organizational memory, and if a key figure like him is killed, it always has a major impact."
Al-Shabaab is waging a bloody battle against Somalia's transitional government and is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations because of its al Qaeda ties.
There are growing concerns that Somalia could be the next base for al Qaeda as U.S. forces pound their positions in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
CIA Director Leon | [
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"By what method was the car attack?",
"What was the man tied to from 1998?",
"Who did an analyst call \"one of the leading al Qaeda figures in East Africa\"?",
"Where did the U.S. special operations forces fire from?",
"Who says Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan has been killed?",
"What is the name of the killed Al Qaeda operative?",
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"What has happened to Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan?",
"What do US officials say has happened?",
"When were the US embassies bombed in Kenya and Tanzania?"
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"U.S. special operations forces used a helicopter to fire on a car Monday in southern Somalia,",
"1998"
] | question: When were the US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania?, answer: 1998 | question: By what method was the car attack?, answer: helicopter | question: What was the man tied to from 1998?, answer: bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya | question: Who did an analyst call "one of the leading al Qaeda figures in East Africa"?, answer: Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan, | question: Where did the U.S. special operations forces fire from?, answer: used a helicopter | question: Who says Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan has been killed?, answer: Intelligence sources | question: What is the name of the killed Al Qaeda operative?, answer: Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan, | question: What did US special forces do?, answer: used a helicopter to fire on a car Monday in southern Somalia, killing several people, including one they believed was Nabhan, | question: What does analyst call operative?, answer: one of the leading al Qaeda figures in East Africa," | question: What has happened to Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan?, answer: was killed, | question: What do US officials say has happened?, answer: U.S. special operations forces used a helicopter to fire on a car Monday in southern Somalia, | question: When were the US embassies bombed in Kenya and Tanzania?, answer: 1998 |
(CNN) -- Somalia's interim prime minister said Thursday that he has spoken to one of two French hostages seized earlier this week by gunmen who stormed their hotel in Mogadishu.
Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said the government will hold Hizbul Islam responsible for the safety of both men.
Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke told a news conference at the presidential palace in the Somali capital that the hostage said he was in good health and is being treated well.
Sharmarke said three low-level security officials have been arrested for their involvement in the kidnapping. The Somali government is negotiating the release of the hostages, who are being held by Islamist militants, he added.
The two French nationals -- who have not been identified -- were abducted Tuesday when a group of about 10 armed men raided the hotel where they were staying. The French Foreign Ministry said the two were on an official mission to help the Somali government with security. The ministry has not divulged any details of its efforts to release the hostages, saying only that it is "mobilized."
The two advisers had apparently told the hotel they were journalists, something that the media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders has criticized.
"We hope these two advisers are freed quickly, but we are shocked that they were passing themselves off as journalists," Reporters Without Borders said. "They were on an official mission and had no need of cover. Their behavior endangers journalists in a region where media personnel are already in danger."
Sharmarke said the two hostages were kidnapped by the militant group Hizbul Islam but later were transferred to Al-Shabaab. Both Islamic insurgencies are trying to topple the current Somali government.
Eyewitnesses said a group of gunmen stormed into the Sahafi hotel, which is frequented by foreigners, and took the two blindfolded and bound hostages on foot toward Mogadishu's Bakara market, a stronghold for Islamist insurgents fighting against the Somali government.
The Somali prime minister said that the government will hold Hizbul Islam responsible for the safety of both men. He did not say if any demands had been made for the hostages' release.
Hizbul Islam is led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a bitter rival of Somalia's transitional president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. The two men once shared leadership of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, which opposed the presence of Ethiopian forces in Somalia. The alliance split because the two leaders disagreed over whether to use force to oust the Ethiopian forces.
Hizbul Islam and Al-Shabaab have continued their fight in Somalia despite the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces earlier this year. The United Nations had hoped that the withdrawal of the Ethiopians and the election of Ahmed -- an Islamist -- to the post of transitional president would help quell the insurgency in Somalia.
The Islamist insurgency is led by Al-Shabaab -- an al Qaeda-linked group that is on the United States' terror list. It wants to overthrow Somalia's weak, transitional government and implement a radical version of sharia, or Islamic law.
Fighting in Somalia's capital city has displaced 200,000 Mogadishu residents since early May, according to the United Nations.
Journalist Mohamed Amin Adow contributed to this report. | [
"trashwhere did this happen?",
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"where Two French nationals abducted Tuesday by gunmen?",
"what Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke reported hostage said?"
] | [
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] | question: trashwhere did this happen?, answer: Mogadishu. | question: what two advisers had apparently told the hotel they were journalists?, answer: French hostages | question: what was the profession they claimed, answer: journalists, | question: where Two French nationals abducted Tuesday by gunmen?, answer: Mogadishu. | question: what Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke reported hostage said?, answer: he was in good health and is being treated well. |
(CNN) -- South Africa inflicted the first home series defeat on Australia in almost 16 years as they wrapped up a nine-wicket win over the world's number one ranked Test nation in Melbourne on Tuesday.
South African captain Graeme Smith led from the front with 75 as his team wrapped up victory.
Captain Graeme Smith hit a fluent 75 as his side successfully passed a modest victory target of 183 on the final day at the MCG to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.
It was the South African's first-ever Test series triumph in Australia and victory in the third and final match in Sydney will see them leapfrog the home side at the top of the global rankings.
Hashim Amla (30 not out) scored the winning runs shortly after lunch as South Africa became the first team to overcome Australia at home since the West Indies in 1992-93.
South Africa were never under any pressure in their run chase and did not lose a wicket until just before lunch when the inspirational Smith was trapped leg before wicket by Nathan Hauritz.
Smith had dominated a 121-run opening stand with Neil McKenzie, hitting 10 boundaries.
McKenzie struggled to a half century and survived strong lbw shouts from Brett Lee, who was bowling despite an injured foot that will keep him out of the Sydney Test.
South Africa's victory was set up by a brilliant maiden Test century from JP Duminy, who shared a stunning 180-run ninth wicket partnership with pace bowler Dale Steyn.
It gave the tourists a priceless 65-run lead on first innings before man of the match Steyn worked his magic with the ball as Australia were bowled out on the fourth day for 247 in their second innings.
The pugnacious Smith was virtually lost for words in his victory speech.
"It has been such a special moment for all of us, it has been an incredible team effort," he said.
"I have been smiling non-stop since we hit the winning runs.
"To be 2-0 up after this game was something we only dreamt of."
South Africa won the first Test in Perth from an unlikely position, chasing 414 for victory for the loss of only four wickets. | [
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"Who won the first Test of the series?",
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"What was the winning edge in the second Test?",
"Who has the lead in the series?"
] | [
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"South Africa"
] | question: How much did South Africa beat Australia by?, answer: 2-0 | question: Who is leading the series?, answer: South Africa | question: Who won the first Test of the series?, answer: South Africa | question: Who beat Australia?, answer: South Africa | question: By how many wickets did South Africa win?, answer: nine-wicket | question: Who beat Australia by nine wickets?, answer: South Africa | question: What was the winning edge in the second Test?, answer: 2-0 | question: Who has the lead in the series?, answer: South Africa |
(CNN) -- South Africa inflicted the first home series defeat on Australia in almost 16 years as they wrapped up a nine-wicket win over the world's number one ranked Test nation in Melbourne on Tuesday.
South African captain Graeme Smith led from the front with 75 as his team wrapped up victory.
Captain Graeme Smith hit a fluent 75 as his side successfully passed a modest victory target of 183 on the final day at the MCG to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.
It was the South African's first-ever Test series triumph in Australia and victory in the third and final match in Sydney will see them leapfrog the home side at the top of the global rankings.
Hashim Amla (30 not out) scored the winning runs shortly after lunch as South Africa became the first team to overcome Australia at home since the West Indies in 1992-93.
South Africa were never under any pressure in their run chase and did not lose a wicket until just before lunch when the inspirational Smith was trapped leg before wicket by Nathan Hauritz.
Smith had dominated a 121-run opening stand with Neil McKenzie, hitting 10 boundaries.
McKenzie struggled to a half century and survived strong lbw shouts from Brett Lee, who was bowling despite an injured foot that will keep him out of the Sydney Test.
South Africa's victory was set up by a brilliant maiden Test century from JP Duminy, who shared a stunning 180-run ninth wicket partnership with pace bowler Dale Steyn.
It gave the tourists a priceless 65-run lead on first innings before man of the match Steyn worked his magic with the ball as Australia were bowled out on the fourth day for 247 in their second innings.
The pugnacious Smith was virtually lost for words in his victory speech.
"It has been such a special moment for all of us, it has been an incredible team effort," he said.
"I have been smiling non-stop since we hit the winning runs.
"To be 2-0 up after this game was something we only dreamt of."
South Africa won the first Test in Perth from an unlikely position, chasing 414 for victory for the loss of only four wickets. | [
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] | question: Who won in Perth?, answer: South Africa | question: What gave them victory?, answer: 180-run ninth wicket | question: Victory gives them what lead?, answer: 2-0 | question: Who won first Test of the series?, answer: Graeme Smith | question: What did victory give the South Africans?, answer: first-ever Test series triumph in Australia | question: Who beat Australia by nine wickets?, answer: South Africa | question: What was the margin of victory in the first Test?, answer: nine-wicket win | question: What did South Africa do?, answer: inflicted the first home series defeat on Australia | question: What team beat Australia by nine wickets?, answer: South Africa | question: Who won first Test?, answer: Graeme Smith | question: Where was this match held?, answer: in Melbourne |
(CNN) -- South Africa strengthened their grip on the Tri-Nations with a 29-17 victory over Australia in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Springboks charge forward in their 29-17 victory over Australia at Newlands.
It was the third straight win for the world champions, who were indebted to the boot of Morne Steyn as he totaled 24 points with seven penalties and a drop goal at Newlands.
The Wallabies took a surprise lead in the second minute as Ashley Cooper barged over for a try with Matt Giteau converting, but the home side slowly took command.
Steyne kicked three penalties in the space of six minutes to put them ahead and added a fourth after Berrick Barnes had restored Australia's lead with a drop goal.
Steyne then sent over a drop goal of his own and South Africa moved further ahead as Victor Matfield went over for their only try of the match.
With the Wallabies reduced to 13 men as Giteau and Richard Brown were sin-binned, Steyn took advantage with another penalty to put them 23-10 ahead at the half.
Steyn added his sixth penalty shortly after the break, but Giteau charged through for a try and converted his score to give them hope at 26-17.
Steyn's final penalty with two minutes remaining wrapped up the victory.
South Africa, who have played all their three matches at home, lead the standings with 12 points, with New Zealand on four and Australia, who have played a game less, with a solitary point.
Victory continues a fine run of form for the Springboks, who beat the British and Irish Lions 2-1 in a thrilling series which preceded the annual Tri-Nations tournament. | [
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(CNN) -- South Africa's embattled police commissioner resigned Sunday as president of Interpol, a day after he took an extended leave of absence from his police duties, the international crime-fighting agency said in a statement.
South Africa police commissioner Jackie Selebi, facing charges of corruption, has stepped down as boss of Interpol.
Interpol's Secretary-General Ronald Noble received a resignation letter on Sunday from Jackie Selebi, who is facing charges of corruption related to his role as police commissioner, the agency said.
The charges are not related to his leadership role in Interpol.
In the letter, Selebi said he was resigning because he did not wish the allegations against him "to bring the good work of this august body into disrepute."
"Based on my experience of working with Mr. Selebi in his capacity as delegate, vice president and ultimately president of the organization, he has always conducted himself and acted in a way to enhance global security and police co-operation worldwide," Noble said in a statement.
As to the charges Selebi faces, Noble said: "Any such allegations should be prosecuted thoroughly, and the proper manner is for charges to be brought promptly before a court of law and not through media leaks and speculation."
On Saturday, South African President Thabo Mbeki told a news conference in Pretoria, South Africa, that Selebi had been given an "extended leave of absence" from his police duties, but that he was not being sacked.
Mbeki said Selebi supported the decision -- taken midnight Friday and effective immediately -- to temporarily step down and that an acting commissioner had already been appointed to take his place.
The National Prosecuting Authority said it will charge the police chief with "corruption and defeating the administration of justice," Tladi Tladi, a spokesman for the agency told CNN.
According to widespread media reports, the upcoming charges hinge on Selebi's dealings with Glen Agliotti, a convicted drug smuggler.
The suspended police chief is alleged to have accepted at least 1.2 million Rand ($177,000) from Agliotti over a 5-year period, the South African daily Cape Argus reported.
In return Selebi allegedly handed over confidential intelligence reports from the British authorities relating to Agliotti's suspected drug-trafficking activities, according to the newspaper.
Tladi said the corruption charges were linked to Agliotti "to a certain extent."
Agliotti recently received a 10-year suspended prison sentence in a drug case after entering into a plea bargain. He is also accused of involvement in the 2005 killing of mining magnate Brett Kebble, according to South African media reports.
A court on Friday rejected an application to halt the prosecution by Selebi, who has been under investigation for around two years.
Mbeki denied that he had been too slow in dealing with the fallout from the charges.
"I have said many times that if there was anyone who came to me with information indicating that the national commissioner had behaved improperly then I would act on such information. No one has come to me with such information," Mbeki said. E-mail to a friend | [
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(CNN) -- South Korean star Park Ji-sung has signed a two-year contract extension at English Premier League champions Manchester United.
The 28-year-old Park has been handed a contract extension at Manchester United.
The attacking midfielder is now tied to Old Trafford until 2012 as reward for his dogged displays for United since joining from PSV Eindhoven in 2005.
"I am so pleased to have a new contract," Park told www.manutd.com.
"We have achieved great success over the last four years and won many trophies."
Park has had to work hard to establish himself as a regular member of United's starting line-up and was devastated to be left out of the squad for their 2008 Champions League final success against Chelsea.
But last season he was a key figure as United completed a hat-trick of Premier League titles.
Park also gained selection for the Champions League final against Barcelona, becoming the first player from Asia to play in the European club showpiece.
His popularity in his home region is undoubted and United have been able to capitalize with two highly-profitable visits to the continent with Park a key draw.
Park, who will be a driving force in South Korea's World Cup challenge in South Africa next year, has played 127 times for United, scoring 12 goals.
"We are always pleased to secure the future of our star players and Ji-Sung has proved himself to be a fantastic professional as well as an important versatile player in our squad," said manager Alex Ferguson.
Park has been rewarded with an improved deal worth a reported $5.9 million per year. | [
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(CNN) -- Space shuttle Discovery is set to launch next week on a mission to the international space station, NASA's Flight Readiness Review team said Wednesday.
The space shuttle Discovery is brought by crawler to its pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 4.
Launch is scheduled for 1:36 a.m. ET Tuesday, NASA said. However, launches often are delayed because of inclement weather or technical concerns.
Discovery will carry a crew of seven astronauts as it ferries equipment to the space station. One of the astronauts, Nicole Stott, will remain on the space station as a flight engineer, replacing astronaut Timothy Kopra, who will return home aboard Discovery as a mission specialist, according to the NASA Web page for the mission.
Discovery will also be carrying the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT) to the space station. The treadmill is named for fake newsman Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."
Earlier this year, NASA conducted an online poll to name the space station's newest compartment, asking voters to choose one of four given options or offer their own suggestion. Colbert urged his viewers to suggest "Colbert," which won.
But Colbert and the space agency compromised to give the moniker to the treadmill instead. The new module was given the name Tranquility.
"I'm so proud my treadmill will be going into space to help trim down those famously fat astronauts. Lay off the Tang, Chubby!" Colbert said in a statement.
The mission will be Discovery's 37th to space, and the 30th shuttle mission dedicated to assembly and maintenance of the space station, NASA says. | [
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(CNN) -- Space shuttle Discovery launched just before midnight Friday on a mission to the international space station.
Space shuttle Discovery lifts off late Friday from Kennedy Space Center in a photo from iReporter Alan Walters.
The crew of seven astronauts includes one from Mexico and another from Sweden. One of those seven, Nicole Stott, will remain on the station as a flight engineer, while astronaut Timothy Kopra is to return home aboard the shuttle.
Also on board: The Leonardo logistics module, science experiments and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), named for fake newsman Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."
Colbert won an online poll conducted by NASA to name the newest space station compartment, but Colbert and the space agency compromised to give the moniker to the treadmill. The new compartment was given the name Tranquility.
NASA astronaut Cady Coleman said the treadmill is an essential addition to the space station. Watch shuttle launch »
"We have the treadmill now to keep them healthy, which is really part of being able to come home in one piece. So it is an essential part," Coleman said. iReport.com: Discovery lights night sky
Discovery's liftoff, originally set for Tuesday, had been postponed three times -- first for bad weather, and twice more while mission managers checked out indications of a faulty valve. | [
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(CNN) -- Spurred by the continuing political unrest in Iran, more than two dozen Iranian expatriate superstars are uniting to spread a musical message of non-violent resistance.
Neda Agha-Soltan was gunned down on a Tehran street on June 20.
The entertainers, poets, thinkers and actors are harmonizing on the song "United for Neda," a call to action against human rights violations by the Iranian government against Iranians protesting the disputed outcome of recent presidential elections.
The song was inspired by the plight of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year old Iranian woman who was fatally shot on the streets of Tehran on June 20. The ordeal was recorded on cell phone video and received international attention when it hit the Internet.
"When I saw links to Neda being shot, it was so disturbing to me," said Iranian-British recording artist Mams Taylor, who wrote and produced the song.
"It hurt me, angered me and touched me at the same time, to think that these people are so courageous to go and seek their freedom," said Taylor.
While her death became a rallying point for justice, her name, "Neda," in Farsi means "the call/calling" or "voice" -- a voice many people say cannot be muted.
"The saga is still going on in Iran, and all we can do is carry on and echo their voice," said Shoreh Aghdashloo, the Oscar-nominated actress from "House of Sand and Fog" who sang in the production.
The video, much like the post-election protests, was a spontaneous response. From the studio to the street rallies in Los Angeles, California, the entire music video was filmed using a cell phone.
"With the big media ban and restrictions over there, we thought to commemorate and pay homage to what the protesters are doing over there," said Taylor.
"So we thought it would be appropriate to develop the video in the same kind of light." Watch the video and hear the song »
The song was recorded in both English and Farsi to reach Western and Iranian audiences. The English version of the video has drawn thousands of viewers since its YouTube release last week. The Farsi version of the song will be released Thursday.
Iranian actress Shila Vosough played a key role in bringing the artists together.
"These artists all came together despite their varying political views," she said. "They united, hand-in-hand, to send the kids in Iran a message of their love and support."
The political upheaval of the late 1970s forced many Iranian musicians, artists, actors and entertainers like Vosough into exile. Many of them left unwillingly, not knowing when or if they would ever return to Iran.
"I came to New York for a performance 32 years ago and have never been back to Iran since," said Iranian vocalist Sattar, who also sang in the video.
Sattar, who has millions of fans around the world, wants the Iranian people to know their voices are being heard.
"As an artist, I see this as my responsibility -- to support Iranians with my songs and music," said Sattar, a one-time favorite of the Pahlavi royal family in Iran.
In 1979, at the dawn of the Islamic Republic under much popular Western music was outlawed as "un-Islamic." For years, Iranians have been forced to make music underground, buying or swapping on the black market or downloading from the Internet.
"Music is a very powerful tool. It can move people and mobilize them around a cause, and this can be very threatening for leaders who want to silence the voices of their people," said Iranian singer Dariush.
Dariush has been singing about love, peace, freedom and justice for the Iranian people since before he left 30 years ago.
"I encourage other musicians to come join the cause against human rights violations in Iran and other places around the world," said Dariush.
Female singers were also | [
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(CNN) -- Stonehenge, an enigma to visitors and scientists alike for so many years, became less of a mystery after a discovery announced to the world this week.
A stone circle discovered near Stonehenge may suggest the prehistoric monument was part of a funeral route.
Archaeologists have unearthed a new stone circle near Stonehenge that lends credence to the theory that the famous prehistoric monument in Britain was part of a funeral complex.
University of Bristol archaeologist Joshua Pollard described the new find as "incredible" because it establishes Stonehenge as part of a larger ceremonial complex linked to the nearby River Avon.
"No one could have predicted there was another stone circle so close by," said Pollard, co-director of the excavation project that began in 2004.
This, he said, changes the perception of the popular tourist destination 90 miles west of London.
The new find, dubbed "Bluestonehenge" after the color of the 25 Welsh stones of which it was once composed, sits along the Avon a mile away from its famous sister circle, Pollard said.
Neolithic peoples would have come down river by boat and literally stepped off into Bluestonehenge, Pollard said. They may have congregated at certain times of the year, including the winter solstice, and carried remains of the dead from Bluestonehenge down an almost two-mile funeral processional route to a cemetery at Stonehenge to bury them.
"It could be that Bluestonehenge was where the dead began their final journey to Stonehenge," said Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at the University of Sheffield who co-directed the project with Pollard.
"Not many people know that Stonehenge was Britain's largest burial ground at that time," he said. "Maybe the blue stone circle is where people were cremated before their ashes were buried at Stonehenge itself."
Proof of life artifacts -- pottery, animal bones, food residues and flint tools used in the Stone Age -- are decidedly absent at Stonehenge but were found upstream in a village discovered by the excavation team in 2005, leading researchers to believe that Stonehenge was indeed a burial ground.
But people have debated the purpose of Stonehenge for decades.
Known for its orientation in relation to the rising and setting sun, the circle of stones represented a prehistoric temple to some. Others argued it was an astronomical observatory. Or that it was a marker of time.
But Pollard is sticking to his theory. He said others have not based their suppositions on archaeological finds.
Archaeologists began the latest excavation with the hope of tracking the course of the avenue that led to Stonehenge. They had no idea they would stumble upon a second circle that would help uncover the mystery of Stonehenge.
The stones at Bluestonehenge were removed thousands of years ago, Pollard said, but the sizes of the remaining pits, about 33 feet in diameter, point to giant blue stones from the Preseli Mountains of Wales, about 150 miles away.
Pollard said that Neolithic people dragged the pillarlike blue stones along the processional route to Stonehenge to incorporate them in a major rebuilding that took place around 2500 B.C. Archaeologists know that after 2500, Stonehenge consisted of about 60 Welsh stones and 83 local sarsen stones.
Some of the blue stones that once stood on the river's edge probably now stand within the center of Stonehenge, Pollard said. Scientists plan to use radiocarbon dating techniques to better understand the history of the entire site.
Stonehenge remains as striking as ever. But with each new find, the enigma fades just a little. | [
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(CNN) -- Stop, speed racers, stop.
Police say the cars were pulled over on a dangerous stretch of Highway 18 near Grand Ronde, Oregon.
So said Oregon State Senior Trooper David Petersen after he was able to catch up with six exotic sports cars on a stretch of Highway 18 near Grand Ronde on Thursday, according to a news release.
Perhaps a more amazing feat was that he stopped all the cars simultaneously.
"They just were all good little soldiers and pulled right over," Oregon State Police spokesman Lt. Gregg Hastings told CNN.
One of the drivers was later cited again on a different highway.
The drivers of the cars -- consisting of Ferraris, a Lamborghini and an Acura NSX -- told Petersen they were part of a group of 20 similar cars making an annual road trip, the news release said.
They were all cordial and cooperative, and were cited with speed racing, a class A traffic violation that can command a fine of $627, Hastings said.
After receiving reports Thursday morning that several sports cars were speeding and passing in no-pass zones west of Grand Ronde, Petersen set up east of the casino town, near McMinnville, and waited.
Five of the cars soon blew past him, running about 100 mph in a 55-mph zone, Hastings said. As Petersen pulled onto Highway 18 in pursuit, a sixth car passed him.
"I guess when you're going too fast, you're in a rock and a hard place," Hastings said.
Highway 18 runs from Dayton, Oregon, in the Willamette Valley to the Pacific coast. The stretch where the cars were cited is considered particularly dangerous and the Oregon Department of Transportation provides additional funding to enforce traffic laws there, Hastings said.
About two hours after the incident, another trooper pulled over the Lamborghini from the group in Multnomah Falls, about 90 miles east. The driver of the car, which bore the the license plate "BADBUL," was cited for driving 90 in a 65-mph zone, according to a news release. | [
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(CNN) -- Storms that killed two people in northern Georgia spread Saturday night into South Carolina, where possible tornadoes downed trees, blew roofs off homes and broke power lines, weather forecasters said.
There was heavy damage in Prosperity, South Carolina, where residents reported seeing a tornado touch down, said Newberry County sheriff's Capt. Todd Johnson. Prosperity is 40 miles northwest of Columbia.
A woman was severely injured when a tree fell on her trailer, trapping her inside, Johnson said.
About 56,000 customers remained without power Sunday morning after storms swept through Savannah knocking out power while the coastal Georgia city was in the midst of its St. Patrick's Day celebrations, said Carol Boatwright of Georgia Power.
Damage was reported Saturday night in the counties of Newberry, McCormick, Edgefield, Lexington, Aiken and Kershaw.
"We have numerous reports of tornadoes touching down. There is a lot of damage, and we are unable to respond to all of the calls," a dispatcher for the Aiken County Sheriff's Department said.
Meanwhile, the storm danger passed in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. A Friday night tornado packing winds of up to 135 miles per hour cut a path 6 miles long and 200 yards wide through downtown in less than 30 minutes. Watch a flyover of a damaged area in Georgia »
There was heavy damage to many structures, including the CNN world headquarters. On Saturday, windows were still popping out from a high-rise nearby. Heavy rain and hail passed through in the afternoon. Watch video of storm damage in Georgia »
Two people died in northern Georgia on Saturday as waves of dangerous thunderstorms pounded the area, and storms continued into Saturday night. A possible tornado destroyed mobile homes in Jefferson County, and another possible tornado was reported in Clarke County, where Athens is located, the weather service reported.
A woman died and her husband was seriously injured when a tornado leveled their home in the Live Oak community, just north of Aragon, Polk County officials said. Aragon is about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Watch damage in Polk County »
Aragon police were assessing damage when they found the house about 12:30 p.m., Polk County Police Chief Kenneth Dodd said. The part-brick, part-frame home was reduced to rubble.
The injured man was taken to a Rome, Georgia, hospital, Dodd said.
Five dead dogs were found in a nearby field, and other injured animals were taken to an animal control agency, he said.
A family across the street from the couple's home lost part of their roof. Another person was seriously injured elsewhere, said Thomas Wilson, Polk County's 911 director.
The second fatality was in Floyd County, about 7 miles southeast of Lindale in the Wax community, where a possible tornado struck about 4:30 p.m., said Scotty Hancock, the county emergency management director. Watch damage in Floyd County »
The National Weather Service estimated that 20 homes were destroyed in the area.
Damage was also reported in Taylorsville and Cartersville, about 40 miles northwest of Atlanta, and suspected tornado touchdowns were reported in Gainesville in Hall County, near Homer in Banks County and near Maysville in Jackson County.
A tornado was also reported in northern Forsyth County, sheriff's Capt. Michael Honiker said. At least one structure fire was reported, he said.
Hail nearly 3 inches in diameter was reported in Dawsonville, the National Weather Service said.
There were 41,000 people without power statewide Saturday evening, according to Georgia Power.
Saturday's severe weather followed an EF-2 tornado, with top winds of up to 135 mph that ripped through downtown Atlanta on Friday night. There were no fatalities, and only one serious injury was reported.
Rain, wind and hail caused additional power outages Saturday in the Atlanta area and triggered delays of more than an hour for flights leaving Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, according to an airport spokesman. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Audrey Irvine contributed to this report. | [
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] | question: Who could not respond to calls?, answer: Aiken County Sheriff's Department | question: What kind of storm was it?, answer: tornado | question: Who was affected?, answer: 56,000 customers | question: What counties reported deaths?, answer: Polk County | question: what happened?, answer: Storms that killed two people | question: What caused damage inProsperity, South Carolina?, answer: possible tornadoes | question: What followed the EF-2 tornado?, answer: severe weather | question: What caused heavy damage in Prosperity?, answer: tornado | question: What EF was the previous tornado?, answer: EF-2 |
(CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, facing an international arrest warrant, is paying the price for pandering to the West, al Qaeda's second-in-command said in an audio statement released Tuesday.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, seen here in 2007, said Tuesday the Sudanese president pandered to the West.
"I am not defending Omar al-Bashir or his regime, nor am I defending what it has done in Darfur and elsewhere," Ayman al-Zawahiri said in the statement released by al Qaeda's production company, as-Sahab Media.
But, he said, "the issue isn't one of Darfur and solving its problems; the issue is one of making excuses for more foreign interference in the Muslims' countries in the framework of the contemporary Zionist Crusade."
The warrant issued by the International Criminal Court earlier this month accuses al-Bashir of war crimes and crimes against humanity, charges he denies. In response, Sudan ordered 13 international aid groups to leave the country, groups that the United Nations says provide roughly half the assistance delivered in Darfur.
"The Bashir regime is reaping what it sowed," al-Zawahiri said. "For many long years, it continued to back down and backtrack in front of American Crusader pressure."
He further accused Sudan of expelling members of the mujahedeen who had sought refuge there, particularly Osama bin Laden, and declaring "in an audacious lie that they had left voluntarily, then attempting to beg payment for that from the Saudi regime and the Americans."
Al-Zawahiri asked, "Why hasn't the United Nations moved to protect the Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli barbarity and criminality, while it pretends to cry over the suffering of the people of Darfur? Why hasn't the United Nations and the international community intervened to lift the siege from Gaza, while it pretends to cry over the people of Darfur being deprived of relief and aid?"
"The Sudanese regime continued to pant for American approval, and it agreed to the division of the Sudan, paved the way for the imminent secession of the south, provided all the information it had on the emigrants and mujahedeen to the American government, and handed over some of them to the regimes of treason and criminality in their countries," al-Zawahiri said.
"But despite all that, the senior criminals weren't satisfied with it and continued to besiege it with demands and interference, even going so far as to demand the arrest of its leaders and prominent figures."
He said he wants to send a message to Muslims in Sudan, telling them they are being targeted so that Islam can be eliminated from the country. "And in order for Islam to be eliminated from the Sudan, a justification must be found for Western military intervention," he said.
The audio message is the fifth released this year by al-Zawahiri and the fourth in English, according to Virginia-based IntelCenter.
The center said on its Web site it focuses "on studying terrorist groups and other threat actors ... and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it." | [
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] | question: Who is accused of war crimes?, answer: Omar al-Bashir | question: What did he question the UN about?, answer: "Why hasn't the United Nations moved to protect the Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli barbarity and criminality, while it pretends to cry over the suffering of the people of Darfur? Why hasn't the United Nations and the international community intervened to lift the siege from Gaza, while it pretends to cry over the people of Darfur being deprived of relief and aid?" | question: Who was expelled?, answer: 13 international aid groups | question: What did Ayman say?, answer: the Sudanese president pandered to the West. | question: who did Sudan expell, answer: members of the mujahedeen | question: whose regime does Ayman al-Zawahiri say he isn't defending, answer: Omar al-Bashir | question: Who said he is not defending Sudanese regime?, answer: Ayman al-Zawahiri |
(CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, facing an international arrest warrant, is paying the price for pandering to the West, al Qaeda's second-in-command said in an audio statement released Tuesday.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, seen here in 2007, said Tuesday the Sudanese president pandered to the West.
"I am not defending Omar al-Bashir or his regime, nor am I defending what it has done in Darfur and elsewhere," Ayman al-Zawahiri said in the statement released by al Qaeda's production company, as-Sahab Media.
But, he said, "the issue isn't one of Darfur and solving its problems; the issue is one of making excuses for more foreign interference in the Muslims' countries in the framework of the contemporary Zionist Crusade."
The warrant issued by the International Criminal Court earlier this month accuses al-Bashir of war crimes and crimes against humanity, charges he denies. In response, Sudan ordered 13 international aid groups to leave the country, groups that the United Nations says provide roughly half the assistance delivered in Darfur.
"The Bashir regime is reaping what it sowed," al-Zawahiri said. "For many long years, it continued to back down and backtrack in front of American Crusader pressure."
He further accused Sudan of expelling members of the mujahedeen who had sought refuge there, particularly Osama bin Laden, and declaring "in an audacious lie that they had left voluntarily, then attempting to beg payment for that from the Saudi regime and the Americans."
Al-Zawahiri asked, "Why hasn't the United Nations moved to protect the Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli barbarity and criminality, while it pretends to cry over the suffering of the people of Darfur? Why hasn't the United Nations and the international community intervened to lift the siege from Gaza, while it pretends to cry over the people of Darfur being deprived of relief and aid?"
"The Sudanese regime continued to pant for American approval, and it agreed to the division of the Sudan, paved the way for the imminent secession of the south, provided all the information it had on the emigrants and mujahedeen to the American government, and handed over some of them to the regimes of treason and criminality in their countries," al-Zawahiri said.
"But despite all that, the senior criminals weren't satisfied with it and continued to besiege it with demands and interference, even going so far as to demand the arrest of its leaders and prominent figures."
He said he wants to send a message to Muslims in Sudan, telling them they are being targeted so that Islam can be eliminated from the country. "And in order for Islam to be eliminated from the Sudan, a justification must be found for Western military intervention," he said.
The audio message is the fifth released this year by al-Zawahiri and the fourth in English, according to Virginia-based IntelCenter.
The center said on its Web site it focuses "on studying terrorist groups and other threat actors ... and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it." | [
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] | question: What is President Omar Hassan al-Bashir accused of?, answer: war crimes and crimes against humanity, | question: Who cares so little about Gaza?, answer: United Nations | question: Who says he is not defending the Sudanese regime?, answer: Ayman al-Zawahiri | question: Who is not defending the regime?, answer: Ayman al-Zawahiri | question: Who does Al-Zawahiri say Sudan expelled?, answer: members of the mujahedeen | question: What organization cares about Darfur, but not Gaza?, answer: United Nations | question: What terrorist did Sudan expel?, answer: members of the mujahedeen | question: Who was accused of war crimes?, answer: al-Bashir |
(CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who faces charges of crimes against humanity, visited Zimbabwe on Sunday for a regional trade meeting.
Sudan president Omar al-Bashir is the first head of state ever indicted by the ICC.
Al-Bashir landed Saturday in the capital, Harare, for the two-day African leaders' summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on March 4, accusing him of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in his government's campaign against rebels in Darfur in western Sudan.
It was the first arrest warrant for a sitting head of state by the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, based at The Hague in the Netherlands.
Sudan expelled 13 international aid agencies from the Darfur region after the warrant was issued.
Al-Bashir has denied the charges, calling them an attempt by Western powers to recolonize Sudan.
The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 after rebels in the western region of Sudan began attacking government positions. The government responded with a fierce military campaign that has left about 300,000 dead and more than 2.5 million displaced, the United Nations estimates.
The International Criminal Court has no arrest powers and depends on its 106-member states to take suspects into custody.
Al-Bashir has visited other counties, including Qatar and Ethiopia, since the warrant was issued.
In Zimbabwe, the summit will be at the Victoria Falls, a popular tourism spot on the Zambezi River. Sudan is a member of the trade group, which consists of 19 African nations. | [
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(CNN) -- Sue Compton is having a pretty sweet day. She's a newly minted millionaire, courtesy of her Pillsbury Bake-Off win, announced live Wednesday morning on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Her original recipe for Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups took top honors in the 44th annual contest.
The winning baker said it wasn't a stove-slaving process of trial and error for her.
"Just once and done. For real. It just came together and I'm very lucky."
She sought inspiration from the list of potential ingredients required by Pillsbury -- eligible recipes must include two, in specified minimum quantities -- and wandered the aisles of her local market.
"The ideas came as a result of trying to combine ingredients I thought would taste good together," she said.
iReport: Share your bake sale memories and recipes
Compton said she doesn't anticipate getting tired of serving up her now-signature dish -- "I like desserts a lot, and you don't see people getting tired of cookies or ice cream" -- or making a foray into the professional baking arena. "I don't see living my life any differently. I'd just like to put the money toward my retirement."
The Delanco, New Jersey, woman took the top prize by whisking past stiff competition like Evelyn Henderson's Salmon Pecan-Crusted Tartlets, Kellie White's Zesty Lime Fish Tacos and Niki Plourde's Tomato Basil Eggs Alfredo in Bread Baskets.
Contestants, who must be amateurs, have been tossing their toques into the ring since the Bake-Off's inception in 1949. That year, Theodora Smafield of Rockford, Illinois, took home $50,000 for her No-Knead Water-Rising Twists recipe -- a sum doubled from the advertised $25,000 pot by a promotional token that she'd run across two months before.
Though her initial win stirred a national obsession with the contest, it still took 44 years for a man -- Kurt Wait -- to rise to the top with a Macadamia Fudge Torte in 1996.
The finished dishes are judged on taste, appearance, creativity and consumer appeal.
Here is the winning recipe for Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups:
Servings:
Makes 24 tartlets
Ingredients:
• 1 package (16 ounces) Pillsbury Ready to Bake refrigerated sugar cookies (24 cookies)
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 1/3 cup finely chopped Fisher Chef's Naturals walnuts
• ½ cup Hershey's semisweet chocolate baking chips
• ¼ cup Smucker's Seedless Red Raspberry Jam
• 1½ cups vanilla bean ice cream, softened
• 24 fresh raspberries
Prep time: 20 minutes. Start to finish: 45 minutes
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with Crisco Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Place a cookie dough round in each muffin cup. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Place 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a small bowl. Dip the end of a wooden spoon handle in the sugar and carefully press into the center of each cookie to make a 1-inch-wide indentation. Cool completely in a pan for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix walnuts and remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar, then set aside. In a small microwaveable bowl, microwave chocolate chips uncovered on high for 30 to 60 seconds, stirring after 30 seconds, until smooth.
Run a knife around the edges of the cups to loosen, and gently remove them from the pan. Dip the rim of each cup into the melted chocolate, then into the walnut mixture. Place the walnut side up on a cookie sheet with sides.
In another small microwaveable bowl, microwave the jam uncovered on high for about 15 seconds until melted. Spoon a half-teaspoon of jam into each cup. Freeze cups for about five minutes or until the chocolate is set.
Spoon the ice cream into the cups, using a small cookie scoop or measuring tablespoon. Top each cup with a fresh raspberry. Store in the freezer, then let stand at room temperature for five minutes before | [
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] | question: what was the name of the competition?, answer: Pillsbury Bake-Off | question: Who won Pillsbury bake off?, answer: Sue Compton | question: What was the winner's name?, answer: Sue Compton | question: Who won the competition?, answer: Sue Compton | question: What did they create?, answer: Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups | question: What did the winner create?, answer: Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups |
(CNN) -- Swedish golfer Henrik Stenson carded a solid 69 in the opening round of the WGC-CA Championship but it was his highly unusual recovery shot on the 12th on the Blue Monster course at Doral which raised more than a few eyebrows.
Stenson did not leave much to the imagination with his Doral antics.
Stenson stripped down to the bare essentials -- a pair of white boxer shorts -- before wading into the mud to hack out his ball after an wayward tee shot.
The watching galleries could hardly believe their eyes as the tall Swede peeled off his clothes.
"Shirt, trousers, socks, shoes, hat, the lot was off," he told the Press Association.
"Because of the mud I couldn't really afford to play in any of my clothes as they would have been a real mess down the last six or so holes so I had no option," Stenson explained.
After getting the ball back on to the fairway, Stenson eventually made a one-over par bogey on the hole when he could have dropped at least two shots by taking a drop.
"If you are saving a shot, that has to be worth taking your shirt and trousers," he added.
What do you think of Stenson's cheeky recovery shot ?
The incident proved the main talking point on the day that Tiger Woods made his return to strokeplay golf and 32-year-old Stenson jokingly said it might offer a new avenue for sponsorships.
"Absolutely, you never know, after this I might have a new endorsement with PlayGirl or something like that."
European Ryder Cup star Stenson is playing for the $1.4 million first prize in the tournament in Florida which has an elite 81-strong field.
His recovery shot evoked memories of the last-hole drama at the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie when tournament leader Jean Van de Velde waded into the Barry Burn after taking off his shoes and socks.
The Frenchman at least spared the blushes of the crowds by keeping on his clothes but he made a hash of hole and lost his chance of winning the famous major. | [
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(CNN) -- Tamil Tiger rebels acknowledged the death of their leader Sunday, nearly a week after the Sri Lankan government said it had recovered the body of Velupillai Prabhakaran and declared victory in the country's 25-year civil war with the rebels.
In this picture taken 27 November 2003, Velupillai Prabhakaran stands next to an LTTE flag.
Prabhakaran "attained martyrdom fighting the military oppression of the Sri Lankan state" on May 17, according to Tamilnet.com, a rebel Web site, citing the group's international affairs spokesman.
On Tuesday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared victory against the Tamil Tigers.
"We are celebrating the defeat of terrorism," he said in a nationally televised speech before parliament. "We have won and restored democracy in the country."
The president declared a national holiday for the following day to celebrate the war's end and begin a new phase in the country's history. Watch the victory parade »
A short time after the presidential address, the military announced that it had recovered the body of Prabhakaran, leader and founder of the Tamil Tigers.
The rebels initially denied the death of their leader, claiming on Tamilnet.com that Prabhakaran was "alive and safe."
The defense ministry said the bodies of Prabhakaran and 18 other senior rebel leaders were among corpses found in mop-up operations, after government troops routed the Tigers -- formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The leaders included Prabhakaran's eldest son, Charles Anthony, as well as Pottu Amman, the Tigers' intelligence leader, according to the ministry. Watch the U.N. chief discuss the humanitarian crisis »
Prabhakaran founded the Tamil Tigers, who have been declared a terrorist organization by 32 countries. It initiated the use of women in suicide attacks and, according to the FBI, invented the explosive suicide belt.
Prabhakaran is accused of masterminding the killing of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 in the Tamil-dominated Indian state of Tami Nadu. Sri Lankan authorities allege that Prabhakaran was avenging Gandhi's decision to send Indian peacekeepers to Sri Lanka.
Two years later, a Tigers suicide bomber, allegedly acting on Prabhakaran's orders, detonated explosives that killed Sri Lanka's then-president, Ranasinghe Premadasa, during a rally.
The rebels have fought for an independent state for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka since July 1983. An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people have died during the quarter century of fighting. | [
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] | question: how many people have died during the quarter century of fighting?, answer: An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 | question: What is the name of the rebel group?, answer: Tamil Tiger | question: Who declared victory?, answer: Sri Lankan government | question: how many have died, answer: An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 | question: what did the rebels acknowledge, answer: the death of their leader | question: Which leader died?, answer: Velupillai Prabhakaran | question: Who said they recovered his body?, answer: Sri Lankan government | question: Who was their leader who died?, answer: Velupillai Prabhakaran | question: what did the government declare, answer: victory in the country's 25-year civil war with the rebels. | question: How many people have died during the quarter century of fighting?, answer: 70,000 to 80,000 | question: Who was the leader of the Tamil Tigers?, answer: Velupillai Prabhakaran | question: Estimated amount of people that have died in coflict?, answer: 70,000 to 80,000 | question: Which government declared victory?, answer: Sri Lankan | question: What is the name of the Tamil Tiger leader?, answer: Velupillai Prabhakaran | question: The government of which country declared victory over the rebels?, answer: Sri Lankan |
(CNN) -- Ten co-workers from New Jersey say they will split a $216 million Mega Millions jackpot, thanks to the five bucks they each kicked into a pool.
Melanie Jacob, Linda Harrington and Bob Space, who bought the tickets, are three of the lucky winners.
The 10, who work for Chubb Commercial Insurance in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, held a news conference Wednesday to announce their win.
Bob Space of Toms River, New Jersey, held up a lottery ticket that clearly showed the winning numbers from Tuesday's drawing: 26, 32, 35, 43, 52 and 10.
"I checked and I rechecked and then I sent it to my wife," said Space, who purchased 50 sets of lottery numbers for himself and his nine co-workers from a Singin Oil gas station near his house on Monday. Watch man describe buying winning ticket »
Space went to work as usual on Wednesday morning, playing it coy.
"I got an e-mail," said Todd Ellis, the company's chief information officer. "It said, 'We won the big one' and then he just put the numbers down."
Joanne Roth got the same e-mail.
"I thought we won $4, because last week we won $7," she said. "I said, 'Don't mess with me.' "
Space played hardball with co-worker Oscar Oviedo, who hadn't paid him yet for his share of the lottery tickets.
"This morning, I come into work early with him," said Oviedo, who soon received an instant message from Space. "I got a surprise for you. Come over," the message said.
Oviedo went to Space's cubicle.
"He's like, 'You got my money?' " Oviedo said he thought, "Wow, that was rude," but paid up. Space shook his hand and said: "Now you're a millionaire."
They aren't officially millionaires at this point, because the winning ticket hasn't been presented to lottery officials yet.
"In due time," Space said. "We have a year." But another Chubb employee said they'll cash in their ticket soon.
"If you have that winning ticket ... please sign the back of the ticket, put it in a safe place and seek legal and financial advice before you come to talk to us," New Jersey Lottery spokesman Dominick DeMarco said at the news conference, held at the gas station where the winning ticket was sold. "Be careful with it."
None of the co-workers, who have been with Chubb for seven to 30 years, said they had immediate plans to quit. The ticket is worth an estimated $216 million if the money is paid out over 26 years, or about $140 million if they choose an immediate cash payout.
"It relieves a lot of stress ... and it also gives a nice cushion to be able to help the people we want to help," Ellis said. "I feel incredibly blessed. I can't even absorb it at this point."
Roth, recently divorced, said she'll pay off her bills. "I'm shocked. ... The whole thing is cool."
Mega Millions is played in 12 states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington. | [
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(CNN) -- Tenants of apartments in Pacifica, California, were under evacuation Thursday after erosion threatened the cliff on which their building sits, a city official said.
Authorities have been watching the seaside building for years and were waiting for the erosion to reach a 12-foot safety zone behind it, said Doug Rider, a building official for Pacifica. The problem has reached that zone, he said, so officials notified the building's management and tenants began evacuating.
The building is stable, so tenants are able to remove belongings from the apartments, Rider said. Police, fire and other local authorities are assisting residents, along with the city's Building Department, he said.
All residents of the 12-unit building must be out by 5 p.m. PT Thursday, he told CNN affiliate KGO-TV in San Francisco, California.
KGO reported a large chunk of land fell from the cliff into the Pacific Ocean about 5:30 a.m. PT Thursday.
Two nearby buildings also face questions about their structural reliability but are not being evacuated, the station reported.
Pacifica is about 15 miles southwest of San Francisco.
CNN's Sara Pratley contributed to this report. | [
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(CNN) -- Tennis ace Roger Federer has given his unfailing support to his "good friend" Tiger Woods as the embattled golfer attempts to restore his reputation.
Federer believes the "worst has passed" for Tiger after his very public apology to a world wide television audience.
Woods fought back the tears as he admitted he had cheated on his wife Elin, but surprised observers by not setting any date for his return to golf ahead of major tournaments later this year, although he subsequently announced he would return for the U.S. masters in April.
It's time to give Tiger some peace
But Federer told The Gulf News that whatever the future held, Woods would remain his friend.
"What's happened to him has been hard to watch over the last three months right down to when he made his apology. I am sure he's headed in a better direction now," he added.
Federer, who has appeared in a well-known advertisement for Gillette with Woods and football star Thierry Henry, went on:
"The worst has passed. I hope that he can also work things out with his wife Elin because they are very nice people - obviously for the sake of their kids as well."
But Federer admitted he had not spoken to Woods since the November car crash which set in chain a stream of revelations about the American's private life.
"I have supported him, but I haven't had any contact with him," added the Swiss maestro, who was forced to withdraw from the Dubai Open with a lung infection which is set to sideline him for several weeks.
"It's been hard to watch from far away but I would love to see him back on the golf course. It is what he does best," added the 16-time grand slam winner. | [
"What commercials have they appeared in?",
"Who is Federer's friend?",
"Who publically apologized?",
"What company did the player appear in ads for?",
"Which friend is backing up the golfer?",
"What company does Federer advertise for?",
"Roger Federer and Tiger woods are what?",
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] | [
"Gillette",
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] | question: What commercials have they appeared in?, answer: Gillette | question: Who is Federer's friend?, answer: Tiger Woods | question: Who publically apologized?, answer: Tiger Woods | question: What company did the player appear in ads for?, answer: Gillette | question: Which friend is backing up the golfer?, answer: Roger Federer | question: What company does Federer advertise for?, answer: Gillette | question: Roger Federer and Tiger woods are what?, answer: "good friend" | question: What did the golfer admit to?, answer: he had cheated on his wife Elin, |
(CNN) -- Tennis officials reacted with disappointment on Wednesday to Andre Agassi's revelation that he had used a banned drug and then lied about it to avoid a ban.
Agassi's admission that he took the stimulant crystal meth in 1997 will come in a soon to be published autobiography which is being serialized by The Times of London.
He avoided a three-month suspension by claiming in a letter to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) that he failed a doping test because a drink had been 'spiked' with the crystal meth.
Under today's anti-doping rules, the American legend could have faced a two-year ban from the circuit.
The ATP issued a statement Wednesday in which it said that an independent panel would make the final decision on a doping violation.
"The ATP has always followed this rule, and no executive at the ATP has therefore had the authority or ability to decide the outcome of an anti-doping matter," the statement read.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president John Fahey said they could not take retrospective action against the eight-time grand slam winner because of its eight-year statute of limitations, but demanded the ATP investigate fully.
"WADA would, however, expect the ATP, which administered its own anti-doping program at that time, to shed light on this allegation," Fahey said in a statement.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) took over responsibility for the ATP's doping program in 2006 and its president Francesco Ricci Bitti said that Agassi's revelations showed that a tough anti-doping program was needed.
Agassi did find strong support from Nicolas Hayek, chairman of Swatch Group, for whom Agassi acts as an ambassador.
He told CNN that his company would stick with the 39-year-old Agassi in his current role.
"He's admitted a mistake and it's fine with us," he said. | [
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] | [
"an independent panel would make the final decision on a doping violation.",
"autobiography which is being serialized by The Times of London.",
"eight-year",
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] | question: what says ATP?, answer: an independent panel would make the final decision on a doping violation. | question: What show doping revelations?, answer: autobiography which is being serialized by The Times of London. | question: how long is the statute of limitations, answer: eight-year | question: who can't take action, answer: World Anti-Doping Agency |
(CNN) -- The American Civil Liberties Union is pushing for a quick legal decision, hoping to save a high school prom that was allegedly canceled because two lesbians wanted to attend it together.
The rights group filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against a Mississippi school district and high school in federal court Tuesday over the April 2 prom.
The case will be argued before a federal judge in Mississippi on March 22, the ACLU said.
The showdown stems from a complaint by 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who said she was told not to bring her girlfriend to the prom or wear a tuxedo.
The prom was canceled after the ACLU demanded that McMillen's high school change its policy.
"I never thought the school would try to cancel the prom and hurt everyone just to keep me and my girlfriend from going together," McMillen said in an ACLU news release. "A lot of people have made really generous offers to pay for a prom somewhere else, which I really appreciate. But all I've ever wanted was to be able to just go to my own school's prom with my girlfriend."
The motion filed Tuesday is part of a lawsuit that the ACLU has filed against the Itawamba County School District and Itawamba Agricultural High School.
At the center of the lawsuit is a memorandum from the school to students, dated February 5, which says that prom dates must be of the opposite sex.
Also, when McMillen expressed a desire to wear a tuxedo to the prom, the district superintendent told her only male students were allowed to wear them, according to court documents.
Superintendent Teresa McNeece also told McMillen that she and her girlfriend could be ejected from the prom if other students complained about their presence, according to the documents.
School district officials could not be reached for comment. But the county's board of education said in a statement last week that "Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year."
The ACLU aims to change that.
"We are determined to get the prom back on the calendar and open to all students," said ACLU lawyer Christine Sun. "What this case comes down to is the school taking the extraordinary measure of canceling the prom, rather than live up to its legal obligation to fairly treat all students who want to come to it." | [
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] | question: What is the date of the case?, answer: March 22, | question: Who will it be argued before?, answer: a federal judge in Mississippi | question: Which group filed a motion?, answer: The American Civil Liberties Union | question: When will the case take place?, answer: March 22, | question: Who files against the school district?, answer: rights group | question: Which school district is subject to the injunction?, answer: Mississippi | question: What did the group file with the court?, answer: a motion for a preliminary injunction against a Mississippi school district and high school |
(CNN) -- The Beijing Olympics has lost one of its major attractions after Maria Sharapova pulled out of the tennis tournament with a shoulder injury.
Sharapova has treatment for a shoulder injury that has ruled her out of Olympics.
The Russian world number three sustained the injury in beating Marta Domachowska of Poland at the WTA tournament in Montreal and immediately underwent an MRI scan to determine the extent of the problem.
The result was not encouraging and Sharapova told her official Web site of her disappointment.
"I'm currently packing up real quick to hop on a plane to New York for a second opinion (on the injury) but I wanted to let you all know first that there is no chance of me competing in Beijing," she said.
"The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything."
It is another shattering setback for 21-year Sharapova who started the year with a brilliant victory at the Australian Open but has since been struggling with injury and loss of form.
Wednesday's match in Montreal was her first since a disappointing exit from Wimbledon. "After the match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder," she added.
Sharapova's appearance in the final grand slam of the season at the U.S. Open, which takes place almost immediately after the Beijing Games, must also be in serious doubt.
Sharapova joins a growing list of Beijing casualties, including Athens silver medallist Amelie Mauresmo and fellow Frenchwoman Mary Pierce.
Meanwhile, Vera Zvonareva will replace Sharapova in the Russian team for Beijing, spokesman Vladimir Kamelzon has confirmed. | [
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] | question: Where is the final grand slam?, answer: U.S. Open, | question: What is the venue of the final grand slam?, answer: U.S. Open, | question: What injury did Sharapova have?, answer: shoulder | question: WHy did Sharapova withdraw?, answer: a shoulder injury. | question: Who withdrew from the Olympics?, answer: Maria Sharapova | question: Who aggravated the injury?, answer: Maria Sharapova | question: Who withdrew from the Beijing Olympics?, answer: Maria Sharapova | question: What caused Maria Sharapova to withdraw from play in Beijing?, answer: shoulder injury. |
(CNN) -- The Brazilian military said late Friday it is calling off the search for bodies of passengers and crew from the Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic earlier this month.
Wreckage from Flight 447 spotted by search teams in the Atlantic last week.
It was unlikely that any more bodies would be found, the military said.
So far, search teams have found 51 of the 228 people who died when Air France Flight 447 plunged into the sea June 1, according to the military.
They have also found more than 600 parts and structural components of the plane, along with luggage, the military said.
The bodies were handed to Brazilian authorities for identification while the debris and luggage were given to French aviation investigators, the military said.
In the 26 days of the search operation, the Brazilian air force used 12 planes along with aircraft from France, the United States and Spain, the military said. The Brazilian navy used 11 ships.
Ships remain in the search area hundreds of miles northeast of Brazil in an effort to find the flight data recorders, the Brazilian military said.
Last week investigators said they were running out of time to find the recorders which could prove crucial to working out what caused the disaster.
Officials remain in the dark about what caused the airliner to plunge into the sea off the coast of Brazil. The wreckage is believed to be about 15,000 feet (4,500 meters) deep, amid underwater mountains and mixed in with tons of sea trash.
A French submarine and other vessels are searching for black boxes by attempting to trace their locator beacons, which send out acoustic pulses, or "pings," to searchers.
The U.S. Navy has contributed two high-tech acoustic devices -- known as towed pinger locators -- which have been attached to French tug boats and can search to a maximum depth of 20,000ft (6,100 meters).
The firm which makes the recorders, Honeywell Aerospace, has told CNN it has a 100 percent recovery record from air accidents.
Honeywell said it was hard to estimate how much battery life the locator beacon on the recorders had, as it depended on the conditions, but it is typically around 30 days.
One recorder taped radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit, such as the pilot's voices and engine noises.
Sounds of interest could be engine noise, stall warnings, landing gear extension and retraction, and other clicks and pops. From these sounds engine revs per minute, system failures, speed and the time at which certain events occurred could often be determined, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
CNN's Claudia Dominguez in Atlanta, Georgia, contributed to this report. | [
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] | question: What are investigators still trying to find?, answer: the flight data recorders, | question: How many people were on board the plane?, answer: 228 | question: How far down in the Atlantic seabed?, answer: 15,000 feet (4,500 meters) deep, | question: How many of those people were found?, answer: 51 | question: Of the 228 people who died how many were found?, answer: 51 | question: Which military?, answer: Brazilian |
(CNN) -- The Coast Guard ended its search Tuesday for two professional football players and a third man lost at sea, leaving the families to cope with unknown fates of the men and to organize a private search.
Loved ones of one of the missing boaters react Tuesday to the news the Coast Guard's search would end.
"There's a lot of things we have to come to grips with -- we've all agreed unanimously we won't give up hope," said Bruce Cooper, father of Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper.
Cooper, NFL free agent Corey Smith and former college football player William Bleakley are missing, with authorities believing a fishing boat carrying them and a fourth man overturned Saturday in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard search was called off at sundown Tuesday, about 6:30 p.m.
The fourth man, Nick Schuyler, was found alive and sitting atop the overturned boat about 40 miles west of Egmont Key, Florida, on Monday afternoon.
Cooper's father and his friend, Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Terry "Tank" Johnson, praised the Coast Guard for its efforts, but said they would move forward with plans to organize their own search.
"What we're asking for is experienced aviation pilots" to volunteer for the mission, Johnson said. "We are looking only for experienced pilots ... we don't want another tragedy as we are searching."
Johnson said he had spoken to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and that "we have the support of the entire NFL" in continuing the search.
Neither the league nor Goodell commented on the missing players Tuesday, but Cooper's team, the Oakland Raiders, issued a statement saying the team continues to "closely monitor" the situation.
"We are aware that one of the passengers -- Nick Schuyler -- has been rescued and remain hopeful that the others ... will be located and rescued as well," it said. See photos of Schuyler's rescue »
The team for which Smith most recently played, the Detroit Lions, said: "While we still have that hope, we have begun to cope with the grim reality of this sad and tragic situation."
Earlier Tuesday, Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close announced the search would conclude in the evening, saying authorities were "extremely confident that if there were any [other] survivors on the surface of the water ... we would have found them." Watch the Coast Guard say it will call off the search »
Bruce Cooper said that when his family received the news that the Coast Guard search was ending, "It got very emotional." He said his son's wife, Rebekah, was trying to rest.
"She is likewise very emotional. She's got a lot of things going through her head, her 3-year-old daughter, for one," he said.
He also said despite his son's career as a pro football player, his first love was deep-sea fishing. "He definitely got lost in his element," Cooper said.
The four friends embarked on a fishing trip in a 21-foot single-engine boat from the Seminole Boat Ramp near Clearwater Pass about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard said.
Authorities launched a search for them early Sunday after friends and relatives realized the men had not returned.
Close said authorities believe the boat capsized around 5 p.m. Saturday as the men were trying to lift the boat's anchor.
The men were "not wearing life jackets at the time the boat capsized," he said earlier, but "immediately swam under the boat, recovered life jackets and managed to put them on."
The weather was calm when the trip began, but it worsened late Saturday into Sunday, Close said. He said he believed they were aware of the forecast.
Searchers scanned about 24,000 square miles of ocean in about 60 hours, Close said. Authorities found a life jacket and a cooler about 16 miles from where Schuyler and the boat were found Monday, Close said.
Schuyler is suffering from dehydration and hypothermia, making it difficult for him to speak | [
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] | [
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] | question: Who are Cooper and Smith?, answer: Oakland Raiders linebacker | question: Who is organizing a private search?, answer: the families | question: Who was the fourth boater rescued off the Florida coast?, answer: Nick Schuyler, | question: What was the reason for the boat trip., answer: fishing | question: Who organized a private search?, answer: the families | question: Who do the missing boaters include?, answer: Cooper, NFL free agent Corey Smith and former college football player William Bleakley are |
(CNN) -- The Cuban government, long the object of a U.S. economic blockade, is prepared to meet with the Obama administration, Cuba's leader said.
Raúl Castro says Cuba is willing "to discuss everything -- human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners.''
"We've told the North American government, in private and in public, that we are prepared, wherever they want, to discuss everything -- human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners -- everything, everything, everything that they want to discuss," Cuban President Raúl Castro said Thursday at a summit of leftist Latin American leaders in Venezuela.
The response came days after President Obama lifted all restrictions on the ability of American citizens to visit relatives in Cuba as well as to send them remittances. Travel restrictions for Americans of non-Cuban descent will remain in place.
This week's move represents a significant shift in a U.S. policy that had remained largely unchanged for nearly half a century. The U.S. government instituted the embargo three years after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.
In Mexico City for meetings with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Obama offered a carrot and a stick to Havana.
"What we're looking for is some signal that there are going to be changes in how Cuba operates that assures that political prisoners are released, that people can speak their minds freely, that they can travel, that they can write and attend church and do the things that people throughout the hemisphere can do and take for granted," he said.
"And if there is some sense of movement on those fronts in Cuba, then I think we can see a further thawing of relations and further changes."
Obama's gesture precedes a trip this week to Trinidad and Tobago for a key meeting of hemispheric powers -- the Summit of the Americas. Watch how Obama likely will hear about Cuba at the summit » | [
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(CNN) -- The Drug Enforcement Administration said Wednesday it's considering tighter restrictions on propofol, a drug reportedly found after Michael Jackson's death in the Holmby Hills, California, mansion he rented.
The Drug Enforcement Administration said Wednesday it's considering tighter restrictions on propofol.
"We were petitioned and have been been looking into it for the past two years," said DEA spokesman Rusty Payne, who added in response to a question that the inquiry had not been affected by the singer's death of cardiac arrest on June 25.
The agency is looking at designating the sedative as a "scheduled" drug, which would tighten restrictions on the its distribution and use.
Payne said he could not divulge anything related to the Jackson investigation, "but I can tell you that researchers making the decision about propofol would typically be interested in any information that would help them answer questions about the effects of propofol and its potential harm to the user."
Propofol, known by the trade name of Diprivan, is administered intravenously in operating rooms as a powerful anesthetic and sedative.
Payne said concern about the drug's potential for abuse led to the petition. But, he added, "as far as we know, this is not something that's been highly abused."
Payne said he did not know who had sought the change, adding, "Typically we would not make that public."
The process required to get a drug scheduled is a lengthy one, involving a number of agencies, he said.
"Lots of experts weigh in on questions such as potential for abuse, pharmacological effects, history and current patterns abuse," he said.
Nutritionist Cherilyn Lee has said Jackson pleaded for the drug as a sleep aid, despite being told of its potentially harmful effects.
And sources close to Jackson told CNN that the insomniac singer traveled with an anesthesiologist who would "take him down" at night and "bring him back up" during a world tour in the mid-1990s.
The Associated Press and The Los Angeles Times, citing unidentified sources, have reported that police found Diprivan among Jackson's medicines.
Officials have said that the exact cause of death and whether drug use may have been involved will not be determined until after toxicology tests are completed, which could be several weeks.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory, saying two lots of a generic version of the drug had tested positive for endotoxin, a contaminant. The drug maker, Teva Pharmaceuticals, voluntarily recalled the lots. No fatalities were reported.
A Teva spokeswoman said the DEA had contacted the drug maker "about a specific lot number, and that lot number is not from the two we are recalling."
Spokeswoman Denise Bradley would not say whether the contact was related to the Jackson investigation.
A DEA spokesman said he could not comment on any ongoing investigation.
In a written statement issued this month, the American Society of Anesthesiologists said it "unequivocally maintains that Diprivan, or its generic name propofol, is a drug meant only for use in a medical setting by professionals trained in the provision of general anesthesia.
"Though the drug is often used for procedures requiring sedation, patients can have extremely variable responses to the drug and some patients can become completely anesthetized, including losing the ability to breathe," the statement continued.
"Diprivan should never be used outside of a controlled and monitored medical setting. Use of the drug should be directly supervised by a physician trained in anesthesia and qualified to provide physiologic rescue should too much drug be given," the statement said. | [
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(CNN) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will decide this week whether to allow gays and lesbians who are not celibate to serve as clergy members and lay leaders, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Current Evangelical Lutheran Church policy allows gay and lesbian clergy, lay people to serve only if celibate.
Spokesman John Brooks said the church's 1,045 voting members, who are at a weeklong Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota, will vote Friday on whether to change its policy regarding gay clergy members.
The policy allows gays and lesbians to serve as clergy members and lay leaders if they are celibate, Brooks said. Heterosexual clergy are allowed to have sex within marriage.
The new policy would allow gays and lesbians in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships," to serve as clergy and lay leaders, according to the proposal.
Lay leaders are people other than clergy members who are on the professional rosters of the church.
A simple majority will decide the vote, Brooks said. He said there is a "wide range of opinions" on changing the policy.
The body is also scheduled to vote Wednesday on a social statement on sexuality that has been eight years in the making, he said.
"It's important for us because it informs the basis for policy," he said.
According to its Web site, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has 4.6 million members.
The church is not the only denomination that has dealt with the issue of gay clergy.
Last month, the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops voted by a wide margin to allow gays and lesbians to become bishops, Episcopal Life reported.
In April, the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted against allowing openly gay pastors to serve, according to the Presbyterian News Service. | [
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(CNN) -- The FBI in Seattle, Washington, is looking into allegations of civil rights violations in the case of a police officer caught on video kicking a Latino detainee, an agent said Wednesday.
The preliminary inquiry comes a day after the NAACP sent a letter to the King County prosecuting attorney's office requesting Seattle police Detective Shandy Cobane be charged with malicious harassment, a hate crime.
Video captured by a freelance video photographer April 17 shows Cobane using racial slurs against the detainee and kicking him in the head, and another officer stomping on his leg while he is lying face down on the ground without handcuffs. The second officer was identified this week as Mary Lynne Woollum, Seattle police said.
The detainee was released after officers determined he was a not a suspect in an armed robbery, according to CNN affiliate KOMO.
"We give officers guns, batons and badges with the hope that they will not violate our public trust, with the hope that they will enforce the law, provide public safety and honor the Constitution," James Bible, president of the Seattle chapter of the NAACP, said Tuesday in denouncing the police officers' actions. "In this specific case ... the Constitution was violated in a most egregious way. ... We have no choice but to request that charges be filed."
FBI Special Agent Fred Gutt told CNN Wednesday that investigators will gather information on the incident and send it to the Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice.
"They will then decide if a formal investigation is warranted," he said.
Cobane issued a tearful apology Friday after the video was shown on local news stations.
In the statement, Cobane called his comments "offensive and unprofessional" and said they "do not reflect who I am or what I am as a person nor as a member of the Seattle Police Department."
Cobane, a 15-year veteran, and Woollum, a veteran of more than 10 years, have been placed on administrative reassignment while investigations are under way, according to Seattle police.
CNN's Melanie Whitley contributed to this report. | [
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] | [
"Cobane using racial slurs against the detainee and kicking him in the head, and another officer stomping on his leg while he is lying face down on the ground without handcuffs.",
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] | question: What does the video show?, answer: Cobane using racial slurs against the detainee and kicking him in the head, and another officer stomping on his leg while he is lying face down on the ground without handcuffs. | question: What violent incident happened on April 17?, answer: Cobane using racial slurs against the detainee and kicking him in the head, and another officer stomping | question: Who caught the April 17 incident on videotape?, answer: freelance video photographer | question: What did the video show?, answer: Cobane using racial slurs against the detainee and kicking him in the head, and another officer stomping on his leg while he is lying face down on the ground without handcuffs. | question: What did the Seattle NAACP president say?, answer: "We give officers guns, batons and badges with the hope that they will not violate our public trust, with the |
(CNN) -- The French navy on Wednesday captured 11 suspected pirates off the coast of Kenya, Franc'e mnistry of defense announced, while other pirates who had held a Greek vessel for nearly a month let it go.
Pirates attacked The Liberty Sun, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship, but were unable to board.
The navy tracked the pirates overnight after they attacked a ship called the Safmarine Asia, then seized them at dawn Wednesday morning, the ministry said in a statement.
The Greek-flagged Titan cargo ship was carrying a load of iron to South Korea when pirates seized it. Twenty-four crew members were on board -- 17 Filipinos, three Greeks, three Romanians and a Ukrainian. They are in good health, said Tilemahos Gasteratos, spokesman for the Greek Merchant Marine Ministry.
The European Union, NATO and the United States have been patrolling the region since an upsurge in piracy off the coast of Somalia began last year.
U.S. snipers on Sunday killed three pirates holding hostage a U.S. merchant ship captain. Richard Phillips was held in a lifeboat for five days after his ship, the Maersk Alabama, was attacked last week. The freed Maersk crew members are expected to return to the United States on Wednesday evening.
Pirates in Somalia vowed revenge. Pirates said an attack Tuesday on another U.S.-flagged merchant ship, the Liberty Sun, was in response to the killing of Phillips' captors.
"It was a revenge," Hassan Mohamud told a Somali journalist. "The U.S. ship escaped by a matter of chance."
"We sent out 14 boats full of well-armed men and we are looking for vessels of U.S. and French nationals," said Mohamud. He is a pirate leader based Gara'ad in Puntland, a semi-autonomous Somali region with a long coastline along the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
"The U.S. and French governments should know this because they started the aggression on us," he said.
Other pirates in the region have also vowed revenge.
Two days before Phillips was rescued, the French military freed four hostages, including a child, who had been held by pirates for nearly a week on a yacht off Somalia's coast. In that operation, a hostage and two pirates were killed, the French Defense Ministry said. Three pirates were captured.
Separately, a court in Puntland sentenced 27 Somali pirates to prison after the judge said they had been caught red-handed.
Shiekh Mohamed Abdi Aware, the presiding judge, read the verdict to the media. He said that each of the pirates would face three years in prison.
A crew member aboard the Liberty Sun managed to e-mail his mother while the ship was under fire. "We are under attack by pirates, we are being hit by rockets. Also bullets."
Katy Urbik said her heart stopped as she read that in an e-mail from her son Thomas.
"We are barricaded in the engine room and so far no one is hurt. [A] rocket penetrated the bulkhead but the hole is small. Small fire too but put out," the message from her son continued.
"Navy is on the way and helos and ships are coming. I'll try to send you another message soon. [G]ot to go now. I love you mom and dad and all my brothers and family." amFIX: Full interview with Katy Urbik
Ubrik, of Wheaton, Illinois, said her son e-mailed again half an hour later. "The Navy has showed up in full force and we are now under military escort ... all is well. I love you all and thank you for the prayers," his message said.
The ordeal followed a tense week for the family, said Ubrik, who had closely followed news of the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama and the kidnapping of its captain.
She said of receiving her son's shocking e-mail:
"My heart stopped as soon as I realized there wasn't going to be a 'just kidding' after his comment. Because I had heard from his earlier | [
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] | question: What day was the Liberty Sun attacked on?, answer: Wednesday | question: What group did the French Navy track, answer: pirates | question: What country's ship was held by pirates, answer: Greek-flagged | question: What was the motivation behind the attack?, answer: in response to the killing of Phillips' captors. | question: Who carried out the attack on the Liberty Sun, answer: Pirates | question: Where was the ship travelling to with its load, answer: South Korea | question: Where was the ship held hostage?, answer: off the coast of Kenya, | question: What nationality was the ship held for nearly a month?, answer: Greek |
(CNN) -- The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has confirmed that Richard Gasquet has been provisionally suspended after the French star admitted testing positive for cocaine at the Miami Masters tournament in March.
Gasquet is left to contemplate a possible two-year ban from tennis.
A spokesman for the ITF Anti-Doping Programme told CNN Gasquet's ban from competition has been put in place in accordance with rules revised by the 2009 WADA Code.
"Players may now be served with a provisional suspension if their A sample tests positive for a non-specified substance (eg a hormone or steroid). Richard Gasquet has consequently received a provisional suspension according to the rules of the programme."
The spokesman added: "In accordance with the programme's confidentiality provisions, the ITF will not release any further details until an independent anti-doping tribunal has issued its decision, which will be in due course."
The former world number seven issued a statement to news agencies on Sunday after the French sports paper L'Equipe had revealed in a report on its Web site the failed doping tests.
Gasquet, who has slipped to 23rd in the rankings, faces a two-year ban from tennis, but is hoping for leniency.
"The test of the B sample submitted at the end of March 2009, confirmed the positive result of the A sample taken on the same day," he said. "I want to prove my innocence and will explain myself at an appropriate time," he added.
If Gasquet exercises his right to a hearing, an independent anti-doping tribunal will be held, ordinarily within 60 days of the player's request. The tribunal will determine whether an offense has been committed, and if so, what penalty will be issued.
Earlier Sunday, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) admitted they would be "very surprised" if the reports proved to be true.
The FFT added in a statement released to Press Association that it "would be very sad for Richard Gasquet himself, for tennis in general, for French tennis in particular, whose image would be dented" if the positive test was officially confirmed.
Gasquet, a teenage prodigy, has failed to match his early promise but did reach the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2007.
Only this week the 22-year-old was confirmed as one of the star attractions at the pre-Wimbledon tournament at Eastbourne, but now faces a battle to clear his name.
In ATP tennis action on Sunday, Novak Djokovic continued his fine form on clay with victory in his home tournament in Belgrade.
The Serbian top seed beat Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-3 7-6 in the Serbia Open final.
It was Djokovic's fourth successive appearance in an tour final.
The BMW Open title in Munich went to Czech Tomas Berdych who edged out Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4 4-6 7-6. | [
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] | question: who wins in the events, answer: Novak Djokovic | question: who tests positive, answer: Richard Gasquet | question: When did Richard Gasquet test positive for cocaine?, answer: in March. | question: how long is the ban, answer: possible two-year | question: For what did Richard Gasquet test positive?, answer: cocaine | question: How long is the ban that he faces?, answer: two-year | question: What do the tests check for?, answer: non-specified substance |
(CNN) -- The Kellogg Co. announced Wednesday it is recommending that consumers not eat its peanut butter crackers because they may be tainted with salmonella.
Salmonella bacteria are transmitted to humans by eating contaminated foods.
The products affected are Austin- and Keebler-branded:
-- Toasted peanut butter sandwich crackers. -- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich crackers. -- Cheese and peanut butter sandwich crackers. -- Peanut butter-chocolate sandwich crackers.
The Michigan-based maker of cereals and snacks posted the recommendation in a statement on its Web site.
Peanut butter produced by Peanut Corporation of America, one of several peanut butter suppliers to the company, has been linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning that has affected at least 434 people in 43 states, federal health officials said Wednesday.
"Kellogg Company's investigation has not indicated any concerns, nor has the company received any consumer illness complaints about these products," the Kellogg statement said.
"Nonetheless, Kellogg Company is taking precautionary measures including putting a hold on any inventory in its control, removing product from retail store shelves, and encouraging customers and consumers to hold and not eat these products until regulatory officials complete their investigation of PCA and Kellogg provides further information as to the resolution of this issue."
All of the company's peanut-butter crackers are made at its bakery in Cary, North Carolina, said spokeswoman Kris Charles.
Though consumers are urged "to hold the product until we have more information," Charles recommended anyone seeking a refund call 888.314.2060 for details about how to get one. | [
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] | question: What does Kellogg say?, answer: recommending that consumers not eat its peanut butter | question: What have the crackers been linked to?, answer: salmonella. | question: What has been linked to salmonella?, answer: Peanut butter produced by Peanut Corporation of America, | question: what caused the salmonella, answer: crackers | question: How many people are affected?, answer: at least 434 | question: What are the names of the crackers?, answer: Peanut butter-chocolate sandwich | question: who was responsible for the outbreak, answer: Peanut Corporation of America, | question: What is the number of people affected by the outbreak?, answer: 434 |
(CNN) -- The Kellogg Co. announced Wednesday it is recommending that consumers not eat its peanut butter crackers because they may be tainted with salmonella.
Salmonella bacteria are transmitted to humans by eating contaminated foods.
The products affected are Austin- and Keebler-branded:
-- Toasted peanut butter sandwich crackers. -- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich crackers. -- Cheese and peanut butter sandwich crackers. -- Peanut butter-chocolate sandwich crackers.
The Michigan-based maker of cereals and snacks posted the recommendation in a statement on its Web site.
Peanut butter produced by Peanut Corporation of America, one of several peanut butter suppliers to the company, has been linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning that has affected at least 434 people in 43 states, federal health officials said Wednesday.
"Kellogg Company's investigation has not indicated any concerns, nor has the company received any consumer illness complaints about these products," the Kellogg statement said.
"Nonetheless, Kellogg Company is taking precautionary measures including putting a hold on any inventory in its control, removing product from retail store shelves, and encouraging customers and consumers to hold and not eat these products until regulatory officials complete their investigation of PCA and Kellogg provides further information as to the resolution of this issue."
All of the company's peanut-butter crackers are made at its bakery in Cary, North Carolina, said spokeswoman Kris Charles.
Though consumers are urged "to hold the product until we have more information," Charles recommended anyone seeking a refund call 888.314.2060 for details about how to get one. | [
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] | question: How many people were affected by the salmonella outbreak?, answer: 434 | question: How many people got sick because of this outbreak?, answer: 434 | question: What types of crackers affected?, answer: peanut butter | question: Who called the warning "strictly precautionary"?, answer: The Kellogg Co. | question: What kind of outbreak is involved in the matter?, answer: salmonella. | question: What was linked to outbreak of salmonella?, answer: Peanut butter produced by Peanut Corporation of America, | question: What are the brands of sandwich crackers affected?, answer: Austin- and Keebler-branded: | question: What was found in Keebler-branded sandwich crackers?, answer: salmonella. | question: What did Kellogg have to say about this warning?, answer: it is recommending that consumers not eat its peanut butter | question: What cracker brands were involved?, answer: Austin- and Keebler-branded: | question: Amount of people the outbreak has affected?, answer: 434 |
(CNN) -- The Liberty Sun, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship bound for Mombasa, Kenya, was attacked Tuesday by Somali pirates, according to a NATO source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Pirates attacked The Liberty Sun, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship, but were unable to board.
"The pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the vessel, which sustained damage," said a statement from New York-based Liberty Maritime Corporation, which owns the vessel.
The ship was carrying U.S. food aid for African nations, the statement said.
The pirates never made it onto the ship and the vessel is now being escorted by a coalition ship, still bound for Mombasa, officials said.
Two senior defense officials said the Liberty Sun was being escorted by the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge. It is the ship carrying Richard Phillips, the captain of the container ship Maersk Alabama, which was hijacked last week. Phillips spent days as a hostage of the pirates before being rescued Sunday.
Katy Urbik of Wheaton, Illinois, said her son, Thomas, was aboard the Liberty Sun at the time of the attack. She shared the e-mails he sent as the ship came under fire.
"We are under attack by pirates, we are being hit by rockets. Also bullets," said one e-mail sent Tuesday afternoon. "We are barricaded in the engine room and so far no one is hurt. [A] rocket penetrated the bulkhead but the hole is small. Small fire, too, but put out.
"Navy is on the way and helos and ships are coming. I'll try to send you another message soon. [G]ot to go now. I love you mom and dad and all my brothers and family."
"My heart stopped after I realized there wasn't going to be a 'just kidding' after his comment," Katy Urbik said.
About 1½ hours later, Thomas Urbik sent another e-mail to his mother, which said, "The navy has showed up in full force and we are now under military escort ... all is well. I love you all and thank you for the prayers."
In an e-mail only hours before the attack, Urbik's son tried to assure his mother that his crew was safe and taking precautions.
"Don't worry too much. I am fine and we are being well monitored by the U.S. Navy, who is demanding we send them a report every six hours on our position and status," Thomas Ubrik's e-mail said. He added, "We in fact are going to be the second American ship to arrive into Mombasa after the Maersk Alabama. It should be interesting to say the least. ... We have had several drills to prepare ourselves to secure ourselves in the engine room. [W]e can do it pretty quick by now."
The company said the ship had dropped off food aid last week at a Sudanese port and the ship was going around the Horn of Africa to reach Kenya when it came under attack. However, the exact location of the attack remained unclear.
Earlier Tuesday, pirates off the coast of Somalia seized two freighters, proving they remain a force to contend with just days after the U.S. Navy dramatically rescued an American captain held by other pirates.
First, pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday hijacked the MV Irene EM, a 35,000-ton Greek-owned bulk carrier, according to a NATO spokesman and the European Union's Maritime Security Center.
The crew of the Greek carrier was thought to be unhurt and ships have been warned to stay clear of the area for fear of further attack, the Security Center said.
Later Tuesday, pirates on four skiffs seized the 5,000-ton MV Sea Horse, a Lebanese-owned and Togo-flagged vessel, said Cmdr. Chris Davies of NATO's Maritime Component Command Headquarters in Northwood, England.
Details about the ship and its crew weren't immediately available.
NATO has an ongoing anti-piracy mission off Somalia called Operation Allied Protector. The mission involves | [
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] | question: Who is behind this?, answer: Somali pirates, | question: Who was emailed hours before the attack?, answer: Katy Urbik | question: How many freighters were seized?, answer: two | question: Who's freighters were seized?, answer: Lebanese-owned | question: Who took hold of the ship?, answer: Somali pirates, | question: Who is behind this?, answer: Somali pirates, |
(CNN) -- The Marine Corps' top officer says he would want to avoid housing gay and heterosexual Marines in the same rooms on base if the ban on gays openly serving in the military is lifted.
"I would not ask our Marines to live with someone that's homosexual if we can possibly avoid it," Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway told a Web site in an interview posted Friday. "And to me that means we've got to build [barracks] that have single rooms."
Asked about the possibility of gay and straight Marines living together, Conway told the site Military.com that he would "want to preserve the right of a Marine that thinks he or she wouldn't want to do that -- and that's the overwhelming number of people that say they wouldn't like to do so."
Conway said the Marine Corps is the only branch of the armed services that houses two to a room.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that the Pentagon will start to ease its enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibiting homosexuals from serving openly in the military.
Among other things, Gates said the Pentagon is raising the threshold for what constitutes an appropriate level of information necessary to launch a "credible inquiry" into allegations of homosexual behavior.
The change, which will take effect in 30 days and apply to all current cases, is a reflection of "common sense" and "common decency," Gates said.
"These changes reflect some of the insights we have gained over 17 years of implementing the current law, including the need for consistency, oversight and clear standards," Gates said.
President Obama and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, support a legislative repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," which was first enacted in 1993. Some senior members of the military, however, have expressed concern over the impact of the ban's repeal on unit cohesion and morale, among other things. | [
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(CNN) -- The National Football League has indefinitely suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick without pay, officials with the league said Friday.
NFL star Michael Vick is set to appear in court Monday. A judge will have the final say on a plea deal.
Earlier, Vick admitted to participating in a dogfighting ring as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Virginia.
"Your admitted conduct was not only illegal, but also cruel and reprehensible. Your team, the NFL, and NFL fans have all been hurt by your actions," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a letter to Vick.
Goodell said he would review the status of the suspension after the legal proceedings are over.
In papers filed Friday with a federal court in Virginia, Vick also admitted that he and two co-conspirators killed dogs that did not fight well.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Vick's admissions describe actions that are "incomprehensible and unacceptable."
The suspension makes "a strong statement that conduct which tarnishes the good reputation of the NFL will not be tolerated," he said in a statement. Watch what led to Vick's suspension »
Goodell said the Falcons could "assert any claims or remedies" to recover $22 million of Vick's signing bonus from the 10-year, $130 million contract he signed in 2004, according to The Associated Press.
Vick said he would plead guilty to one count of "Conspiracy to Travel in Interstate Commerce in Aid of Unlawful Activities and to Sponsor a Dog in an Animal Fighting Venture" in a plea agreement filed at U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia.
The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, "full restitution, a special assessment and 3 years of supervised release," the plea deal said.
Federal prosecutors agreed to ask for the low end of the sentencing guidelines.
"The defendant will plead guilty because the defendant is in fact guilty of the charged offense," the plea agreement said.
In an additional summary of facts, signed by Vick and filed with the agreement, Vick admitted buying pit bulls and the property used for training and fighting the dogs, but the statement said he did not bet on the fights or receive any of the money won.
"Most of the 'Bad Newz Kennels' operations and gambling monies were provided by Vick," the official summary of facts said. Gambling wins were generally split among co-conspirators Tony Taylor, Quanis Phillips and sometimes Purnell Peace, it continued.
"Vick did not gamble by placing side bets on any of the fights. Vick did not receive any of the proceeds from the purses that were won by 'Bad Newz Kennels.' "
Vick also agreed that "collective efforts" by him and two others caused the deaths of at least six dogs.
Around April, Vick, Peace and Phillips tested some dogs in fighting sessions at Vick's property in Virginia, the statement said. "Peace, Phillips and Vick agreed to the killing of approximately 6-8 dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road and all of those dogs were killed by various methods, including hanging and drowning.
"Vick agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of Peace, Phillips and Vick," the summary said.
Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Phillips, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia; and Taylor, 34, of Hampton, Virginia, already have accepted agreements to plead guilty in exchange for reduced sentences.
Vick, 27, is scheduled to appear Monday in court, where he is expected to plead guilty before a judge. See a timeline of the case against Vick »
The judge in the case will have the final say over the plea agreement.
The federal case against Vick focused on the interstate conspiracy, but Vick's admission that he was involved in the killing of dogs could lead to local charges, according to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
"It sometimes happens -- not often -- that | [
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] | question: Who was suspended by the NFL without pay?, answer: Vick | question: Who will appear in court?, answer: Michael Vick | question: Who admits illegal gambling?, answer: Vick | question: Who was suspended by NFL?, answer: Vick | question: What did Vick admit to?, answer: admitted buying pit bulls and the property used for training and fighting the dogs, | question: Did vick admit it?, answer: admitted to participating in a dogfighting ring | question: What is the Atlanta Falcons owner's opinion of Michael Vick's conduct?, answer: "incomprehensible and unacceptable." | question: Who was suspended?, answer: Vick | question: What did Atlanta Falcons owner do?, answer: said Vick's admissions describe actions that are "incomprehensible and unacceptable." | question: What did Michael Vick do to end up in court?, answer: participating | question: What happened to Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick?, answer: indefinitely suspended | question: Who is critical of Vick's conduct?, answer: Falcons owner Arthur Blank | question: Did Vick admit to the charges of funding dogfights and gambling?, answer: admitted | question: What did Michael Vick admit to doing in court?, answer: participating | question: when is he to go to court?, answer: Monday. | question: Which NFL team is Michael Vick from?, answer: Atlanta Falcons | question: When is Vick due in federal court?, answer: Monday. | question: What did the NFL decide about Michael Vick?, answer: indefinitely suspended | question: Who is the quarterback for the Falcons?, answer: Vick | question: What day is Michael Vick going to federal court?, answer: Monday. | question: What is a dogfighting operation?, answer: buying pit bulls and the property used for training and fighting the dogs, | question: Did Michael Vick admit to funding dogfighting?, answer: admitted | question: What does the NFL do with the Falcons quarterback?, answer: indefinitely suspended | question: Will Vick still be able to play in the NFL?, answer: indefinitely suspended |
(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. | [
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] | question: what was the score, answer: 20-6 | question: what was the crowd size, answer: 80,000 | question: What did the All Blacks score?, answer: 20-6 | question: where is the stadium located, answer: Milan. | question: Were there a lot of people in the stadium?, answer: 80,000 crowd | question: what were the scores of the other games?, answer: 20-13 | question: who beat south africa, answer: France | question: How many people watched the game?, answer: 80,000 | question: Who won over Argentina?, answer: England, | question: which stadiums were the other games in?, answer: Murrayfield. | question: how many watched the game, answer: 80,000 | question: who beat italy at rugby, answer: New Zealand All Blacks | question: Who beats Italy?, answer: The New Zealand All Blacks |
(CNN) -- The Polish president on Saturday signed his country's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, aimed at streamlining the workings of the European Union.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski holds the EU's Lisbon Treaty in Warsaw on October 10.
President Lech Kaczynski's approval of the treaty leaves the Czech Republic as the lone country that has not ratified the document.
Kaczynski signed the treaty at a ceremony attended by EU officials in Warsaw. He had refused to sign the document until it was ratified by Irish voters in a referendum. They backed it by a wide margin on October 2.
"I am certain that the union will function even better with the treaty of Lisbon," Kaczynski said Saturday, in an excerpt of his remarks provided by the Swedish presidency of the EU.
The treaty would create an EU president and foreign minister and introduce rotating representatives for member countries in the EU Commission, the union's executive branch.
All member states have to ratify the treaty before it can be adopted.
"The Czech Republic must conclude their ratification process by the signature of President Klaus. Europe is waiting impatiently," Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said, according to the Swedish presidency.
The Lisbon treaty is undergoing review in a Czech court, which will determine in a few weeks whether it is compatible with the nation's constitution.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus must also sign it.
On Friday, Klaus outlined his objections to the treaty, saying at a news conference that "the Lisbon Treaty constitutes a fundamental change for the Czech Republic.
"As you know, I have always considered this treaty a step in the wrong direction," he said. "It will increase its democratic deficit, worsen the standing of our country and expose it to new risks -- among other things also because it endangers the legal status of the citizens and the stability of property rights in our country," he said.
He said he was particularly concerned about one section of the treaty, called the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which concerns fundamental human rights, including property rights, for EU citizens.
"On its basis, the Luxembourg Court of Justice of the EU will assess whether the legal provisions, customs and practices of the EU member countries comply with those of the charter," Klaus said.
"The charter makes it possible to reexamine even those decisions of the Czech courts that are legally binding," he said.
He said he feared the treaty would make it possible to raise property claims related to the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia following World War II.
The last Czech government did not pay enough attention to this possibility, he said, and did not negotiate an exemption from the charter, which Poland and the United Kingdom have, he said.
"Before the ratification, Czech Republic must at least ex post negotiate a similar exemption," he said. "I think this exemption can be solved quickly."
Klaus spoke with Reinfeldt by phone on Thursday about the treaty.
"This sends the wrong message at the wrong time," Reinfeldt said afterward, his spokeswoman, Roberta Alenius told CNN.
Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said in a Friday statement that he had seen Klaus' concerns, and said that he regretted that the president did not consult with the government beforehand.
"I remain convinced that the Czech Republic will bring the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty to a successful conclusion, so that it can enter into force by the end of the year," he said. | [
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"Where is Treaty going under review?",
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] | [
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] | question: Which country is the only remaining left to sign treaty that would reform the European Union?, answer: Czech Republic | question: Where is Treaty going under review?, answer: in a Czech court, | question: Who is left to sign Treaty?, answer: Czech Republic | question: Treaty undergoing review in a Czech court to determine what?, answer: whether it is compatible with the nation's constitution. | question: The treaty is undergoing review in which countries court?, answer: Czech Republic |
(CNN) -- The Public Utility Commission of Texas will review the case of a cancer patient fighting to keep her electricity on to power her oxygen machine, the commission told CNN on Wednesday.
Mable Randon, who has stage 4 cancer, was denied help paying for electricity, which she needs to power her oxygen tank.
CNN affiliate KHOU of Houston, Texas, said calls poured in from as far away as Connecticut after the station aired its story on Mable Randon, a stage 4 cancer patient who received a cutoff notice after she fell behind on her bills.
"I'm on a set income," she told KHOU. "My husband lost his job. He finds a little work every now and then, but it's hard."
She applied to CenterPoint Energy's Critical Care Program which helps maintain service for people who depend on electric-powered life support systems, but she was rejected.
"I'm fighting for my life, and I thought people at the power company would help me," said Randon, who uses a wheelchair. "I just thought they'd make some kind of exception for me."
Randon's power will stay on until the commission examines the facts in the case, said Terry Hadley, spokesman for the commission.
CenterPoint told Randon she failed to meet the criteria. Spokeswoman Alicia Dixon told KHOU that Randon could have bought a battery-powered oxygen machine. The critical care program has thousands of applicants, and only 300 of them have been accepted, she said.
"This program is a communication program, not a guarantee of uninterrupted power, even to customers who are on the list," she said.
Since the rejection, Randon said she is "up and down all night," partly because she is worried about whether the power will be on when she wakes up.
"They have no consideration for life," she said. "It's just like they don't care."
CenterPoint spokeswoman Leticia Lowe said the company does not send electric bills; it merely owns the wires and poles and is directed to disconnect power by retail electric providers.
Randon's electric company is Freedom Power, she said. CNN's attempts to contact Freedom Power were unsuccessful Wednesday. As of Tuesday, CenterPoint had not received a notice from Freedom Power to disconnect Randon's service, Lowe said.
Following the KHOU report, CenterPoint received calls from viewers, she said. But the company can do nothing since they don't bill Randon.
CNN's Divina Mims contributed to this report. | [
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] | question: What is the power company doing now?, answer: communication program, | question: Which program did the patient apply for?, answer: CenterPoint Energy's Critical Care | question: Who gave Mable Randon a cutoff notice?, answer: The Public Utility Commission of Texas | question: Whats the name of the patient?, answer: Mable Randon, | question: What did Mable Randon apply for?, answer: CenterPoint Energy's Critical Care Program | question: Who is reviewing the case?, answer: The Public Utility Commission of Texas | question: What illness does the woman have?, answer: stage 4 cancer, | question: What did the Public Utility Commission of Texas say?, answer: will review the case of a cancer patient fighting to | question: Who is reviewing Randon's case?, answer: Public Utility Commission of Texas | question: What happened to Mabel Randon?, answer: has stage 4 cancer, was denied help paying for electricity, | question: Who is reviewing the case?, answer: The Public Utility Commission of Texas | question: What was Randon told to buy?, answer: battery-powered oxygen machine. | question: What stage is Randon's cancer?, answer: 4 | question: What did she apply for?, answer: CenterPoint Energy's Critical Care Program | question: Where did this happen?, answer: Houston, Texas, |
(CNN) -- The Rev. Franklin Graham has arrived in North Korea bearing a gift for North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the country's official news agency reported Wednesday.
The Rev. Franklin Graham reportedly will oversee the delivery of $190,000 in equipment for a dental school.
Graham handed the present, which was not identified, to a high-ranking official Wednesday to give to Kim, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Graham, the son of the Rev. Billy Graham and the president of Samaritan's Purse, arrived Tuesday in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, KCNA said.
On its Web site, Samaritan's Purse said Franklin Graham was to meet with high-level government officials and to inspect medical facilities that the organization has installed.
"I believe it is important to make visits like this to help improve relations and to have a better understanding with each other," Graham said, according to the Samaritan's Purse Web site.
The group said Graham will visit a hospital and also will oversee the delivery of $190,000 in equipment to outfit a dental school that can train up to 70 dentists per year.
KCNA reported that Graham said he hoped he could act as a bridge for better relations between the United States and North Korea.
The visit marks Graham's third trip to North Korea. His father visited the country in 1992 and 1994 and met with President Kim Il Sung, Samaritan's Purse said.
His mother, the late Ruth Bell Graham, attended a mission school in Pyongyang in 1934, the organization said.
Later this week, Graham is scheduled to travel to China, where he'll dedicate a clinic that Samaritan's Purse built, visit a city destroyed by last year's earthquake and speak at churches, the organization said. | [
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] | question: Where else did he travel?, answer: China, | question: who is Franklin Graham's father?, answer: Rev. Billy | question: What is Graham hoping for?, answer: better relations between the United States and North Korea. | question: What did Graham do?, answer: bearing a gift for North Korean leader | question: what does Graham aim for?, answer: to help improve relations and to have a better understanding with each other," | question: what did the news agency say?, answer: Rev. Franklin Graham has arrived in North Korea bearing a gift for North Korean leader | question: who makes third trip to North Korea?, answer: The Rev. Franklin Graham | question: Who is also set to travel to china?, answer: Rev. Franklin Graham | question: who made third trip to north korea?, answer: Franklin Graham |
(CNN) -- The South Carolina Ethics Commission has charged Gov. Mark Sanford with 37 counts of violating state ethics laws, according to a complaint released by the commission on Monday.
The complaint follows a three-month investigation into Sanford's use of taxpayer money.
Sanford is accused of using tax money to buy business-class airfare on domestic and international flights, flying on a state-owned aircraft to political gatherings or events "which involved no official business," and spending campaign funds for personal use such as buying a ticket to attend President Obama's inauguration in January.
South Carolina law requires state officials to buy the lowest fares available for flights, and bars the use of state aircraft for personal use.
Sanford's office did not respond to requests for comment about the charges.
The governor, once a rising star in the Republican Party before he revealed an extramarital affair in June, faces a hearing along with his legal team before a three-member ethics panel. Cathy Hazelwood, general counsel to the state Ethics Commission, said no date has been set for the hearing.
After arguments are presented, the panel will determine if Sanford broke any state laws. The ethics case involves civil charges that are punishable by fines, and Sanford can appeal decisions up to the state Supreme Court.
Only the state attorney general, Henry McMaster, can decide to pursue criminal charges against the governor. McMaster is reviewing the allegations to determine if any laws were broken.
The new charges compound Sanford's political problems, which have been simmering for months as investigators scrutinized his finances.
State legislators already have filed an impeachment resolution against the governor for leaving the state this summer to visit his Argentine mistress without installing a proper chain of command or informing his staff. A special House subcommittee will meet in Columbia on Tuesday to formally consider the resolution for the first time.
State Rep. Greg Delleney, a Republican and one of the sponsors of the impeachment resolution, said he expects the subcommittee to look over the ethics commission results during the Thanksgiving holiday and decide whether to adjust the measure to include material from the ethics complaint.
Delleney said he thinks Monday's report will give new momentum to the impeachment push.
"The sheer volume of the violations might be useful in bringing some more representatives over to the side of impeachment," Delleney said.
If the special subcommittee decides to move forward with impeachment, the resolution will be passed onto the Judiciary Committee, which will then vote on whether to bring it to the floor of the legislature when lawmakers return to the state capital of Columbia in January.
For Sanford to be forcibly removed from office, two-thirds of the South Carolina House and and two-thirds of the state Senate must vote to impeach him. | [
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] | question: In what month did Sanford announce the affair with the Argentine woman?, answer: June, | question: What kind of charges does the case involve?, answer: state ethics laws, | question: What is Sanford accused of using tax money for?, answer: to buy business-class airfare on domestic and international flights, | question: Who have legislators filed an impeachment resolution against?, answer: Gov. Mark Sanford | question: What is he accused of using?, answer: tax money to buy business-class airfare on domestic and international flights, | question: When did he announce the affair?, answer: June, | question: what state is he from, answer: South Carolina |
(CNN) -- The Tennis Channel has canceled plans to broadcast a tournament in Dubai because an Israeli player was banned.
Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates.
Shahar Peer, the 45th-ranked women's player according to the World Tennis Association, qualified to compete in this week's Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships but was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is one of the seven emirates of the UAE.
The cable network had planned to air parts of the tournament this weekend.
"Tennis Channel recognizes that this exclusion has been made by state authorities and neither the tour nor tournament directors themselves," said a statement posted on the channel's Web site Wednesday. "However we also honor the role and proud tradition that tennis has always played as a driving force for inclusion both on and off the courts.
"Preventing an otherwise qualified athlete from competing on the basis of anything other than merit has no place in tennis or any other sport, and has the unfortunate result of undermining the credibility of the very nature of competition itself."
The announcement comes the same day The Wall Street Journal Europe announced it is dropping its sponsorship of the tournament.
"The Wall Street Journal's editorial philosophy is free markets and free people, and this action runs counter to the Journal's editorial direction," the Journal said in a written statement.
The paper also said it plans to cancel a special tennis-themed advertising section scheduled for Monday and its backing of a men's tournament in Dubai scheduled for next week.
After days of international criticism, including the WTA saying it would review whether the UAE should be allowed to host future tournaments, the event's organizers said Peer was barred from the tournament for her own protection, apparently alluding to Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza.
"We do not wish to politicize sports, but we have to be sensitive to recent events in the region and not alienate or put at risk the players and the many tennis fans of different nationalities that we have here," organizers said in a written statement.
The statement cited anti-Israel protests before one of Peer's matches at a recent tournament in New Zealand.
But this is not the first time the UAE has barred Israeli tennis players. Last year, an Israeli men's doubles team was denied entry. The emirate also cited security concerns then.
In a statement posted on the Tennis Channel's site, Peer thanked the cable channel for its decision.
"I was very moved and excited to hear about your decision not to broadcast the Dubai tournament following their denial to allow me to participate in the event," she wrote. "You at Tennis Channel were the first ones to add action to the words and this is leading the way to other organizations as well.
"All I want is to play tennis and do well. I believe you are helping me to do exactly this." | [
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(CNN) -- The Texas Department of Public Safety took the unprecedented step Thursday of telling college students not to visit Mexican border cities during spring break because they are just too dangerous.
Several universities issued similar warnings last year, but this was the first time the Texas law enforcement agency had issued the specific advisory against travel, said spokeswoman Tela Mange. In the past, she said, Texas authorities had just urged students to be careful.
"Because of the increased violence, we decided to step it up a little bit and say, 'Parents, bad idea,'" Mange said.
DPS Director Steven C. McCraw said, "Parents should not allow their children to visit these Mexican cities because their safety cannot be guaranteed."
The State Department renewed a travel alert to Mexico last month, citing increased violence in the country -- border areas in particular.
"Recent violent attacks have caused the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of Michoacan, Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua ... and to advise U.S. citizens residing or traveling in those areas to exercise extreme caution," the alert says.
More than 16,000 people have died in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels shortly after assuming office in December 2006. Ciudad Juarez, in Chihuahua state across the border from El Paso, Texas, is the most violent city in the nation.
"The situation in the state of Chihuahua, specifically Ciudad Juarez, is of special concern," the alert says.
Two U.S. citizens were abducted and killed in Chihuahua, the State Department said.
"Mexican authorities report that more than 2,600 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez in 2009," the report states. "Additionally, this city of 1.3 million people experienced more than 16,000 car thefts and 1,900 carjackings in 2009. U.S. citizens should pay close attention to their surroundings while traveling in Ciudad Juarez, avoid isolated locations during late night and early morning hours, and remain alert to news reports."
But the problems are not limited to Juarez, the State Department says.
"Mexican drug cartels are engaged in violent conflict -- both among themselves and with Mexican security services -- for control of narcotics trafficking routes along the U.S.-Mexico border," the report says. "In order to combat violence, the government of Mexico has deployed military troops throughout the country. U.S. citizens should cooperate fully with official checkpoints when traveling on Mexican highways.
"Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have resembled small-unit combat, with cartels employing automatic weapons and grenades. Large firefights have taken place in towns and cities across Mexico, but occur mostly in northern Mexico, including Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, Chihuahua City, Nogales, Matamoros, Reynosa and Monterrey. During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped and temporarily prevented from leaving the area."
A number of areas along the border continue to experience a rapid growth in crime, with robberies, homicides, petty thefts and carjackings increasing during the past year nationwide, the alert says. The State Department reports notable spikes in Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and northern Baja California.
"Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales are among the cities which have experienced public shootouts during daylight hours in shopping centers and other public venues," the alert says.
CNN's Arthur Brice contributed to this report. | [
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(CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard Sunday continues its search for a missing sailor whose five Texas A&M University crew mates were hoisted out of the Gulf of Mexico earlier in the day after their sailboat capsized.
Members of the Texas A&M Offshore Sailing Team are shown in this photo from the team's Web site.
The survivors -- four university students and a safety officer -- told the Coast Guard they were forced off their sailboat after it took on water and capsized.
"The flooding was so fast that the thing flipped over," USGS Capt. William Diehl told CNN.
The missing sailor has been identified by the university as Roger Stone, the vessel's second safety officer.
The sailboat, named Cynthia Woods, was one of about two dozen boats heading from Galveston, Texas, to Veracruz, Mexico, for the annual Veracruz Regatta race, which began on Friday.
Diehl said the boat was well-stocked with safety equipment -- including emergency radio beacons, life rafts and ring buoys -- but the crew could only manage to find four life jackets after the boat tipped over.
"The survivors told us that [when] they went into the water, they had four life jackets among the five, and they huddled together and they exchanged the life jacket among them so that they could stay afloat," Diehl said.
Communication with the boat was lost about midnight Friday, and the boat missed its 8 a.m. radio check the next morning, the Coast Guard reported.
A sailboat matching the description of the missing 38-foot boat was found overturned about 5:15 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
The five survivors were found several hours later, lifted to safety by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter around 1 a.m. and taken to University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for treatment.
A Coast Guard spokeswoman could not say exactly where the survivors were rescued, but said the search was focused on an area about 10 miles south of Matagorda, Texas.
Diehl said a Marine Corps C-130, a Coast Guard cutter and a man-of-war naval vessel are searching for the missing crew member. All the mariners were experienced sailors, he said.
"They were very well trained," Diehl said. "Obviously [they were] the more senior cadets at the university here, and they had very experienced safety people on board."
When rescuers retrieved the capsized boat's hull, Diehl said the keel was missing.
"That's the part that keeps the sailboat balanced in the water," he said. "And from talking to the survivors this morning, that's where the flooding started for them."
The 725-mile Veracruz regatta began on Friday and boats are expected to arrive in Veracruz on Wednesday and Thursday. | [
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(CNN) -- The U.S. government has dropped charges against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the suspect in the bombing of the destroyer USS Cole, according to a Pentagon spokesman.
Parents and friends at the funeral in 2000 for a sailor killed during the bombing of the USS Cole.
The charges were dropped "without prejudice" by Susan Crawford, convening authority at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon. The proceeding did not address specifics of the government's case against al-Nashiri, who remains a "high value" detainee held at Guantanamo.
In removing the charges without prejudice, prosecutors can resubmit charges at a later date while at the same time complying with President Barack Obama's order to the military to hold off on cases for four months.
On his first day in office, Obama ordered the halt, requiring prosecutors to seek delays in the 14 active cases before military commissions there. But the judge, Col. James Pohl, ordered arraignment for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri to go ahead as scheduled on Monday.
With this move, all cases at Guantanamo are now in line with the president's order to halt court proceedings at the detention center, according to Gordon.
Al-Nashiri is accused of planning the October 2000 bombing of the Cole while it was in the Yemeni port of Aden. The attack killed 17 American sailors and crippled the vessel, which returned to service in 2002.
The Office of Military Commissions, which manages the prosecutions of suspected terrorists, said last week that it might have to temporarily drop charges against al-Nashiri to comply with the presidential order.
When prosecutors asked for a continuance in the trial, Pohl denied the request, saying the government's "argument for continuances were unpersuasive," according to a copy of his opinion. Pohl noted there had been no previous requests for a delay, and that the public's interest in a speedy trial would be harmed by further delay.
Al-Nashiri was captured in 2002. He was held in secret locations until being transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
Meanwhile, the White House has invited families of sailors who died in the Cole bombing to meet with Obama on Friday.
A number of the families were called Thursday afternoon, according to Andrew Hall, the lawyer who represented families.
The invitation was for the families to attend "without their lawyers," according to Hall. They were not told why they were going to meet with Obama, he added.
According to the White House schedule for Friday, Obama will meet privately with families of the Cole attack and also with families of victims of the 9/11 attacks.
"The president wants to talk with these families about resolving the issues involved with closing Guantanamo Bay -- while keeping the safety and security of the American people as his top priority," the schedule said. | [
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(CNN) -- The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Tuesday aimed at combating piracy along the Horn of Africa by allowing military forces to chase pirates onto land in cases of "hot pursuit."
French troops on the lookout for pirates in the Gulf of Aden on November 25.
Military forces from various countries, including the United States, are patrolling pirate-infested waters off Somalia, where attacks have surged this year. Nearly 100 vessels have come under fire, according to the International Maritime Bureau, and almost 40 vessels have been hijacked.
The Security Council resolution, which passed unanimously, expands upon existing counter-piracy tools, including a stipulation that would allow for national and regional military forces to chase pirates onto land -- specifically into Somalia where many of the pirates are based.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was at the U.N. on Tuesday for a discussion of the piracy problem and the Security Council vote.
"I wouldn't be here seeking authorization to go ashore if the U.S. government -- perhaps most importantly the president of the United States -- were not behind this resolution," Rice said after the vote.
Asked if she thought U.S. troops would soon be on land chasing pirates, Rice would not speculate.
"The United States is part of an international effort," she said. "We do have naval forces that have been involved in this effort. What this (resolution) does is to authorize that the boundary of the maritime cannot become a safe haven boundary for pirates. What we do -- or do not do -- in issues like hot pursuit, we'll have to see ... case by case."
Earlier, in remarks to the Security Council, Rice described the growing problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia as "a symptom."
"It's a symptom of the instability, the poverty, the lawlessness that have plagued Somalia for the past two decades," she said, adding that the Bush administration "does believe that the time has come for the United Nations to consider and authorize a peacekeeping operation."
Asked about reports that two more ships were attacked by pirates this week, Rice said those show "the increasing problem that this is. The pirates are a threat to commerce, they are a threat to security and perhaps most importantly they are a threat to the principle of freedom of navigation on the seas."
With increased patrols in the area by several countries, reports of exchanges of fire have become more frequent.
In one of the most recent piracy attacks, Indian officials said Saturday they had captured 23 people suspected of trying to take over a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
In addition to the 12 Somali and 11 Yemeni suspects, Indian navy officials also seized two small boats and "a substantial cache of arms and equipment," the Indian military said in a statement. | [
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"pirate-infested waters off Somalia,",
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] | question: who is patrolling, answer: Military forces from various countries, including the United States, | question: What are they patrolling for?, answer: pirates | question: Where are the military forces from?, answer: various countries, | question: Who is Condoleezza Rice?, answer: Secretary of State | question: what does the resolution allow, answer: allowing military forces to chase pirates onto land in cases of "hot pursuit." | question: Where are the forces patrolling?, answer: pirate-infested waters off Somalia, | question: How many vessels under fire?, answer: 100 |
(CNN) -- The United States and other Western powers have "exacerbated Somalia's downward spiral" and must revise their policies in the east African country, a Human Rights Watch report has warned.
Recent image of Islamist fighters at a camp in the northern outskirts of Mogadishu
The report, released Monday, blames the policies under President George W. Bush for "breeding the very extremism that it is supposed to defeat."
"The new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama should urgently review U.S. policy in Somalia and the broader Horn of Africa and break with the failed approach of his predecessor," the report said.
It also cites key European governments for failing "to address the human rights dimensions of the crisis, with many officials hoping that somehow unfettered support to abusive TFG (Somali transitional government) forces will improve stability."
Somalia's weak transitional government, backed by Ethiopian forces, continues to battle Islamic militias with the fighting concentrated in the capital, Mogadishu. Ethiopian forces have not withdrawn from the country, as required under a recent cease-fire agreement.
Ethiopia invaded Somalia two years ago and successfully routed the Islamic militia that seized control of the capital. The HRW report states that the United States "directly backed Ethiopia's intervention."
Since the 2006 overthrow of the Islamic Courts Union, Somalia has suffered from "unconstrained warfare and violent rights abuses" by all warring parties.
"All sides have used indiscriminate force as a matter of routine, and in 2008 violence has taken on a new dimension with the targeted murders of aid workers and civil society activists," the report states.
"The human rights and humanitarian catastrophe facing Somalia today threatens the lives and livelihoods of millions of Somalis on a scale not witnessed since the early 1990s."
Heavy fighting in Mogadishu and across Somalia has driven more than a million people from their homes. The lawlessness has also spilled onto the seas off the Horn of Africa, where international vessels are routinely hijacked by suspected Somali pirates who demand large ransoms.
Human Rights Watch offers specific recommendations to the Somali and Ethiopian governments, the main militias, and the international community to address the human rights abuses.
It calls on the West to "insist upon an end to the impunity that has fueled the worst abuses - and the right place to start is by moving the U.N. Security Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry to document abuses and lay the groundwork for accountability."
Journalist Abdinasir Mohamed Guled contributed to this report. | [
"What did Bush policies do?",
"What has fighting done?",
"What did the report say?",
"Fighting has driven how many from their homes?",
"What did the report say the European govts failed to address?",
"How many people have had to leave their homes in this region?",
"Bush policies are blamed for what?",
"European governments failed to address what?",
"Who is backing Somalia's government?",
"Whose policies are being blamed for breeding extremism?",
"What did European governments NOT address?",
"Who are the Islamic militias battling?"
] | [
"\"breeding the very extremism that it is supposed to defeat.\"",
"driven more than a million people from their homes.",
"blames the policies under President George W. Bush for \"breeding the very extremism that it is supposed to defeat.\"",
"more than a million",
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"\"breeding the very extremism that it is supposed to defeat.\"",
"human rights dimensions of the crisis,",
"Ethiopian forces,",
"President George W. Bush",
"human rights dimensions of the crisis,",
"Somalia's weak transitional government, backed by Ethiopian forces,"
] | question: What did Bush policies do?, answer: "breeding the very extremism that it is supposed to defeat." | question: What has fighting done?, answer: driven more than a million people from their homes. | question: What did the report say?, answer: blames the policies under President George W. Bush for "breeding the very extremism that it is supposed to defeat." | question: Fighting has driven how many from their homes?, answer: more than a million | question: What did the report say the European govts failed to address?, answer: human rights dimensions of the crisis, | question: How many people have had to leave their homes in this region?, answer: more than a million | question: Bush policies are blamed for what?, answer: "breeding the very extremism that it is supposed to defeat." | question: European governments failed to address what?, answer: human rights dimensions of the crisis, | question: Who is backing Somalia's government?, answer: Ethiopian forces, | question: Whose policies are being blamed for breeding extremism?, answer: President George W. Bush | question: What did European governments NOT address?, answer: human rights dimensions of the crisis, | question: Who are the Islamic militias battling?, answer: Somalia's weak transitional government, backed by Ethiopian forces, |
(CNN) -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student body president who was killed this year was shot several times, including in her head, according to her autopsy report released Monday.
Unsealed warrants show Eve Carson was abducted and then shot by both men.
Eve Carson, 22, was found slain on March 5.
Carson's autopsy report lists six gunshot wounds, but says two were probably from the same bullet, according to North Carolina's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Carson's death shocked the community and drew national attention. An estimated 10,000 people turned out for a service remembering her.
Her autopsy -- released after a North Carolina newspaper filed a court motion to have it unsealed -- describes wounds to various parts of Carson's body. It says shotgun wounds to her head and hand "most likely represent a single shot with the hand acting as an intermediate target."
One of the other four wounds was also a gunshot to her head.
A separate, handwritten summary of the medical examiner's report says Carson was "shot multiple times" and found lying on her back, with one arm bent behind her head.
The autopsy says sexual assault testing was done. It does not say whether any sign of sexual assault was found.
Two suspects, Demario James Atwater, 22, and Lawrence Alvin Lovette, 17, have been charged with first-degree murder. Lovette's attorney said the warrants against the suspects rely on hearsay. Atwater's attorney cautioned against "any rush to judgment."
Court documents released Friday say Carson was kidnapped from her apartment and forced to provide her abductors with ATM access to her bank account before she was shot to death in the early hours of March 5.
The documents -- applications for search warrants -- say a confidential informant told police in the days after the death that Atwater had told her he and Lovette had entered Carson's home through an open door and forced Carson to accompany them in her car.
The informant said she had talked with Atwater after a picture was displayed on television showing someone attempting to use Carson's ATM card at a convenience store two days after Carson's body was found.
The informant said the two men drove Carson to an ATM, obtaining her PIN number from her.
"The CW [informant] learned that Carson was forced into the back seat with Atwater, and Lovette drove Carson's vehicle," the court documents said. "That information is consistent with video footage taken from an ATM camera on that date."
The witness told police Atwater said the two got about $1,400 from Carson's account. Bank records show that was approximately the amount taken from the account over a two-day period, the documents said.
And the informant said that both suspects shot Carson, according to one of the affidavits. "This information was corroborated by crime scene search information that two separate weapons were used in the homicide," the documents said.
The documents said police believe Carson was subjected to a sexual assault "of an unknown nature" and asked for a search warrant to collect DNA swabs from the suspects.
But Orange County, North Carolina, District Attorney Jim Woodall told CNN Friday the collection and testing done on Carson's body was routine, and authorities do not believe she was sexually assaulted.
Prosecutors had fought to keep her autopsy sealed. Following a motion by the Raleigh News & Observer newspaper, prosecutors agreed to allow the report's release.
Carson, a native of Athens, Georgia, was a pre-medicine student double-majoring in political science and biology. She was a recipient of the university's prestigious Morehead Scholarship and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, UNC has said. | [
"what is being done?",
"what Warrant shows?"
] | [
"autopsy",
"Eve Carson was abducted and then shot by both men."
] | question: what is being done?, answer: autopsy | question: what Warrant shows?, answer: Eve Carson was abducted and then shot by both men. |
(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. | [
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] | question: Who did the defense claim committed suicide?, answer: Julie Jensen | question: What was the victim portrayed as?, answer: a depressed woman who killed herself and framed her husband. | question: What did the defense portray the victim as?, answer: a depressed woman who killed herself and framed her husband. | question: What led the jurors to the verdict?, answer: letter | question: What crime was Mark Jensen sentenced for?, answer: her | question: With what was the victim poisoned?, answer: antifreeze | question: Whose posthumous letter led jurors to their verdict?, answer: Julie Jensen | question: What did Jensen poison his wife with?, answer: antifreeze | question: What did the victim's posthumous letter lead jurors to?, answer: conviction, |
(CNN) -- The World Health Organization cautioned that the swine flu outbreak could gain momentum in the months ahead, despite claims by the health secretary of Mexico -- the epicenter of the outbreak -- that the virus "is in its declining phase."
The number of confimed cases of the H1N1 virus continue to multiply.
As of early Monday, Mexican health officials reported 568 cases and 22 fatalities linked to the flu. WHO says it has confirmed 506 cases and 19 deaths in Mexico.
The world has 985 confirmed cases of the virus, known to scientists H1N1 virus, in a total of 20 countries, WHO said Monday.
The United States has reported 226 confirmed cases in 30 states. The U.S. cases include one death -- a Mexican toddler visiting relatives in the United States.
According to WHO, Canada has 85 confirmed cases; Spain has 40; the United Kingdom has 15; Germany has 8; New Zealand has 4; Israel has 3; El Salvador has 2; France has 2; and Austria, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, South Korea and Switzerland each have one.
The outbreak is only about 10 days old, and even if the illness is declining, it could return, said Gregory Hartl, the WHO spokesman for epidemic and pandemic diseases, at a briefing Sunday.
"I ... would like to remind people that in 1918 the Spanish flu showed a surge in the spring, and then disappeared in the summer months, only to return in the autumn of 1918 with a vengeance," Hartl said. "And we know that that eventually killed 40 million to 50 million people."
Mexican authorities believe the most active period of the virus in Mexico was between April 23 and April 28, and Mexican Health Secretary Jose Cordova described the outbreak as being in decline in his country.
In China, officials have quarantined 68 people, including 13 crew members, who were passengers of a Mexico City to Shanghai flight, which carried a passenger who tested positive for the virus, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Sunday. None of the other passengers has exhibited any flu-like symptoms, one health official said.
About another 110 people who were on the Aeromexico plane went on to other destinations, and may face quarantines elsewhere, the news agency said. Fifteen have been quarantined at a Beijing hotel.
Shanghai's airport is now barring other Aeromexico planes from landing there, a representative of the airline told CNN. Aeromexico is suspending flights to Shanghai until May 15, the representative said. The airline does not fly to Hong Kong or Beijing.
In the United States, New York has the most confirmed cases, with 63, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas has 40; California has 26; Arizona 18; South Carolina 15; Delaware 10; Massachusetts and New Jersey each have seven; Colorado has four; Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin each have three; Connecticut, Kansas and Michigan each have two; Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Utah each have one.
California officials suspended visitation and other "nonessential activities" at Centinela State Prison in Imperial County after an inmate was suspected of having swine flu. The case has yet to be confirmed with lab testing.
On Sunday, health officials in North Carolina and Pennsylvania announced the first confirmed cases in those states, and Louisiana's governor said his state had seven confirmed cases. The cases from those three states were not immediately included in the CDC tally.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius, appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," warned that even if the flu outbreak wanes, "it could come back with greater force in the winter and fall, when we get into flu season."
"So, this is no time for complacency," she said. "We want to stay out ahead of this."
Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC's interim deputy director | [
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] | question: Where it originated?, answer: Mexico | question: what's the name of the country who has the largest number of confirmed cases?, answer: Mexico | question: how many cases of H1N1 were confirmed?, answer: 985 | question: what does Mexico says about the Illness?, answer: the virus "is in its declining phase." | question: How many H1N1 cases have been confirmed?, answer: 985 | question: What country has the largest number of confirmed cases?, answer: Mexico |
(CNN) -- The World Health Organization cautioned that the swine flu outbreak could gain momentum in the months ahead, despite claims by the health secretary of Mexico -- the epicenter of the outbreak -- that the virus "is in its declining phase."
The number of confimed cases of the H1N1 virus continue to multiply.
The outbreak is only about 10 days old, and even if the illness is declining, it could return, said Gregory Hartl, the WHO spokesman for epidemic and pandemic diseases, at a briefing Sunday.
"I ... would like to remind people that in 1918 the Spanish flu showed a surge in the spring, and then disappeared in the summer months, only to return in the autumn of 1918 with a vengeance," Hartl said. "And we know that that eventually killed 40 million to 50 million people."
Mexican authorities believe the virus's most active period in Mexico was between April 23 and April 28, and Mexican Health Secretary Jose Cordova described the outbreak as being in decline in his country.
As of late Sunday, Mexican health officials reported 568 cases and 22 fatalities linked to the flu. WHO says it has confirmed 506 cases and 19 deaths in Mexico.
The world has 898 confirmed cases of the virus, known to scientists H1N1 virus, in a total of 18 countries, WHO said Sunday.
The United States has reported 226 confirmed cases in 30 states. The U.S. cases include one death -- a Mexican toddler visiting relatives in the United States.
According to WHO, Canada has 70 confirmed cases; the United Kingdom has 15; Spain has 13; Germany has 6; New Zealand has 4; Israel has 3; France has 2; and Austria, China, South Korea, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Ireland each have one.
In China, officials have quarantined 68 people, including 13 crew members, who were passengers of a Mexico City to Shanghai flight, which carried a passenger who tested positive for the virus, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Sunday. None of the other passengers has exhibited any flu-like symptoms, one health official said.
About another 110 people who were on the Aeromexico plane went on to other destinations, and may face quarantines elsewhere, the news agency said. Fifteen have been quarantined at a Beijing hotel.
Shanghai's airport is now barring other Aeromexico planes from landing there, a representative of the airline told CNN. Aeromexico is suspending flights to Shanghai until May 15, the representative said. The airline does not fly to Hong Kong or Beijing.
In the United States, New York has the most confirmed cases, with 63, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas has 40; California has 26; Arizona 18; South Carolina 15; Delaware 10; Massachusetts and New Jersey each have seven; Colorado has four; Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin each have three; Connecticut, Kansas and Michigan each have two; Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Utah each have one.
California officials suspended visitation and other "nonessential activities" at Centinela State Prison in Imperial County after an inmate was suspected of having swine flu. The case has yet to be confirmed with lab testing.
On Sunday, health officials in North Carolina and Pennsylvania announced the first confirmed cases in those states, and Louisiana's governor said his state had seven confirmed cases. The cases from those three states were not immediately included in the CDC tally.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius, appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," warned that even if the flu outbreak wanes, "it could come back with greater force in the winter and fall, when we get into flu season."
"So, this is no time for complacency," she said. "We want to stay out ahead of this."
Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC's interim deputy director for public health, told reporters Sunday that she was | [
"What is the name of the virus?",
"Which country has the largest number of cases?",
"How many cases of H1N1 virus has the WHO confirmed?",
"How many cases have been confirmed worldwide?"
] | [
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"506"
] | question: What is the name of the virus?, answer: H1N1 | question: Which country has the largest number of cases?, answer: Mexico | question: How many cases of H1N1 virus has the WHO confirmed?, answer: 898 | question: How many cases have been confirmed worldwide?, answer: 506 |
(CNN) -- The Wu-Tang Clan -- the New York hip-hop supergroup that spawned millions of album sales, nine solo acts and a few acting careers -- almost never was.
If RZA, left, had been jailed or Method Man killed, Wu-Tang may have never formed, RZA says.
Method Man, the group's most recognizable voice, was nearly killed before the band formed, Wu-Tang's chief producer, RZA, writes in his forthcoming memoir.
Meth was walking to buy marijuana at 160 Park Hill Avenue in Staten Island -- the house in Wu-Tang's "Protect Ya Neck" video -- when RZA saw him across the street, he writes in the book.
"Come over here, yo!" RZA beckoned, according to "The Tao of Wu" (Riverhead). "He stopped and came running over. A few seconds later -- pow-pow-pow-pow-pow! -- a guy started shooting up the front of 160. A buddy of ours, Poppy, an innocent, school-going, nice guy -- he was shot and killed right there." Interactive: Where's the Wu been? »
It wasn't the only close call RZA said could have snuffed the band that rewrote the rule book for hip-hop acts. The year before the group formed in 1993, RZA was acquitted on an attempted murder charge that could have put him behind bars for eight years, he writes in "The Tao of Wu," out Thursday.
Expanding on the book's anecdotes in an interview with CNN, RZA explained that if he had been imprisoned or if Method Man, aka Clifford Smith, had been killed, the band never would have come to fruition.
RZA, whose real name is Robert Diggs and whose stage name is pronounced "Rizza," also talked about his role in the death of his cousin, Russell Jones, better known as Ol' Dirty Bastard or ODB. Two days before his 36th birthday in 2004, ODB died in a New York recording studio from an overdose of cocaine and painkillers.
RZA writes in the book that he once witnessed ODB force his own son to watch him do drugs. RZA tried to leave, he writes, but ODB wouldn't let him. Now, RZA told CNN, he wishes he would've been tougher with ODB about his drug problem.
Following are excerpts from the interview, which has been edited for language, flow and length:
CNN: Could your imprisonment or Method Man's death have derailed Wu-Tang's formation?
RZA: Either one of those incidents could definitely have derailed it. Of course, myself being the abbot, the one who came with the idea, if I wouldn't have made it out of that tumultuous time -- it seemed like I wasn't going to make it out of it; there was a lot of odds against me -- but we stood strong, and self-defense made sense to the jury. We beat that ...
It was the victory over that incident that made me change my whole direction. In a way, it's double-edged in that incident. One, if I would've lost that, yeah, Wu-Tang wouldn't have happened, but also it's the victory of it that inspired me and gave me the drive also to go and really get serious about Wu-Tang and the things I was dealing with.
Same thing with Meth, he always brings it up ... that that day saved his life. He actually said, if it was anybody else calling him, he wouldn't have came.
CNN: In the book, you cite lessons from Eastern religions, Christianity, Islam, [Nation of Islam offshoot] Five Percent, numerology, comic books, kung fu, chess. What would you say to someone who says it's difficult to reconcile these dogmas?
RZA: Like it says in the Bible, "In the beginning was the word, and the word became flesh" -- if we go to the root of the word, | [
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"RZA said who made son watch him do drugs?",
"when is the memoir coming out"
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] | question: who made son watch him do drugs before 2004 fatal overdose?, answer: Russell Jones, better known as Ol' Dirty Bastard or ODB. | question: When did Ol' Dirty Bastard overdose?, answer: or ODB. Two days before his 36th birthday in 2004, ODB died in a New York recording studio from an | question: who talks about the forming of Wu-Tang Clan?, answer: RZA | question: what could have derailed band?, answer: Method Man's death | question: What does RZA talk of?, answer: his role in the death of his cousin, Russell Jones, better known as Ol' Dirty Bastard or ODB. | question: What religions does the book cite for their lessons?, answer: Christianity, Islam, | question: What group did the producer work with?, answer: The Wu-Tang Clan | question: RZA talks about forming what in upcoming memoir?, answer: Wu-Tang | question: What did the Wu-Tang producer say could have derailed the band?, answer: imprisonment or Method Man's death | question: RZA said who made son watch him do drugs?, answer: ODB | question: when is the memoir coming out, answer: Thursday. |
(CNN) -- The alleged leader of a firearms trafficking network believed to be smuggling guns into Mexico -- where police say they are used against law enforcement officers by members of Mexican drug cartels -- was arrested Thursday in Arizona, authorities said.
Victor Varela was arrested by the ATF as part of the agency's ongoing Project Gunrunner.
Victor Varela was arrested by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as part of the agency's ongoing Project Gunrunner, according to an ATF release. He was in the custody of the Maricopa County, Arizona, sheriff.
"Law enforcement officers disrupted a group of gun traffickers and recovered several weapons, including .50-caliber semiautomatic rifles and several handguns, allegedly intended to supply drug traffic organization members of the Juarez Cartel in Palomas, Mexico," the statement said.
In state charges, prosecutors allege Varela and his co-defendants bought a number of guns in Arizona intending to supply the Mexican cartel members. The group allegedly transported the illegally purchased guns to New Mexico, and then into Mexico.
A .50-caliber weapon is the largest that can legally be bought in the United States, and is illegal in Mexico. Authorities believe a .50-caliber weapon was used in recent months to kill Francisco Ledesma Salazar, a police commander in Juarez, Mexico. He is among five high-ranking Mexican police officials killed this year in what Mexico authorities describe as an escalating war between police and drug cartels.
Last week, 2,000 troops were sent to Juarez by the Mexican government in an effort to quell the violence there, which has claimed some 200 lives since January.
Guns are difficult to buy legally in Mexico, but can be obtained just north of the border at gun shows and gun shops. Project Gunrunner was launched as an effort to help Mexican police by cracking down on illegal smuggling of guns and ammunition, and has led to several arrests and seizures. Watch how the weapons fuel a little-known war »
"This case was made one of our highest priorities because of the nature of the crime alleged to be committed by Varela," U.S. Marshal David Gonzales said in the ATF release.
Guns featured in a CNN Special Investigations Unit report last week, confiscated by Juarez police, are believed to have been smuggled into Mexico by Varela, according to an ATF spokesman.
Authorities said one recent discovery, in a storage locker in Yuma, Arizona, yielded 42 weapons and hundreds of rounds of .50-caliber bullets already belted to be fed into a machine gun-style weapon, as well as Fabrique Nationale pistols, semiautomatic handguns that fire a 5.7-by-28-millimeter round.
"What's interesting about this gun, why it's in high demand, is the nickname that it has in Mexico," said William Newell, ATF special agent in charge, about the Fabrique National pistol. "It's called 'mata policias,' or 'cop killer.' "
Charging documents allege that Varela was attempting to buy a fully automatic M-60 machine gun for a drug cartel associate in Palomas, authorities said. "Additionally, a number of firearms recovered by Mexico law enforcement ... allegedly were trafficked by Varela's gun smuggling network," the ATF statement said.
U.S. authorities are sharing intelligence with their Mexican counterparts to assist in ongoing investigations, the ATF said. E-mail to a friend
CNN's John Murgatroyd and Drew Griffin contributed to this report. | [
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"who is blamed for killings of police officers?",
"how many troops were sent to juarez?",
"How many Mexican troops were sent to Juarez, Mexico?",
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"who is sharing intelligence",
"Who is sharing intelligence with their Mexican counterparts?",
"where are the guns being smuggled"
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] | question: who is suspect?, answer: Victor Varela | question: who is blamed for killings of police officers?, answer: drug cartels. | question: how many troops were sent to juarez?, answer: 2,000 | question: How many Mexican troops were sent to Juarez, Mexico?, answer: 2,000 | question: Who is blamed for the killings of police officers?, answer: drug cartels. | question: who is sharing intelligence, answer: U.S. authorities are | question: Who is sharing intelligence with their Mexican counterparts?, answer: U.S. authorities | question: where are the guns being smuggled, answer: Mexico |
(CNN) -- The announced pregnancy of Jamie Lynn Spears -- the 16-year-old children's television star and younger sister of beleaguered pop star Britney Spears -- is casting new light on how states deal with the thorny issue of consensual sex among teens.
Jamie Lynn Spears, shown in September, stars in the popular Nickelodeon series "Zoey 101."
Spears, the star of Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101," told OK! Magazine that she's pregnant and that the father is her 18-year-old boyfriend.
There has been no public talk of criminal prosecution in the case. Consensual sex between the two may well have been legal, depending on where and when it took place.
But critics of the nation's statutory rape laws say that laws that are ignored in some cases can be used to put other teens in prison and land them on sex-offender registries. Watch CNN's Sunny Hostin on what the law says »
"You have a disturbing disparity in how these laws are enforced," said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. "I have no problem at all with nailing adults who sleep with children, but I have a problem with the prosecution of teenagers in consensual relationships.
"What this case should focus the nation on is having a more evenhanded approach to these cases." Watch a psychologist talk about how Spears' pregnancy could lead to parents talking to their kids about sex »
In Louisiana, where Spears lives, it is a misdemeanor for someone age 17 to 19 to have consensual sex with someone age 15 to 17 if the difference between their ages is more than two years.
In California, where she sometimes tapes her television show, it's a misdemeanor to have sex with someone younger than 18 if the offender is less than three years older. Someone more than three years older could be charged with a felony.
According to OK! Magazine, which first reported the news Tuesday, Spears said the father of her baby is longtime boyfriend Casey Aldridge.
Turley said most states have similar laws but rely on prosecutors to be selective in enforcing them. But that's a recipe for legal problems, he said.
The issue drew international attention when a Georgia teen was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17.
In 2005, Genarlow Wilson was tried for the rape of a 17-year-old girl at a hotel-room party. While he was found not guilty of that charge, he was convicted of aggravated child molestation for the act with the 15-year-old -- even though he was less than two years older.
Georgia law, which has since been changed, required a mandatory 10-year sentence on the charge of aggravated child molestation and required Wilson to register as a sex offender when he was released. Under the revised Georgia law, the act now would be a misdemeanor.
Now 21, Wilson was released from prison in October -- after serving more than two years -- when the state Supreme Court ruled his sentence was "grossly disproportionate to his crime."
"The current laws leave too much to prosecutorial discretion," Turley said. "We saw in the Wilson case how prosecutorial discretion can lead to grotesque results."
He said statutory rape prosecutions of teens are more common in Southern states and small towns than they are elsewhere in the country or in big cities.
B.J. Bernstein, Wilson's attorney, argued throughout his case that Wilson was imprisoned for an act that, while perhaps morally questionable, probably is going on among teens everywhere.
"If you prosecuted, even with misdemeanors, all those cases, you'd clog up the justice system with kids having sex," she said. "It's a social issue -- and it may be something that parents don't want to happen or wish wouldn't happen at that age -- but it shouldn't be a crime."
Spears, who turned 16 on April 4 and says she is 12 weeks into her pregnancy, told the magazine she plans to raise her child in Louisiana, | [
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] | question: What age is the father of her child?, answer: 18-year-old | question: What is Jamie Lynn Spears age?, answer: 16-year-old | question: Is there a criminal prosecution?, answer: has been no public talk of | question: What age is Jamie Lynn Spears?, answer: 16-year-old | question: What do the experts say?, answer: "You have a disturbing disparity in how these laws are enforced," | question: What do experts say?, answer: "You have a disturbing disparity in how these laws are enforced," | question: What do experts say about rape laws?, answer: that are ignored in some cases can be used to put other teens in prison and land them on sex-offender registries. | question: what is the age of jamiie lynn spear?, answer: 16-year-old | question: Has there been talk of criminal prosecution?, answer: no public | question: What ages are Jamie Lynn Spears and her boyfriend?, answer: 18-year-old |
(CNN) -- The assault began at dawn, as bullets and rockets peppered the remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan.
Lt. Cason Shrode said that in less than two minutes, his team's generator was hit and they were out of power.
The insurgency was so fierce, according to one soldier, that the troops couldn't get to their mortars to fire back.
"They were under heavy enemy contact," Sgt. Jayson Souter said, describing the October 3 attack that pinned his comrades at Combat Outpost Keating, a remote base in Nuristan province.
Four servicemen -- Souter, a fellow soldier, an Apache helicopter pilot, and a gunner -- talked to a military reporter about their roles during the Keating attack in an interview posted by the Department of Defense on Facebook and NATO's International Security Assistance Force YouTube Channel.
The United States says about 200 insurgents -- mostly local fighters, with some Taliban organizers and leaders -- had been planning the attack for days, hiding mortars, rockets and heavy machine guns in the mountains. Watch more about their story »
The battle started early on October 3 and lasted for 12 hours. At the end, eight American soldiers and more than 100 militants were killed and buildings at the outpost were destroyed.
Fire support officer 1st Lt. Cason Shrode said the initial round "didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary." There was a lull and then there was a heavy attack.
"We started receiving a heavy volley of fire. Probably 90 seconds into the fight they ended up hitting one of our generators so we lost all power," Shrode said in the interview posted online by the Defense Department. "At that point I knew that this was something bigger than normal."
Troops called in air support. Helicopter gunner Chad Bardwell said he had to confirm the fighters he saw on ridgelines were the enemy because he had never seen such a large group of insurgents.
"We tried to stop them as they were coming down the hill. ... We were taking fire pretty much the entire day," he said in the Defense Department interview.
Chief Warrant Officer Ross Lewallen, the Apache pilot, said a few aircraft were damaged in what was a "time-consuming endeavor" governed by tough terrain. He said the morning battle was "significant," but later troops were able to identify targets and eliminate larger weapons.
"One of the primary reasons for the fight taking so long is that it is an extreme terrain," he said in the same interview.
Lewallen said the valley sits beneath mountains to the west and north.
"There's a lot of cover so you really can't detect the enemy until they start moving again," he said, adding that it was tough for medical evacuation aircraft to land "because we were still trying to control" the outpost.
The intense assault on Keating led to fires. There were five main buildings at the post and four of them burned. Soldiers eventually ended up going into one building.
"The next morning it was pretty much ash besides that one building. I mean that's the way to describe it. Most of it had burned down. So we were pretty much at one building and the rest was just a shadow of what it used to be," Shrode said in the Defense Department interview.
Lewallen said what came together was "air-ground integration."
"All the training we've done before deploying here; it really clicked that day," he said in the interview. "We started realizing that the guys on the ground knew what they needed to tell us to get the job done. It made things that much easier."
He disputed media reports suggesting that there weren't enough weapons and troops. He said 40 minutes into the fight, air power arrived.
"We had everything we needed. It was just a big attack with a lot of people. Bad things happen -- but I think we did well, under the circumstances."
Reflecting on the fight, Souter said, " | [
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"Outpost Keating, a remote base in Nuristan province.",
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"killed"
] | question: where was the october 3 attack that soldiers described, answer: Outpost Keating, a remote base in Nuristan province. | question: when was the attack at a remote base in Nuristan province?, answer: October 3 | question: where was the account posted by the Department of Defense ?, answer: Facebook and NATO's International Security Assistance Force YouTube Channel. | question: What happened to eight soldiers?, answer: killed |
(CNN) -- The attorney for a man whose wife's wrong-way accident killed eight people on New York's Taconic Parkway in July says he will ask authorities to exhume her body to prove she wasn't drinking at the time of the accident.
On CNN's "Larry King Live" Tuesday night, Daniel Schuler said his wife, Diane, was not an alcoholic.
Dominic Barbera, attorney for Daniel Schuler, told CNN's "Larry King Live" he believes Diane Schuler may have suffered stroke-like symptoms and that a fire after the accident could have turned blood sugar into alcohol.
"I read from the medical autopsy report that there was charring of the body because there was a fire," Barbera said. "And I found -- my doctors found numerous cases where you can actually have sugar in the blood turn into alcohol."
Barbera said Schuler may have had a Transient Ischemic Attack, which produces stroke-like symptoms but no lasting damage. Watch why husband believes wife wasn't drunk »
The Westchester County medical examiner's office found that Schuler, 36, had a blood alcohol level of .19 percent -- more than twice the legal limit -- and had marijuana in her system when she drove a minivan the wrong way on the parkway and ran head-on into an SUV.
Three adults in the SUV were killed in the July 26 crash, as were Schuler and four children she was carrying in the minivan -- her daughter and three nieces. A fifth child, Schuler's son, survived.
A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, Donna Green, said that the office stands "by the findings of the medical examiner's report."
But Daniel Schuler said he believed the report was wrong.
"I know the truth, what happened, with my wife," he said. "She is not an alcoholic and doesn't drink. She is an outstanding mother."
Barbera and Schuler said they wanted to have the body exhumed for further examinations to prove that the accident was not caused by a drunken driver.
Attorneys for the family of Daniel Luongo, 73, one of the victims in the SUV, rejected the Schuler family's contention.
"The scientific evidence indicates that Diane Schuler was intoxicated and under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash," they said in a statement.
"Any claims denying her responsibility for this tragedy are wholly unsubstantiated, and the Luongo family finds these claims appalling, offensive and hurtful. They have lost a loved one to a senseless tragedy, and these claims do nothing but add insult to injury." | [
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"What does the husband want to prove in the collision?",
"How many were killed on the Taconic Parkway in July?",
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] | question: What does the husband want to prove?, answer: she wasn't drinking at the time of the accident. | question: What does the husband want to prove in the collision?, answer: she wasn't drinking at the time of the accident. | question: How many were killed on the Taconic Parkway in July?, answer: eight people | question: What does the husband want to prove about his wife?, answer: she wasn't drinking at the time of the accident. | question: How many were killed on Taconic Parkway in July?, answer: eight | question: What did the attorney say?, answer: he will ask authorities to exhume her body to prove she wasn't drinking at the time of the accident. | question: What is the attorney's claim in the Schuler case?, answer: may have suffered stroke-like symptoms and that a fire after the accident could have turned blood sugar into alcohol. | question: What could have turned Schuler's blood sugar into alcohol?, answer: a fire after the accident |
(CNN) -- The body of a woman was found near her car Wednesday, the apparent victim of an ammonia leak from a nearby plant in Swansea, South Carolina, police said.
The leak occurred at the Tanner Industries plant as a hose had been connected from a delivery trailer containing anhydrous ammonia (purified ammonia) to a storage tank in the facility, said David Binder, director of quality safety and regulatory affairs for Tanner Industries.
"During that operation, a hole burst in the hose," he said. "That released ammonia gas."
The leak from the plant, located about 24 miles south of Columbia, was reported to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department shortly before 8 a.m., said Maj. John Allard, a public information officer for the department.
Firefighters arrived within 10 minutes at the plant, where they saw a large, light-colored, dense plume, and closed area roads to traffic, he said.
The ammonia hovered first over U.S. 321, then moved into a wooded area, blackening its foliage, Allard said.
Public safety personnel searched the vicinity for any people or animals affected by the leak, and -- at 9:30 a.m. -- found the woman's body next to her vehicle, which was parked on the side of U.S. 321, he said.
Officials were speculating that the woman had been driving north when she encountered the plume and tried to turn around, but her car stalled.
She apparently got out of the vehicle and was overcome by the fumes, Allard said. An autopsy has been ordered.
The woman's name was not released pending notification of her family.
Seven people were taken to Lexington County Medical Center in stable condition with respiratory problems, none of which was life-threatening, Allard said. Five were plant workers; the other two were nearby residents.
The road was reopened at 2 p.m., after the plume had dissipated, he said.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board -- an independent agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents -- announced it is deploying an investigation team to the site of the ammonia release.
Tanner's Binder described the occurrence as "tragic," adding that nothing similar had occurred in the plant's more than 13 years of existence. "This is just heart-wrenching," he said, adding that there were no immediate plans to reopen the plant.
Ammonia, a strong irritant that affects the respiratory system, is used in a variety of industries, including the manufacture of fertilizers and in commercial refrigeration systems.
CNN's Anna Rhett Cobb contributed to this story | [
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] | question: Who may have gotten out of car?, answer: a woman | question: What did officials speculate about the woman?, answer: had been driving north when she encountered the plume | question: Where was the woman's body found?, answer: near her car | question: Where was an ammonia leak reported?, answer: Swansea, South Carolina, | question: What did public safety officials find?, answer: woman's body | question: What was reported at Tanner Industries?, answer: leak | question: What do officials speculate?, answer: that the woman had been driving north when she encountered the plume and tried to turn around, but her car stalled. | question: What was leading at the Tanner Industries plant?, answer: ammonia |
(CNN) -- The brief detention in Havana, Cuba, last week of a Portland, Oregon, church group comes on the heels of the detention of an American contractor and could indicate an increasingly chilly reception for some American visitors, according to the church travelers.
The December 26 trip for 14 members of the First Unitarian Church of Portland is a reminder of the entrenched tensions between Cuba and the United States despite the Obama administration's loosening of previous restrictions.
The church group was traveling on a U.S.-issued license and planned to do humanitarian work. The group was denied entry to Cuba. Part of the group spent the night detained inside the Havana airport before being put on a plane to Mexico, the church's social justice minister, the Rev. Kate Lore, told CNN.
The most recent trip was under a religious license, but the bulk of the mission was to be devoted to projects such as an AIDS clinic and teaching women how to make baby clothes
The church made three trips in November without incident, but things went sour almost immediately after the 14 volunteers exited the plane in December, one of the participants, Jacquie Jones, told CNN.
Most of the group passed through customs without a problem, but five members of the group were stopped and had their passports and licenses checked, Jones said.
Jones said she told the Cuban officials, "We love the Cubans. We have many friends here; there is no reason to keep us out of the country."
The Cuban authorities told the five that they were not allowed inside Cuba because they were there for religious reasons and forced them to wait for almost an hour and a half before putting them on a commercial flight back to Mexico, from where they had traveled.
Jones pointed out the U.S. gives travel permits to Cuba for religious work, but the island, at least in this case, rejected the group for the same reason.
"It's a total Catch-22," she said.
The reason for the brusque treatment is likely because of the detention of another American earlier this month, several church members said.
The detained man, whose name has not been released, is a subcontractor for Development Alternatives Inc., an international development group on contract with the U.S. government to promote human rights in Cuba.
Cuban leader Raul Castro said that the man was detained because he was distributing satellite communications equipment in order to destabilize Cuba.
For nearly a half a century, the United States has maintained a trade embargo against Cuba that many on the island nation have blamed for their country's woes.
"I don't blame the Cuban government, or our government, but I truly believe something has to be done to normalize relations," Jones said.
The nine others who had already passed through customs faced additional questioning and were detained inside the airport overnight, Carol Slegers, who was part of that group, told CNN.
Later, it was learned that Cuban authorities considered imprisoning them, she said. Instead, they were left to find a place to sleep on the floor of the airport.
The group ended up sleeping underneath a staircase, using fabric they brought for the clothes-making project as sheets, Slegers said. The next morning, they were put on a plane to Mexico.
The Cuban officials "were rude and cold and indifferent," Slegers said. "It was very psychologically disarming."
But, Slegers and others made clear, they were not mistreated by the Cubans.
"We're upset because of the treatment, but ultimately, we want the policy to change," she said. "I hope goodwill and improvement of relations will come out of this incident, moving the two countries beyond the my-belt-is-bigger-than-your-belt diplomacy of the last half century." | [
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] | question: How many people were put back on the plane, answer: five | question: Who was detained, answer: a Portland, Oregon, church group | question: Who put five people back on the plane to Mexico?, answer: Cuban authorities | question: What did the group traveling plan to do?, answer: humanitarian work. | question: What are the group travelling on a us issued licence planning to do, answer: humanitarian work. | question: Who could get a chilly reception?, answer: some American visitors, |
(CNN) -- The building in Amstetten, eastern Austria, seems innocuous enough. But it is underneath this family home --- now known as "the house of horror" -- that a woman was held for nearly 24 years by her father and repeatedly raped, giving birth to seven children as a result.
The bathroom used by the woman, who was held captive for more than two decades, and her three children.
Now the first images have begun to emerge of the series of rooms in which 73-year-old man Josef Fritzl says he imprisoned his daughter, and three of her surviving children, in a basement 50-60 meters square that he converted himself.
Police and authorities who have been down into the cellar after Fritzl gave them the electronic combination -- say that the rooms are very low, less than five-and-a-half feet high.
The rooms included a sleeping quarters, a kitchen and a bathroom, all of which are said to be "very dark, narrow and damp," reports CNN correspondent Fred Pleitgen. Watch a report on details of the case »
Elisabeth Fritzl has told officers that conditions were "dire" and that she and her children had little food and clothing. None had seen the light of day during their entire time in captivity, she told police.
One photograph shows the white-tiled walls and floors of the bathroom and some token attempts to introduce some semblance of normality.
A small child-like cutout of a yellow snail has been stuck over the sink, while a large plastic elephant sits atop the green bathroom cabinet. Above that, as elsewhere in the bathroom, droops a small plastic plant.
Other accoutrements of everyday life litter the scene, including a hot water bottle, a small wooden chair and a towel.
What looks like a wooden glass-framed door has been painted red; through the doorway is the bath itself, crammed in next to a toilet with a green seat.
Above the bath is what looks like a large image of a flower, aside other decorations that appear to have been put on the walls.
But the overwhelming sense from the images is one of grimness. The only evident light in this windowless room comes from the small bulb set into the bathroom cabinet; despite the whiteness of the walls, floor and bathroom fittings, it is a room that cannot hide its oppression as one of the few rooms that the three children, if reports are correct, have ever known.
Other pictures convey the grimness of the dungeon still further. A narrow corridor, just over the width of a floor tile, leads down from what seems to be a kitchen area to sleeping quarters.
A table in the foreground appear to have a cloth over it; a dressing gown hangs from the hook. But the spartan conditions and cramped conditions cannot belie the rooms' true purpose.
A third image shows a corner of the dungeon with a wooden wall and construction materials piled up in a heap. A set of tiles has been fixed to the wall in what seem to be two sides of a doorway, blocked by what looks like a white rectangular board.
Police at a press conference Monday said that this image showed the exit from the dungeon, controlled on the other side by an electronic keyless lock. E-mail to a friend | [
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] | question: For how long was the daughter held prisoner?, answer: nearly 24 years | question: Where was the father from?, answer: Amstetten, eastern Austria, | question: When was the daughter freed?, answer: 24 years | question: Did the daughter have any children?, answer: three | question: Where was the daughter held prisoner?, answer: family home | question: Where was she held?, answer: "the house of horror" |
(CNN) -- The chief justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of an American father in an international custody battle.
The ruling by Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes will reunite a 9-year-old boy with his father, David Goldman, who has been locked in a custody battle with the family of the boy's deceased mother.
Last week, a lower court unanimously upheld a decision ordering that Sean Goldman be returned to his father in New Jersey.
David Goldman arrived in Rio de Janeiro to reunite with his son, but one Supreme Court justice issued a stay, ordering Sean to remain with his Brazilian relatives until the high court could consider the case.
Mendes' decision lifted the stay, paving the way for Goldman to be reunited with his son.
Sean's grandmother, Silvana Bianchi, was expected to immediately file appeals to Tuesday's ruling.
In a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bianchi said that the legal process was overlooking the boy's own desires.
"I feel threatened by losing my grandson Sean because of international pressures that don't consider the interest of a 9-year-old child who passionately desires to remain among those that gave him comfort in the mother's death," the letter states in part. "They allege that the Hague Convention determined to hand him over immediately. I am not a lawyer. But what I know is that the Convention establishes as priority the interest of the child, and the child wasn't heard."
The custody battle began in 2004, when Goldman's wife, Bruna Bianchi, took their then-4-year-old son from their home in New Jersey to Rio de Janeiro for what was to have been a two-week vacation. She never returned, instead remarrying there and retaining custody of Sean. She died last year in childbirth.
Goldman has argued that as the sole surviving parent, he should be granted custody.
The Bianchi family argues it would traumatize Sean to remove him from what has been his home for five years.
The custody battle garnered much media attention and spilled over into the political arena as well.
U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, had placed a hold on a trade bill that would have benefited Brazil to the tune of $2.75 billion, but he lifted it on the court's ruling, spokesman Caley Gray said.
The bill in question, which sailed through the Senate after the senator dropped the hold, would provide export tariff relief to 130 countries, of which Brazil would be the fifth largest recipient, Gray said.
Lautenberg's hold was designed to exert additional pressure on Brazilian authorities to abide by the court order to return Sean to his father, he said.
While the chief justice was still studying the case, Brazilian Attorney General Luis Inacio Adams said the executive branch sides with Goldman.
"Once we stop cooperating and start breaking our treaties and international obligations, Brazil risks the chance of not having its own requests in the matters regarding international judicial help granted, based on the principle of international reciprocity," Adams said Monday.
"Not releasing the minor into the custody of his father could bring sanctions against Brazil," he added. "It could damage Brazil's image before the international community."
CNN's Mariano Castillo and Adam Reiss contributed to this report. | [
"Who lifted the restraining order keeping the boy in Brazil?",
"In what city did Sean live with his mother's family after she died?",
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] | question: Who lifted the restraining order keeping the boy in Brazil?, answer: Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes | question: In what city did Sean live with his mother's family after she died?, answer: Rio de Janeiro | question: On what date did Goldman's wife take Sean from New Jersey to Rio de Janeiro?, answer: 2004, | question: Where did Goldman's wife take Sean for two weeks?, answer: Rio de Janeiro | question: Who has been locked in a legal battle?, answer: David Goldman, |
(CNN) -- The commander of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Hampton has been relieved of his command amid an inquiry into misconduct by crew members, the U.S. Navy said Friday.
The USS Hampton appears in an undated photograph.
Cmdr. Michael B. Portland lost his post "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command," the Navy said in a statement. Cmdr. William J. Houston will replace Portland.
The crew neither maintained inspection records nor conducted the required inspection of chemical levels associated with the cooling system of the ship's nuclear reactor, Navy officials said. The crew then went back and falsified existing records to make it appear the work had been done.
"There is not, and never was, any danger to the crew or the public," the Navy said.
Portland's demotion brings to 10 the number of people relieved of duty on the submarine in the wake of the misconduct probe.
Six personnel have been punished for forging inspection records for the cooling system, the Navy officials said Monday. Those six -- one officer and five enlisted personnel -- received a "nonjudicial punishment" after other Navy personnel discovered their actions, the officials said.
The Navy said Friday that one officer and two enlisted crew members have been temporarily reassigned to Submarine Squadron 11. Portland also will be temporarily reassigned to that squadron.
The misconduct was discovered September 17 but not made public until after completion of an initial inquiry.
A fact-finding investigation is under way, and further action against Navy crew members is possible, a Navy official said.
The Hampton remains in port in San Diego, California. In all, the $900 million vessel's crew includes 13 officers and 116 enlisted personnel. E-mail to a friend | [
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"Who had lost confidence?",
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"what was the crew faking?",
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] | question: What caused the navy to lose confidence in their officer's ability?, answer: misconduct by crew members, | question: Who had lost confidence?, answer: Cmdr. Michael B. Portland | question: What had been faked?, answer: inspection records | question: what was the crew faking?, answer: falsified existing records to make it appear the work had been done. | question: What have 10 people been relieved of?, answer: duty on the submarine | question: What was the reason for the crew members discipline?, answer: misconduct by | question: Who did the Navy lose confidence in?, answer: Cmdr. Michael B. Portland | question: what has the navy lost confidence in?, answer: Cmdr. Michael B. Portland | question: What kind of discipline did the crew members receive?, answer: "nonjudicial punishment" | question: What was the number of people relieved of duty?, answer: 10 |
(CNN) -- The company that produced the peanut butter linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak said late Tuesday that it was voluntarily recalling all products made in its Blakely, Georgia, plant.
Salmonella bacteria are transmitted to humans by eating contaminated foods.
The Peanut Corporation of America, a peanut processing company, made the peanut butter sold by King Nut company.
Health officials in Minnesota have said that salmonella they linked to an open container of King Nut peanut butter was the same strain of bacteria responsible for the apparently ongoing outbreak, which has infected at least 434 people in 43 states.
However, the King Nut product is unlikely to be responsible for the entire outbreak, since it distributes its peanut butter only to food service companies in just seven states: Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, Arizona, Idaho and New Hampshire.
So, the Peanut Corporation of America said it was voluntarily recalling all peanut butter produced in its Blakely plant "out of an abundance of caution." Some of it is distributed to another company. What you need to know about food poisoning »
"We deeply regret that this has happened," company president Stewart Parnell said.
Over the past few days, Food and Drug Administration inspectors visited the Blakely plant, where they took hundreds of samples for testing, Parnell said.
The salmonella outbreak has been spreading across much of the country since September.
Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium played a role in the deaths of an elderly person from southwestern Virginia and an adult from northern Virginia. The third death was a nursing home resident in her 70s in Minnesota. All three of the patients who died had underlying illnesses that could have contributed to their deaths, state officials said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a written statement, has called peanut butter "a likely source" of the infections. But it said that no association had been found with common brand names of peanut butter sold in grocery stores.
The first cases of salmonella were reported September 3, but most occurred between October 1 and January 6, the CDC said. About 18 percent of cases were hospitalized as a result of their illness, and patients have ranged from 2 months to 98 years of age.
CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said a preliminary analysis suggests peanut butter as a likely source of the outbreak. No cases connected to the outbreak have been reported in Montana, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida or Alaska.
Very young people, older people and those with compromised immune systems are most vulnerable to severe side effects of salmonella infection, including death, health officials have said.
CNN's Miriam Falco contributed to this report. | [
"What does the Peanut Corp make?",
"How many people have been sickened because of the outbreak?",
"How many deaths have been linked to the outbreak?",
"What did the Peanut Corp. of America do recently?"
] | [
"butter sold by King Nut company.",
"434",
"three of the patients",
"made the"
] | question: What does the Peanut Corp make?, answer: butter sold by King Nut company. | question: How many people have been sickened because of the outbreak?, answer: 434 | question: How many deaths have been linked to the outbreak?, answer: three of the patients | question: What did the Peanut Corp. of America do recently?, answer: made the |
(CNN) -- The cool of Barack Obama was very much on display on a warm day in Boston's Christopher Columbus Park during the summer of 2004.
John Kerry, right, and Obama confer at the 2004 DNC, where Obama wowed the crowd with his keynote address.
It was going to be a big day for the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate from Illinois.
In a few hours, on that night, July 27, 2004, he was to give the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention at the Fleet Center about a mile away. But as he gave a lunchtime speech on environmental policy to a leisurely crowd of about 100 people at the green space on Boston Harbor, he was relaxed and loose, seemingly unconcerned about what was ahead.
Taking notes amid the crowd, I hoped to get a few minutes with the candidate.
I'd been told about his vaunted charisma -- my two brothers, both of whom live in Chicago, had mentioned his oratorical gifts -- but in person Obama seemed familiar, even a touch wonky, as he talked about asthma rates and the Bush administration's environmental record.
I chatted with Obama's press attaché and with a Chicago Tribune reporter, David Mendell, as the speech wound down, and was offered a ride in a nondescript minivan back to the Fleet Center.
Even then Obama was attracting attention; several members of the audience gave him enthusiastic greetings as he left the scene to get in the van.
In the front passenger seat of the van, the rail-thin Obama, obviously hungry (he later told me he'd lost eight pounds since the beginning of the campaign), chewed on a sandwich and joked with the other passengers as I peppered him with questions during the 20-minute ride.
He answered with deliberate thoughtfulness, though he'd probably heard at least a few of them dozens of times already.
Was he worried about the speech, the kind of spotlight that had made political leaders including William Jennings Bryan, Mario Cuomo and Ann Richards national figures?
"There's going to be some adrenaline," he said, after taking off his tie and unbuttoning his white dress shirt. "But the pressure I'm experiencing is nothing compared to folks I'm meeting getting laid off. ... That's real pressure."
And what about the Senate race? Illinois Republicans were in disarray and better-known, better-funded candidates had fallen by the wayside, with Obama seemingly now a sure thing for the seat.
"Three months is a lifetime in politics," Obama replied.
By now, Obama's rise is well known: the son of a Kenyan father and Kansas mother, raised in Indonesia and Hawaii, community organizer, Harvard Law Review editor, author, law instructor, politician. He's been astutely revealing in his books, notably his 1995 memoir "Dreams From My Father," and his presidential campaign has reflected his demeanor.
But none of it was foreordained. In the fall of 2003, when he was still an Illinois state senator, he was one of seven candidates running for Peter Fitzgerald's vacated U.S. Senate seat. One of his opponents was a multimillionaire; another was the Illinois state controller. Obama was unknown and underfunded.
"I remember asking [at one event], 'Where is he?' " Mendell recalled at the Boston rally. "And somebody said, 'He's parking the car.' "
Mendell's description of Obama's 2004 race offers echoes of his painstaking, grassroots 2008 campaign. Obama had some good luck: The multimillionaire, Blair Hull, had details of his ugly divorce come out during the campaign. But Obama's success was also a tribute to his meticulous resolve.
"He ran a really smart primary campaign," Mendell said. "He waited until the ninth inning to score all his runs. ... It was masterfully done." Mendell later wrote a book on Obama, "Obama: From Promise to Power."
Not even Obama knows for sure how he landed the keynote slot. In his 2006 book, | [
"What did John Kerry take a chance on?",
"What did Obama's keynote do?",
"Where was Obama heading to when the writer rode with him?",
"Who rode with Obama on his way to give keynote address?",
"Why did Obama say he was calm?",
"What did Obama's keynote emphasize?"
] | [
"Barack Obama",
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"Democratic National Convention at the Fleet Center about a mile away.",
"John Kerry,",
"pressure I'm experiencing is nothing compared to folks I'm meeting getting laid off.",
"environmental policy"
] | question: What did John Kerry take a chance on?, answer: Barack Obama | question: What did Obama's keynote do?, answer: wowed the crowd | question: Where was Obama heading to when the writer rode with him?, answer: Democratic National Convention at the Fleet Center about a mile away. | question: Who rode with Obama on his way to give keynote address?, answer: John Kerry, | question: Why did Obama say he was calm?, answer: pressure I'm experiencing is nothing compared to folks I'm meeting getting laid off. | question: What did Obama's keynote emphasize?, answer: environmental policy |
(CNN) -- The day was supposed to be remembered as one filled with happiness. Their daughter, after all, had just turned 2 years old. Instead, Nikki Peterson remembers December 30, 2007 as the day her husband Billy got sick.
Billy Anderson's undiagnosed condition has kept him in the hospital for more than a year.
Billy Anderson was in fine health until that evening last winter. He woke up in pain and his wife rushed him to the emergency room. Over the next few days, he suffered a number of ailments, from a running fever and hives to swelling joints.
Nikki says she knew there was something wrong when Billy was no longer able to walk around the house. "This is a 6-foot, 240-pound guy who doesn't usually complain about anything," she says.
The couple, from Baxter Springs, Kansas, made three trips to the emergency room. On their third visit, Nikki refused to go home until doctors agreed to keep Billy in the hospital for further evaluation.
Since then, Billy, age 29, has been in and out of intensive care. He's spent time on a ventilator and suffered kidney failure. His body isn't absorbing nutrients, and as a result, his 240-pound frame has been whittled down by 100 pounds. See photos of Billy and his family »
One year and a battery of tests later, doctors still haven't pinpointed the cause of his condition.
CNN's medical show "Vital Signs" recently asked viewers to tell their health stories on iReport.com. Nikki and her mom, Vicki Peterson, jumped at the opportunity. Tell your story with iReport.com
They hope their story will reach someone who can help solve Billy's unexplained illness. Doctors have gone through at least 40 possible diagnoses, according to Nikki.
"We've been told that this is 'Billy's Disease,' and that this will be written about in medical journals. We hope somebody has missed a test or overlooked something," she says.
Billy, a father of two who dreams of opening up his own restaurant one day, appears to have some type of problem with B-cells, according to Nikki. B-cells play a critical role in keeping the immune system healthy.
Dr. Jennifer Holter, who has been treating Billy at Oklahoma University Medical Center since the fall of 2008, says several immunologists have reviewed his case but the underlying reason for his immunodeficiency is still unclear.
Early on, doctors thought he had Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, but that turned out not to be the case. They also haven't been able to identify a typical gene disorder that may be the source.
Most immunodeficiency disorders present themselves in childhood. Adult onset that isn't linked to a genetic event is even more uncommon, Dr. Holter says.
"I think when you have close to 25 immunologists look at you and they can't figure out what's causing the problem, you can call that pretty rare," she says.
The ordeal has taken an emotional toll on the family. "It's been devastating. It's traumatic for the children to have to watch someone who was once so strong suffer," says Nikki.
Being uninsured has added financial stress. Billy had just started a new job training to be a kitchen manager when he first got sick. As a result, he didn't have insurance. He was able to apply for Medicaid, but his coverage was canceled once he started receiving disability assistance.
Oklahoma University Medical Center has become the family's second home. Nikki has moved to nearby Tulsa in order to be able to spend half of the week by Billy's side.
Billy is currently receiving treatment that helps him replace the cells his body isn't making. He's also receiving immunosuppressants to suppress aggravation in his gut.
"This is a very unfortunate situation for a very nice 29-year-old and we will keep offering him the best clinical care we can," Dr. Holter says.
Billy has cycled through five hospitals in the span of 12 months, | [
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"Who shared their health stories?"
] | [
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] | question: who is billy anderson, answer: husband | question: What kind of stories were shared by viewers and readers?, answer: health | question: What do the Dr's call his condition?, answer: 'Billy's Disease,' | question: How long has Billy been in the hospital?, answer: more than a year. | question: how many pounds lost billy, answer: 100 | question: Who's mysterious illness kept him in hospital for over a year?, answer: Billy Anderson's | question: Who shared their health stories?, answer: Nikki and her mom, Vicki Peterson, |
(CNN) -- The death of a spectator overshadowed an intriguing 14th stage of the Tour de France which saw Rinaldo Nocentini desperately cling on to the leader's yellow jersey in cycling's premier event.
George Hincapie, front, upstaged his compatriot and former teammate Lance Armstrong to take second place overall.
A woman died after being hit by a police motorcycle on Saturday afternoon in Wittelsheim, a village in Alsace in northeastern France which is 40 kilometers from the start of the race's leg from Colmar to Besancon.
French police told CNN that two other people were injured and taken to hospital.
The Tour released a statement on its official Web site saying the 61-year-old woman was hit when she crossed the road after a group of cyclists passed, then the motorcycle slid and injured two other spectators. A 36-year-old is in hospital with neck pain, and a 61-year-old has a broken leg
The incident marred an eventful day's racing in which George Hincapie leapt up into second place overall, five seconds behind Nocentini, following a 12-man breakaway.
The American finished eighth in a group of eight who were all 16 seconds behind stage winner Serguei Ivanov of Russia, and had been ahead of Nocentini until the 143-strong peloton made up time at the end.
The Columbia team rider's rise up the standings saw his compatriot and former teammate, seven-time champion Lance Armstrong, drop to fourth place overall.
Armstrong was still eight seconds off the lead after finishing 49th, with Astana teammate Alberto Contador six seconds adrift in third following his classification of 37th.
Nocentini was relieved to retain first place and was grateful to his AG2R teammates, with Nicolas Roche finishing second after powering past Hayden Roche in the final few hundred meters as Ivanov claimed his second stage victory eight years after his first.
"It was a very difficult day today because we're getting tired from all the effort in the last week," the Italian, who finished 45th, told the race's official Web site. "We had a rider up front so we didn't have to ride but because Hincapie was in the move there was a big risk of losing the yellow jersey.
"Eventually, with 50 kilometers to go, our directeur sportif Vincent Lavenu said, 'Okay, let's go! Let's catch the guys.' Okay this wasn't possible but we had to limit our losses and keep the jersey.
"I told the guys, 'Listen, I don't mind. If you want to go for it and defend the jersey, that's great. But if you don't want to, that's okay. You've already worked so hard over the last few days so it doesn't really matter.'
"Eventually I've kept the lead by just five seconds, so I'm really pleased with how this Tour has gone for me so far. And I'm really grateful for the commitment from my team."
Thor Hushovd extended his lead in the green jersey sprint category as he finished at the head of the peloton in 13th place, while nearest rival Mark Cavendish finished right at the back of it in 154th after the two tussled in the closing stages.
The riders will now head back into the mountains through the Swiss Alps for the 207.5km 15th stage from Pontarlier to Verbier, with the climbers expected to come to the fore again just a week ahead of the finish in Paris. | [
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] | question: who drops to fourth?, answer: Lance Armstrong, | question: What place does Lance Armstrong move to?, answer: second | question: What mention the police?, answer: told CNN that two other people were injured and taken to hospital. | question: What happened to a woman?, answer: died after being hit by a police motorcycle | question: What day did this incident occur?, answer: Saturday | question: who retains leader's yellow jersey ?, answer: Rinaldo Nocentini | question: How many people were injured in this accident?, answer: two | question: how many were injured?, answer: two |
(CNN) -- The death toll from severe storms in northern Arkansas has been lowered to one person, emergency officials said early Saturday.
Officials had initially said three people were killed when the storm and possible tornadoes walloped Van Buren County on Friday.
The number of injuries in the county was also less than previously reported, said Rene Preslar, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
There were 10 people injured in the county instead of the 25 previously reported, Preslar said.
"We are still looking at a number of damages, but fortunately the human impact is lower than previously thought."
A total of 23 people were injured statewide, Preslar said.
CNN's Patty Lane contributed to this report. | [
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"How many were killed Friday in Van Buren County, Arkansas?",
"Where was the person killed Friday?",
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] | question: How many people were killed Friday?, answer: three | question: How many were killed Friday in Van Buren County, Arkansas?, answer: one person, | question: Where was the person killed Friday?, answer: Arkansas | question: What was less than previously reported?, answer: The death toll from severe storms in northern Arkansas | question: How many people were injured statewide?, answer: 23 | question: who said the number of injuries in the county was less than the published, answer: Rene Preslar, | question: How many were injured statewide?, answer: 23 people |
(CNN) -- The entire population of Taloga, Oklahoma, was evacuated Thursday because of a raging fire that has burned tens of thousands of acres, officials said Friday.
Wildfire threatens a house in Edmond, Oklahoma, on Friday.
All of the residents, about 400, left the Dewey County town, but have been allowed back in, said Bill Challis with the fire department in Clinton, Oklahoma, south of Taloga. Clinton is among dozens of fire departments helping battle the blaze.
Wildfires have been burning in northwest and central Oklahoma since Thursday, according to the state Department of Emergency Management.
A large wildfire also came within inches of homes north of Edmond late Friday morning and was still burning during the noon hour, CNN affiliate KOCO reported.
Oklahoma Department of Public Safey officials also report that one to two city blocks of Weleetka, in Okfuskee County, were on fire, according to KOCO.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved the state's request for federal assistance for fighting the wildfire in Dewey County, where Taloga is located.
The original call about the Taloga fire came in Thursday at about 12:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET), Challis said. Officials don't know how the fire started.
Brett Russell, also with the Clinton Fire Department, said about 60,000 acres have burned. There are no reports of anyone injured.
As of about 11 a.m. Friday (12 p.m. ET), the Taloga fire was about 50 to 60 percent contained. About 80 fire departments helping battle the blaze, Russell told CNN.
An Oklahoma Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter was helping with aerial fire suppression, according to the state. | [
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] | [
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] | question: Where is the wildfire burning?, answer: northwest and central Oklahoma | question: how many had to flee thier homes, answer: 400, | question: what evacuated all residents?, answer: a raging fire | question: how many are the population?, answer: 400, | question: Which city evacuated these people?, answer: Taloga, Oklahoma, |
(CNN) -- The entire population of Taloga, Oklahoma, was evacuated Thursday because of a raging fire that has burned tens of thousands of acres, officials said Friday.
Wildfire threatens a house in Edmond, Oklahoma, on Friday.
All of the residents, about 400, left the Dewey County town, but have been allowed back in, said Bill Challis with the fire department in Clinton, Oklahoma, south of Taloga. Clinton is among dozens of fire departments helping battle the blaze.
Wildfires have been burning in northwest and central Oklahoma since Thursday, according to the state Department of Emergency Management.
A large wildfire also came within inches of homes north of Edmond late Friday morning and was still burning during the noon hour, CNN affiliate KOCO reported.
Oklahoma Department of Public Safey officials also report that one to two city blocks of Weleetka, in Okfuskee County, were on fire, according to KOCO.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved the state's request for federal assistance for fighting the wildfire in Dewey County, where Taloga is located.
The original call about the Taloga fire came in Thursday at about 12:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET), Challis said. Officials don't know how the fire started.
Brett Russell, also with the Clinton Fire Department, said about 60,000 acres have burned. There are no reports of anyone injured.
As of about 11 a.m. Friday (12 p.m. ET), the Taloga fire was about 50 to 60 percent contained. About 80 fire departments helping battle the blaze, Russell told CNN.
An Oklahoma Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter was helping with aerial fire suppression, according to the state. | [
"What is the population of Taloga?",
"What town was completely evacuated?",
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] | [
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] | question: What is the population of Taloga?, answer: 400, | question: What town was completely evacuated?, answer: Taloga, Oklahoma, | question: Why were they evacuated?, answer: because of a raging fire | question: Where are the fires burning?, answer: in northwest and central Oklahoma | question: Why was Taloga evacuated?, answer: because of a raging fire | question: Who was evacuated?, answer: The entire population of Taloga, Oklahoma, | question: Where are wildfires also burning?, answer: central Oklahoma |
(CNN) -- The family of a Chicago teenager whose beating death was caught on video hope that the attention the incident has garnered will spur healing locally, a relative said at a news conference Wednesday evening.
Derrion Albert, 16, was beaten to death last week. His death was captured on video.
"It should've never happened, but it's never too late," said Rose Braxton, great-aunt of 16-year-old Derrion Albert. "It's time for healing to start getting our communities together so this won't happen to anyone else's child ever again."
Four suspects have been charged with first-degree murder in the September 24 killing of Albert, and police say they are looking for three more people in connection with the beating captured on videotape.
Prosecutors said that Albert, an honors student, was an innocent bystander who ended up in the middle of a street fight between two factions of students from Fenger High School.
The incident caught the attention of the White House, too.
The footage of the incident, which shows Albert being hit by a railroad tie, "is "chilling" and one of the most shocking things "you can ever see," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.
President Obama's concern over the killing didn't provide additional comfort to the family, "but I'm glad that it's out there so everyone can see it and they know that, yes, this is happening," Braxton said.
"This was vicious. How do you just come out and decide that you're going to attack someone with a two-by-four?" Braxton said.
She spoke to reporters together with area community and church leaders.
"Maybe this will wake up and shake up people," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said at the press conference, noting that three teens were killed in Chicago this week.
Braxton said her message to the White House was simply, "Do something."
"We need to get to our children," she said. "Why are they so angry, so full of venom, that you would even consider doing something like that to another human being?"
Albert's funeral was scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. at Greater Mount Hebron Baptist Church in Chicago.
An amateur videotape shot by a witness, which has been broadcast widely, showed the attack unfolding. A local TV station that received the tape turned it over to police.
When school let out at 2:50 p.m. on Thursday, Albert was on his way to a bus stop when two groups of students converged on the street, said Tandra Simonton, spokeswoman for the Cook County States Attorney.
The factions, one that lived near the Altgeld Gardens housing development and one in an area known as "The Ville," began fighting after an earlier shooting that police called gang-related.
According to Simonton, Albert was approached by two members of "The Ville" faction and struck in the head with a long wooden railroad tie, then punched in the face.
After being briefly knocked unconscious, Albert regained consciousness and tried to move from the fight, but was then attacked by a second group of five members from the opposing faction, Simonton said.
Albert was taken to Roseland Community Hospital and then to Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis said he asked the U.S. Secret Service to try to enhance the video so that others involved in the fight can be identified.
Weis pleaded with anyone who may have information not to withhold it. "The culture of 'no-snitch' is unacceptable," he said. "On Thursday, a young man with a promising future lost his life to senseless violence, yet few have come forward."
Authorities are also considering charging people who participated in the fight but did not come into contact with Albert, he said.
Asked about the killing as Obama prepares to travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, to lobby the International Olympic Committee to award Chicago the 2016 Games, Gibbs described | [
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"who was the aggressor",
"what was the number of suspects",
"Who was beaten to death?",
"What did Rev. Jesse Jackson say?"
] | [
"three more people in connection with the beating captured on videotape.",
"two members of \"The Ville\" faction",
"Four",
"Derrion Albert,",
"\"Maybe this will wake up and shake up people,\""
] | question: Who are police looking for?, answer: three more people in connection with the beating captured on videotape. | question: who was the aggressor, answer: two members of "The Ville" faction | question: what was the number of suspects, answer: Four | question: Who was beaten to death?, answer: Derrion Albert, | question: What did Rev. Jesse Jackson say?, answer: "Maybe this will wake up and shake up people," |
(CNN) -- The family of a Korean-American missionary believed held in North Korea said Tuesday they are working with U.S. officials to get him returned home.
Robert Park told relatives before Christmas that he was trying to sneak into the isolated communist state to bring a message of "Christ's love and forgiveness" to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. In a written statement issued Tuesday on the family's behalf, his brother, Paul Park, said Park's well-being "has been a source of ongoing concern and anxiety" since they received reports he had entered North Korea.
"He is a very special member of our family. We miss having his love and compassion in our home," the family statement said. "I don't know where he's being held, but if he can receive this message, we want him to know we love him, we miss him and we are waiting anxiously for the opportunity to be reunited with him."
Paul Park said his San Diego, California-area family is working with the U.S. State Department and members of Congress to bring about his "eventual safe return."
North Korea announced Tuesday that it was holding an American who entered the country illegally from China on Christmas Eve. The state-run Korea Central News Agency did not identify the man, who it said was "now under investigation by a relevant organ."
Monday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Washington was concerned by reports that Park had gone into North Korea but could not confirm them. Washington and Pyongyang have no diplomatic relations, but Kelly said the Swedish Embassy -- which looks after U.S. interests in North Korea -- has offered to try to find out more.
A South Korean Web site last week posted a copy of the letter it said Park was trying to deliver to Kim, which urged the North Korean leader in the name of Jesus Christ to free political prisoners and "open your borders so that we may bring food, provisions, medicine, necessities, and assistance to those who are struggling to survive."
North Korean authorities take a dim view of people who enter the country without authorization. Two American journalists who were arrested along the North Korean-Chinese border in March faced a 12-year sentence at hard labor, but were released after a meeting between Kim and former U.S. President Bill Clinton in Pyongyang.
But Park's parents told CNN affiliate KFMB that their son was willing to risk his life to deliver his message to Kim. | [
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] | question: The American was taken into custody after entering from where?, answer: China | question: Who is believed to be held in North Korea?, answer: Robert Park | question: Who was trying to sneak in to bring message of "Christ's love and forgiveness"?, answer: Robert Park | question: Who was taken into custody after entering from China?, answer: a Korean-American missionary | question: Where is he believed to be held?, answer: North Korea | question: What is the name of the Korean-American missionary?, answer: Robert Park | question: What Park said?, answer: he was trying to sneak into the isolated communist state to bring a message of "Christ's love and forgiveness" to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. |
(CNN) -- The first pictures from NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander, which successfully touched down near Mars' north pole Sunday, showed a pattern of brown polygons as far as the camera could see.
The Mars Phoenix Lander took this image of the planet's surface at its landing site Sunday.
"It's surprisingly close to what we expected and that's what surprises me most," said Peter Smith, the mission's principal investigator. "I expected a bigger surprise."
The landing on the Red Planet's arctic plains -- which ended a 296-day journey -- was right on target, a feat NASA's Ed Weiler compared to landing a hole-in-one with a golf ball from 10,000 miles.
The landing -- dubbed the "seven minutes of terror" -- was a nerve-wracking experience for mission managers, who have witnessed the failure of similar missions.
In mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, they celebrated the lander's much-anticipated entry.
"It was better than we could have imagined," Barry Goldstein, project manager for the Phoenix mission, told CNN. Watch the celebration at mission control »
The Phoenix's 90-day mission is to analyze the soils and permafrost of Mars' arctic tundra for signs of past or present life.
The lander is equipped with a robotic arm capable of scooping up ice and dirt to look for organic evidence that life once existed there, or even exists now.
"We are not going to be able to answer the final question of is there life on Mars," said principal investigator Peter Smith, an optical scientist with the University of Arizona. "We will take the next important step. We'll find out if there's organic material associated with this ice in the polar regions. Ice is a preserver, and if there ever were organics on Mars and they got into that ice, they will still be there today."
The twin to the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, Phoenix was supposed to travel to Mars in 2001 as the Mars Surveyor spacecraft. They were originally part of the "better, faster, cheaper" program, formulated by then-NASA Administrator Dan Goldin to beef up planetary exploration on a lean budget.
But Polar malfunctioned during its descent into Mars' atmosphere in 1999 and crashed. An investigation concluded that as many as a dozen design flaws or malfunctions doomed the spacecraft.
The failure of that mission, as well as another spacecraft called the Mars Climate Orbiter the same year, led to NASA to put future missions on hold and rethink the "better, faster, cheaper" approach. Mars Surveyor went to the warehouse. Watch the challenges the mission faced »
But all was not lost. In 2003, Smith proposed a plan to re-engineer the Mars Surveyor and fly it on a mission to look for signatures of life in the ice and dirt of Mars far North. Mars Phoenix, literally and figuratively, rose from the ashes of Surveyor.
Engineers set to work, testing and retesting the onboard system to ferret out and fix all the flaws they could find. iReport.com: Send your photos, video of space
"We always have to be scared to death," Goldstein said. "The minute we lose fear is the minute that we stop looking for the next problem."
The team was concerned about the Phoenix landing system. NASA had not successfully landed a probe on Mars using landing legs and stabilizing thrusters since the Viking missions in the late 1970s. The other three successful Mars landings -- Pathfinder in 1997 and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers in 2004 -- used massive airbags that inflated around the landing craft just before landing to cushion the impact. Learn about NASA's past missions to Mars »
The Phoenix doesn't have airbags because the lander is too big and heavy for them to work properly.
Its landing site was targeted for the far northern plains of Mars, near the northern polar ice cap. Data from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft indicate large quantities of ice there, likely in the form of permafrost, either on the surface | [
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(CNN) -- The first-ever pictures of planets outside the solar system have been released in two studies.
The box shows a planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut. The dot shows the star's location.
Using the latest techniques in space technology, astronomers at NASA and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used direct-imaging techniques to capture pictures of four newly discovered planets orbiting stars outside our solar system.
"After all these years, it's amazing to have a picture showing not one but three planets," said physicist Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California.
"The discovery of the HR8799 system is a crucial step on the road to the ultimate detection of another Earth," he said.
None of the planets is remotely habitable, scientists said.
Both sets of research findings were published Thursday in Science Express, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
A team of American, British and Canadian astronomers and physicists, using the Gemini North and Keck telescopes on the Mauna Kea mountaintop in Hawaii, observed host star HR8799 to find three of the new planets.
Scientists estimate that HR8799, roughly 1.5 times the size of the sun, is 130 light years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus. The individual planets in this planetary family are estimated to be seven to 10 times the mass of Jupiter.
Astronomers say the star is too faint to detect with the human eye, but observers could probably see it through binoculars or small telescopes.
"This discovery is the first time we have directly imaged a family of planets around a normal star outside of our solar system," said Christian Marois, the lead astronomer in the Lawrence Livermore lab study.
About the same time, NASA astronomers using the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope surprised the space community by locating a fourth planet.
NASA's newly discovered planet, Fomalhaut b, is estimated to be roughly three times Jupiter's mass and 10.7 billion miles from its host star, Fomalhaut. NASA's images show Fomalhaut b orbiting the bright southern star Fomalhaut, which is said to be 16 times brighter than our sun and 25 light years away in the constellation Piscis Australis (Southern Fish).
"Our Hubble observations were incredibly demanding. Fomalhaut b is 1 billion times fainter than the star," Hubble astronomer Paul Kalas said. "We began this program in 2001, and our persistence finally paid off."
Previous planet-hunting efforts have relied on the traditional Doppler, or "wobble," technique, which works by measuring the gravitational influence a planet exerts on its host, or parent, star. By studying these gravitational "tug-of-wars," astronomers have been able to study a star's velocity or brightness to infer the presence of a planet. iReport.com: Are you an aspiring astronomer? Share your photos of space
To determine whether the faint objects orbiting HR8799 were indeed planets and not other stars, astronomers studying the three newly discovered planets (HR8799b, HR8799c and HR8799d) compared images from studies conducted in different years.
In all the documented pictures, the three objects were found to be orbiting in a counter-clockwise direction around HR8799, proving that they were planets and not just background objects coincidentally aligned in the image.
According to the the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia, there have been 322 planets found outside our solar system. The latest findings bring that total to 326.
The extrasolar planets found have mostly been gaseous in their composition. Both studies indicate that direct-imaging techniques can only aid our efforts in one day finding an Earth-like planet. | [
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] | question: how many planets were imaged, answer: four | question: what was recorded, answer: first-ever pictures of planets outside the solar system | question: when were the findings published, answer: Thursday | question: what are in the images?, answer: planets outside the solar system | question: What are the new images of?, answer: planets outside the solar system |
(CNN) -- The former Utah state trooper suspected in a series of roadway shootings earlier this week died Wednesday, the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office said.
CNN affiliate KSL in Salt Lake City, Utah, provided this file photo of the Dallas suspect, Brian Smith.
Police said Tuesday that Brian Smith attempted suicide after Monday's shootings. Smith was brought to a local hospital in serious condition, officials said
At 7 p.m. Wednesday Smith died at Parkland Hospital, the medical examiner's office said. An autopsy is slated for Thursday.
Two people were killed in the shootings along a three-mile stretch on and near the LBJ Freeway, about 10 miles northeast of downtown Dallas.
Police used ballistic tests to link Smith, a 12-year veteran of the Utah state police, to three of the four shootings, Dallas Police Lt. Craig Miller said Tuesday.
Miller said Smith was a suspect in both nonfatal shootings and one of the fatal shootings. He said it was unclear if Smith was a suspect in the fatal shooting that occurred first.
The first attack occurred in the city of Garland at about 5:41 p.m. Victim Jorge Lopez, 20, was sitting in his Nissan at a traffic light in Garland when a man in a pickup pulled alongside him and fired shots into his car, killing him, Officer Joe Harn of the Garland police said.
A few minutes later and two miles away on the LBJ Freeway, a gunman fired at two tractor-trailers.
While one driver escaped injuries, William Scott Miller, 42, of Frankfort, Kentucky, was shot to death behind the wheel of a United Van Lines truck, police said.
"He was going to be traveling home," Lt. Miller said. "He was about to park his rig. He was going to get on a plane to fly to be with his wife and children for the Christmas season and then come back to this location."
Miller called the truck driver a hero because he was able to control his rig before he died -- preventing other motorists from being hurt.
The fourth attack came a mile west on LBJ Freeway, where gunfire shattered the windshield of another tractor-trailer. The bullets missed the driver, but flying glass caused minor cuts, police said.
Smith, 37, left his trooper job in Utah after he was caught abusing alcohol and drugs, CNN affiliate WFAA reported, citing an official report. The sergeant began using drugs and alcohol after his patrol car was rear-ended while he was writing a ticket, according to the report by Utah Peace Officers Standards and Training.
He moved to Texas shortly afterward, the station said.
Harn told WFAA that Smith's wife had phoned police Monday to say her husband was suicidal and driving around with a gun. Police were able to locate him using cell phone transmission towers. A three-hour stand-off followed, ending when Smith shot himself in the head, Harn said. | [
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] | question: Who were shot and killed?, answer: Two people | question: Who was hospitalized in serious condition after a suicide attempt?, answer: Brian Smith | question: Who was tied to at least three of four Dallas shootings?, answer: Brian Smith. | question: Who is the ex-Utah officer?, answer: Brian Smith. |
(CNN) -- The head of Pakistan's ruling coalition announced Thursday that the government will move to impeach President Pervez Musharraf.
President Pervez Musharraf took control of Pakistan in a military coup in 1999.
"The coalition reaffirmed the resolve of democracy and democratic forces will work jointly to make a transition to genuine democracy," the head of Pakistan People's Party Asif Ali Zardari said, reading a joint communique with his coalition partners.
Before pursuing impeachment proceedings, Pakistani lawmakers will demand Musharraf take a vote of confidence in the newly elected parliament, which he had vowed to do last year, Zardari said.
"The people of Pakistan gave a clear mandate in favor of democracy and democratic forces and voted for the change to oust Gen. Musharraf by defeating his ... party," Zardari added.
"In spite of his clear commitment that if his party was defeated in the election he would resign, he continues to cling to the office of the president." Watch an expert talk about the impact of a possible impeachment »
If Musharraf does not request a vote of confidence, the National Assembly will meet on Monday to consider impeachment proceedings, PPP spokesman Capt. Wasif Syed told CNN. Speaking a short time before Thursday's announcement, Syed said there are enough votes in parliament right now to impeach the president.
But Musharraf may still have one card up his sleeve: he could move to dissolve parliament and dismiss the prime minister.
Amid the political upheaval, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will replace Musharraf at the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday in Beijing, Pakistan's state-run news agency reported.
Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 bloodless military coup, has seen his power erode significantly since he stepped down as the country's military ruler last year and since the opposition parties' victory in February's parliamentary elections.
The new civilian government is under a lot of pressure to control Taliban and al Qaeda militants in its tribal region along the Afghan border. The CIA recently accused Pakistan's intelligence service of providing support for the militants who bombed India's embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan last month.
Fighting on Thursday between Pakistani paramilitary troops and Taliban forces killed 25 Taliban and five soldiers along the Afghan border, an army spokesman told CNN.
Asked about the situation, Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmad -- an Islamabad-based political analyst -- told CNN on Wednesday that he believes Musharraf "will fight back" against any attempt to remove him from power.
"Before they impeach the president, he might pre-empt them by using article 58(2b)," he said, referring to the constitutional article that gives the president power to dissolve parliament and dismiss the prime minister.
Ahmad, a professor of international relations at Islamabad's Quaid-i-Azam University, said any attempt to remove Musharraf would be a "next to an impossible task" because the president still has support.
"The army doesn't want him to be eliminated. The Americans are still favoring him," he noted.
CNN's Reza Sayah contributed to this report | [
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] | question: Who does Pakistan move to impeach?, answer: President Pervez Musharraf. | question: What year of military coup did Musharraf seize power in?, answer: 1999. | question: Who will be impeached?, answer: President Pervez Musharraf. | question: Who will the Pakistan government impeach?, answer: President Pervez Musharraf. | question: When did Musharraf seize power?, answer: 1999. | question: Who will replace Musharraf at the Olympic opening?, answer: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani | question: What will Musharraf do?, answer: "will fight back" | question: Who is being impeached?, answer: President Pervez Musharraf. | question: Who will replace Musharraf?, answer: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani | question: Who is involved?, answer: Pakistan's ruling coalition | question: What is the political move?, answer: impeach President Pervez Musharraf. |
(CNN) -- The head of the U.N. Children's Fund has expressed concern over a Saudi judge's refusal for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man.
UNICEF's Ann Veneman said consent cannot be free if either party is too young to make an informed decision.
"Irrespective of circumstances or the legal framework, the marriage of a child is a violation of that child's rights," said Ann Veneman, executive director of UNICEF.
"The right to free and full consent to marriage is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Consent cannot be free and full when either party to a marriage is too young to make an informed decision."
The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl's mother, seeking a divorce for her daughter. Have your say by clicking here
A relative said the judge, Sheikh Habib al-Habib, "stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty." The family member, who requested anonymity, added that the mother will continue to pursue a divorce for her daughter.
The case, which has drawn criticism from local and international rights groups, came to light in December when al-Habib declined to annul the marriage on a legal technicality. The judge ruled that the girl's mother -- who is separated from her father -- was not the girl's legal guardian and therefore could not represent her in court, Abdullah al-Jutaili, the mother's attorney, told CNN at the time.
The girl's father, according to the lawyer, arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with the man, who is a close friend of his. At the time of the initial verdict, the judge required the girl's husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty, al-Jutaili told CNN. The judge ruled that when the girl reaches puberty, she will have the right to request a divorce by filing a petition with the court, the lawyer said.
Last month, an appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh declined to certify the original ruling, in essence rejecting al-Habib's verdict, and sent the case back to him for reconsideration.
Under the complicated Saudi legal process, the appeals court ruling meant that the marriage was still in effect, but that a challenge to the marriage was still ongoing. The appeals court in Riyadh will now take up the case again and a hearing is scheduled for next month, according to the relative.
The issue of child marriage has been a hot-button topic in the deeply conservative kingdom recently. While rights groups have petitioned the government for laws to protect children from such marriages, the kingdom's top cleric has said that it's OK for girls as young as 10 to wed.
"It is incorrect to say that it's not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger," Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom's grand mufti, said in remarks last January, according to the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. "A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she's too young are wrong, and they are being unfair to her."
Al-Sheikh reportedly made the remarks when he was asked during a lecture about parents forcing their underage daughters to marry.
"We hear a lot in the media about the marriage of underage girls," he said, according to the newspaper. "We should know that sharia law has not brought injustice to women."
Sharia law is Islamic law. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism.
CNN was unable to reach government officials for comment.
Christoph Wilcke, a Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told CNN in December that his organization has heard of many other cases of child marriages. | [
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] | question: What was the reason girl`s father arranged her marriage?, answer: in order to settle his debts | question: What violates the child's rights?, answer: marriage of a | question: When can she petition?, answer: the court for a divorce once | question: Who did she marry?, answer: 47-year-old man. | question: to whom girl married to?, answer: a 47-year-old man. | question: What UNICEF said about child marriage?, answer: consent cannot be free if either party is too young to make an informed decision. | question: what is the judge name?, answer: Sheikh Habib al-Habib, |
(CNN) -- The last of six Texas A&M University mariners who went missing in the Gulf of Mexico was found dead Sunday afternoon, the Coast Guard said. The other five crewmates were rescued earlier in the day.
Members of the Texas A&M Offshore Sailing Team are shown in this photo from the team's Web site.
The deceased mariner was identified by the university as Roger Stone, the vessel's second safety officer.
The survivors -- four university students and a safety officer -- told the Coast Guard they were forced off their sailboat after it took on water and capsized.
"The flooding was so fast that the thing flipped over," Coast Guard Capt. William Diehl told CNN.
The sailboat, named Cynthia Woods, was one of about two dozen boats heading from Galveston, Texas, to Veracruz, Mexico, for the annual Veracruz Regatta race, which began on Friday.
Diehl said the boat was well-stocked with safety equipment -- including emergency radio beacons, life rafts and ring buoys -- but the crew could only manage to find four life jackets after the boat tipped over.
"The survivors told us that [when] they went into the water, they had four life jackets among the five, and they huddled together and they exchanged the life jackets among them so that they could stay afloat," Diehl said.
Communication with the boat was lost about midnight Friday, and the boat missed its 8 a.m. radio check the next morning, the Coast Guard reported.
A sailboat matching the description of the missing 38-foot boat was found overturned about 5:15 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
The five survivors were found several hours later about 23 miles south of Freeport, Texas, according to the Coast Guard's press release. They were lifted to safety by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter around 2 a.m. local time and taken to University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for treatment.
The search for the missing crew member involved two Coast Guard helicopters, a Falcon jet, a Marine Corps C-130 -- which has night-vision capabilities -- and the Coast Guard cutter Manowar.
All of those on board the capsized sailboat were experienced sailors, Diehl said.
"They were very well trained," Diehl said. "Obviously [they were] the more senior cadets at the university here, and they had very experienced safety people on board."
When rescuers retrieved the capsized boat's hull, Diehl said the keel was missing.
"That's the part that keeps the sailboat balanced in the water," he said. "And from talking to the survivors this morning, that's where the flooding started for them."
The 725-mile Veracruz regatta began on Friday and boats are expected to arrive in Veracruz on Wednesday and Thursday. | [
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