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(CNN) -- Lionel Messi produced a performance of stunning brilliance, scoring all four goals as holders Barcelona beat Arsenal 4-1 to reach the semifinals of the Champions League 6-3 on aggregate on Tuesday.
Messi turned on the style in the Nou Camp with one of the most devastating individual displays the competition has ever seen, as an injury-ravaged Arsenal side were torn apart.
The match started started brightly for the Londoners who actually took a shock 18th-minute lead.
Theo Walcott's pace had troubled Barca in the 2-2 first leg at The Emirates and the England winger created the opener with a break down the right.
His pass inside for Nicklas Bendtner was a poor one, but somehow the Dane managed to pounce at the second attempt to stab his shot past Victor Valdes in the Barca goal.
Arsenal's lead lasted barely three minutes before Messi began his one-man show. Mickael Silvestre failed to clear the ball on the edge of the area and it fell to Messi, who curled home a superb equalizer.
Messi added his and Barca's second on 37 minutes. Eric Abidal's cross from the right was cut out by Thomas Vermaelen.
However, the rest of the Arsenal defense were slow to react and Pedro found Messi, who smashed his shot past Manuel Almunia.
The striker completed his stunning hat-trick four minutes before the break when he raced onto a header from Abidal to sprint clear of the Arsenal defense before superbly chipping the ball over Almunia.
By now, Arsenal needed two goals to go through and, in truth, they never looked likely to get them.
Bendtner struck the post with a fierce header from Gael Clichy's cross, but he was flagged offside, and Tomas Rosicky fired over the bar when in a great position.
Messi completed the job three minutes from time, beating two defender on the left hand side of the area before firing the ball through Almunia's legs.
The result means Barcelona will now face Italian champions Inter Milan, who they were drawn against in the group stages, in a mouth-watering semifinal clash.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was full of praise for Messi's performance. "For me, he is the best player in the world, and by a distance," he told Sky Sports.
"When he's in the game, he's really dangerous. Once he is on the run with the ball, he is unstoppable.
The Frenchman added: "I believe that we lost against a team that is better than us and have the best player in the world."
|
[
"Where did Barcelona thrash Arsenal 4-1?",
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"Who scored the goals?",
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"Which soccer team won?",
"Where did the match take place?",
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] |
[
"Nou Camp",
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"Messi",
"four",
"Barcelona",
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"6-3"
] |
question: Where did Barcelona thrash Arsenal 4-1?, answer: Nou Camp | question: What was the score?, answer: 4-1 | question: Who scored the goals?, answer: Messi | question: How many goals did Lionel Messi score?, answer: four | question: Which soccer team won?, answer: Barcelona | question: Where did the match take place?, answer: Nou Camp | question: What was the score of the semifinal?, answer: 6-3
|
(CNN) -- Lionel Messi scored his second hat-trick in four days as titleholders Barcelona marched into the knockout stage of the European Champions League on a night of milestones for the Spanish club on Tuesday.
The striker, a big favorite to win his third world player of the year award after heading the 2011 nominations before the match against Viktoria Plzen, passed a double century of goals for Barca to mark coach Josep Guardiola's 200th match in charge.
The Czech champions capitulated to a 4-0 home defeat in the Group H game after having Marian Cisovsky sent off for a foul in the box on Messi, who scored the resulting penalty to open the scoring in the 24th minute with his milestone goal.
The Argentine made it 2-0 in the second minute of first-half injury-time after combining with Adriano, and he sealed the rout in stoppage time after a superb backheel pass from central defender Gerard Pique set him free for his 202nd.
Is Messi the only candidate for Ballon d'Or?
Barca's third came in the 72nd minute when Cesc Fabregas -- among eight Barca players in the 23-man FIFA Ballon d'Or Shortlist -- headed home a cross by young winger Isaac Cuenca.
Guardiola became only the fifth Barca boss to reach 200 games, suffering just 17 defeats. Messi has scored 160 of the 500 goals netted in that period.
The clean sheet meant that Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes set a new club record of 877 minutes without conceding, beating the previous mark set by Miguel Reina in 1973.
The win gave Barca 10 points from four games, leaving the Catalans two clear of second-placed AC Milan with two rounds to play.
The Italian champions went through to the second round despite being held 1-1 by BATE Borisov in Belarus in an earlier kickoff.
Milan went into the match denying reports that hospitalized striker Antonio Cassano had suffered a stroke.
"I think every patient has the right to privacy, the doctors are working on it and there's nothing more to say," chief executive Adriano Galliani told the club's website.
"I spoke to him today and he seemed in good form. There was of course a bit of fear because the whole thing was so unexpected."
Milan took the lead in the 22nd minute through striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who won possession out wide on the right and then burst into the box to receive Robinho's pass and score.
But Borisov leveled 10 minutes after halftime with a penalty by Renan Bressan when Ignazio Abate fouled Artem Kontsevoy.
Chelsea missed the chance to go through in Group E after being held to a 1-1 draw by Genk in Belgium, as David Luiz missed a penalty for the visitors.
Captain John Terry was left on the bench after UK police confirmed he faces a formal investigation into claims the defender racially abused Queen's Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand.
The London team, beaten 5-3 by Arsenal at the weekend, took a 26th-minute lead through Ramires but fellow Brazilian Luiz saw his spot-kick saved five minutes before the break.
Jelle Vossen leveled just after the hour to leave Chelsea on eight points, and Genk on bottom with two.
Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen remained on six points after losing 3-1 at Valencia, who are a point further back following the second-fastest goal in Champions League history.
Jonas netted just after 10 seconds, but Stefan Kiessling equalized on the half hour. However, Roberto Soldado (65) and Adil Rami (75) kept the Spanish side's hopes alive ahead of the final two games.
Group F leaders Arsenal also failed to qualify for the last 16 after being held to a 0-0 draw at home to Marseille.
The French side remained one point behind Arsenal, who have two wins and two draws.
German champions Borussia Dortmund moved off the bottom with a 1-0 win over Greek club Olympiakos.
Kevin Grosskreutz scored the only goal in the seventh minute with a spectacular strike to put Dortmund within three points of Marseille ahead of the trip to Arsenal on November 23.
Group G
|
[
"Who went through from Group H?",
"Who is through to the last 16?",
"Who scored a treble?",
"Who is through to last 16?",
"What was the score?",
"Who won the game?",
"Who nets treble in 4-0 win?",
"Who failed to progress?"
] |
[
"Barcelona",
"Barcelona",
"Messi",
"Arsenal",
"4-0",
"Barcelona",
"Messi",
"Group F leaders Arsenal"
] |
question: Who went through from Group H?, answer: Barcelona | question: Who is through to the last 16?, answer: Barcelona | question: Who scored a treble?, answer: Messi | question: Who is through to last 16?, answer: Arsenal | question: What was the score?, answer: 4-0 | question: Who won the game?, answer: Barcelona | question: Who nets treble in 4-0 win?, answer: Messi | question: Who failed to progress?, answer: Group F leaders Arsenal
|
(CNN) -- Little Rhode Island made big news in the education arena last month. Superintendent Frances Gallo fired all the teachers at Central Falls High School after negotiations with the teachers' union failed.
The move was triggered by low test scores -- only 7 percent of 11th-graders passed the state math tests, and 50 percent of the students at Central Falls failed to graduate in four years. Appalling numbers. Gallo wanted teachers to increase the length of the school day and spend time tutoring kids. The teachers' union was not convinced.
Even President Obama got involved and supported the firing, saying, "If a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn't show signs of improvement, then there's got to be a sense of accountability."
Yes, accountability is right, but who is supposed to be accountable for this massive failure to learn? The general consensus is that the teachers are responsible.
Is it really all the teachers' fault? Columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. thinks so. Having been a teacher himself for five years, he says teachers just like to complain. He doesn't say why he is no longer teaching, but he applauds the firing and blames the teachers. Superintendent Gallo agrees. She fired all of them.
Everyone agrees that the K-12 schools are failing, but the reasons are not as simple as Navarrette and Gallo think. Firing all the teachers is not the answer. Closing schools is not the answer.
Schools aren't failing because the teachers don't care or aren't trying. It's not because teachers fail to follow the curriculum. It isn't because they are poorly paid. Teachers go into teaching because they want to make a difference and help kids. They certainly don't go into teaching to get rich. They don't want to do a bad job, either; no one likes to fail. A recent survey of 40,000 teachers by the Gates Foundation shows that teachers are more interested in reform than money.
If you examine Central Falls High School closely, a few things stand out: More than 96 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, according to the school's Web site, and only 6 percent of the people in the town have a college degree. Does that tell you something important about the parents? They are struggling financially and lack postsecondary education.
Central Falls provides little or no parental support for students or for the teachers, yet everyone expects teachers to do it all with few resources. Clearly, it does not work.
In his book entitled "Does Money Matter? the Effect of School Resources on Student Achievement," Gary Burtless argues that the "home environment has strong effects on student achievement, stronger in fact than social class effects." He argues that the most important home environment variables involve "parents expending time participating in activities with children that enhance learning."
Very little, if any, of this is happening in the communities of a failing school. Look at where the schools are failing -- in the most densely populated areas of the 50 largest American cities.
Teachers are not magicians. Low test scores and the dropout rate cannot be blamed on the teachers alone. They need help from the parents, help from the community, help from the administrators, help from state and federal governments.
Thousands of kids starting kindergarten each year don't know colors, counting, or even the names of fruits and vegetables. Their vocabularies are hundreds of words fewer than their more advantaged peers. Who is talking to these kids? The electronic nanny -- the television.
No teacher can effectively educate a child without support from the parents. Support at the elementary level means spending time with their child, reading to their child, talking with their child, providing a stable home for their child. Support in high school means a quiet place to study, recognition and approval for kids' efforts, and helping when they are not doing well.
Strong schools have supportive parents and an involved community. Schools like Central Falls High School have struggling communities. To fire all the
|
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] |
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"fired all the teachers at Central Falls High",
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"the teachers",
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"teachers"
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question: What did the Rhode Island school district do?, answer: fired all the teachers at Central Falls High | question: Who needs to share blame, answer: the parents, | question: Who needs to share the blame and help solve the problem?, answer: the teachers | question: Who is failling school?, answer: 50 percent of the students | question: Who are to blame?, answer: teachers
|
(CNN) -- Liverpool are waiting to learn the extent of the injury which prevented captain Steven Gerrard playing in the club's 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, manager Kenny Dalglish has said.
England international Gerrard, 31, missed the match after picking up an infection in his right ankle, having only recently recovered from a groin injury which has restricted the midfielder to just four English Premier League appearances this season.
Dalglish also faced questions on the fitness of former England defender Jamie Carragher, who was ruled out of the match at the Hawthorns with a calf strain.
"Carragher has a calf strain. Steven Gerrard has an infection in his ankle," Dalglish, 60, told a press conference. "Steven was in my mind for the game today but it just flared up.
"We are off tomorrow, so we'll have a more accurate idea on Monday or Tuesday when we return to training. We will be more accurate next week than what we can be now."
Dalglish, who also managed the Anfield club between 1985 and 1991, praised the injured duo, while also expressing his delight at seeing his charges pick up three points without two of the team's most influential players.
"We are certainly much better with them in the squad than out of it," he said. "They have done magnificently for this football club and they will continue to do magnificently for us too.
"They will continue to make a contribution, even now. I suppose it is a reflection on the strength of the squad when the two talisman figures are not playing and you still come and put on such a top performance."
Gerrard and Carragher are products of the Liverpool youth academy, with both players part of the team which earned a penalty shoot-out victory over Italian side AC Milan in the 2005 European Champions League final.
Dalglish will hope to have the duo available for the home match against Swansea City on Saturday.
|
[
"Who was without a defender at the Hawthorn?",
"What caused Gerrard to miss Saturday's game?",
"Who is waiting to learn about their captain?",
"When was the win over West Brom?",
"Which defender was out?",
"Which Liverpool player was injured?",
"What is the name of the injured captain?",
"Which defender was missing at the Hawthorns?"
] |
[
"Dalglish",
"injury",
"Liverpool",
"Saturday,",
"Jamie Carragher,",
"Steven Gerrard",
"Steven Gerrard",
"Jamie Carragher,"
] |
question: Who was without a defender at the Hawthorn?, answer: Dalglish | question: What caused Gerrard to miss Saturday's game?, answer: injury | question: Who is waiting to learn about their captain?, answer: Liverpool | question: When was the win over West Brom?, answer: Saturday, | question: Which defender was out?, answer: Jamie Carragher, | question: Which Liverpool player was injured?, answer: Steven Gerrard | question: What is the name of the injured captain?, answer: Steven Gerrard | question: Which defender was missing at the Hawthorns?, answer: Jamie Carragher,
|
(CNN) -- Liverpool have secured the biggest sponsorship deal in the English Premier League club's history after they announced a four-year deal with Standard Chartered Bank.
Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish and managing director Christian Purslow confirm the new sponsorship deal.
The Reds have confirmed that the bank will replace current sponsors Carlsberg at the start of the 2010-11 season, ending a 17-year association with the Reds, for the beer maker.
The figure for the sponsorship has not be disclosed but reports in British newspaper The Guardian suggest the deal is worth $133 million.
Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow spoke of his delight on sealing the sponsorship agreement for the Anfield-based side.
"I am tremendously excited - it's a hugely important day in the history of Liverpool FC," he told the club's official Web site.
"This is the largest commercial agreement we have ever entered into. To have attracted a partner of the caliber of Standard Chartered Bank says everything about where we are trying to take this football club.
"They operate in a number of markets around the world where we have a long term plan to increase the family of Liverpool fans and this agreement will be very helpful to us in doing that."
Purslow added: "Many branches in these countries will effectively be a shop window for Liverpool FC and a means of attracting more supporters to the cause.
"We aspire to be the best at what we do on and off the field. This is the first commercial agreement the club has entered into which can truly be described as the best of its kind in world football.
"I hope this tells everyone, especially our fans, what we are trying to do with this football club in the future."
The move follows Liverpool's American owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, concluding a deal in July to re-finance a $380 million bank loan they took out to buy the club in 2007.
Plans to develop a new 60,000-seater stadium at a cost of $580 million were shelved due to the recession in 2008 by the club, despite planning permission being granted by the local city council.
|
[
"how much is the deal worth",
"what annouced the Liverpool?",
"How long did carlsberg sponsor the team for",
"Liverpool is making a deal with whom?",
"how much is worth the deal?",
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"Who sponsors Liverpool Football club",
"what will carry the Liverpool on their shirts?"
] |
[
"$133 million.",
"a four-year deal with Standard Chartered Bank.",
"17-year",
"Standard Chartered Bank.",
"$133 million.",
"$133 million.",
"Standard Chartered Bank.",
"Standard Chartered Bank."
] |
question: how much is the deal worth, answer: $133 million. | question: what annouced the Liverpool?, answer: a four-year deal with Standard Chartered Bank. | question: How long did carlsberg sponsor the team for, answer: 17-year | question: Liverpool is making a deal with whom?, answer: Standard Chartered Bank. | question: how much is worth the deal?, answer: $133 million. | question: What is the deal reported to be worth?, answer: $133 million. | question: Who sponsors Liverpool Football club, answer: Standard Chartered Bank. | question: what will carry the Liverpool on their shirts?, answer: Standard Chartered Bank.
|
(CNN) -- Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insists Fernando Torres is happy at the English Premier League club after Manchester City were linked with a multi-million dollar bid for the Spain striker.
Torres has scored 18 goals in 22 league games for Liverpool this season but will miss the rest of the campaign after having surgery on a knee injury, meaning the 26-year-old faces a race to be fit for Spain's opening game in the World Cup against Switzerland on June 16.
City spent over $100 million in the transfer market before the start of this season and are currently battling for fourth spot in the league, which would guarantee a lucrative Champions League place.
Liverpool, meanwhile, sit in seventh place and look set to miss out on qualification for the money-spinning tournament. It has led to speculation that Torres could be top of City's wanted list once the season ends.
City's Italian manager Roberto Mancini told reporters: "We are a top team and I think all the top teams are interested in Torres but sometimes it depends on the player because they want to play in the Champions League.
"For me, he is with Carlos [Tevez], [Wayne] Rooney, [Lionel] Messi, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic, [Cristiano] Ronaldo as the best in Europe. Fernando is a fantastic striker; all the teams in Europe would like him."
The City manager did admit a successful pursuit of Torres may only come about if the club can secure Champions League football next season: "If we don't get into the fourth position I think it will be difficult," he said.
Liverpool were knocked out of Champions League in the group stages but have progressed to the semifinal of the Europa League against Atletico Madrid. They lost the first leg 1-0 in the Spanish capital on Thursday.
After the game Benitez dismissed the possibility of Torres leaving the club. He told reporters: "Torres is happy. The thing he's thinking about now is being ready as soon as possible and that's it. From the beginning, he's said he's been very happy at Anfield.
"We have said repeatedly that Fernando is not for sale and he still has three years of his contract remaining, so how can they sign a player who does not wish to leave?"
|
[
"What does Mancini say?",
"What sport does Torres play?",
"what Mandhester express an interest about?",
"What has happened to Torres?",
"who is the city manager?",
"where has torres an injury?"
] |
[
"\"We are a top team and I think all the top",
"football",
"multi-million dollar bid for the Spain striker.",
"knee injury,",
"Roberto Mancini",
"knee"
] |
question: What does Mancini say?, answer: "We are a top team and I think all the top | question: What sport does Torres play?, answer: football | question: what Mandhester express an interest about?, answer: multi-million dollar bid for the Spain striker. | question: What has happened to Torres?, answer: knee injury, | question: who is the city manager?, answer: Roberto Mancini | question: where has torres an injury?, answer: knee
|
(CNN) -- Liverpool's Uruguay international striker Luis Suarez has been accused of giving "unreliable" and "inconsistent" evidence to the disciplinary panel which banned him for eight-games for alleged racial abuse of Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
The findings of the Independent Regulatory Commission were released late Saturday night on the official website of the English Football Association (FA).
The detailed 115-page ruling went over the circumstances of the clash between the pair in the match at Liverpool's Anfield ground on October 15.
It concluded that Suarez had called Evra a "negro" no fewer than seven times during the course of the English Premier League match.
The panel heard evidence from both players and also used linguistic experts to examine television footage of the game.
Their investigations centered on an incident just before the hour mark after Suarez fouled the French international full-back.
Dalglish defends t-shirts supporting Suarez
At a subsequent Liverpool corner, Evra was marking the striker and they became involved in a fierce row.
Evra made a complaint to referee Andre Mariner and again after the game, which
prompted the FA investigation.
Suarez, who was publicly supported by his manager Kenny Dalglish and teammates, argued before the panel that the use of he word "negro" was not offensive.
But the commission rejected his arguments in handing down their lengthy ban and a $62,000 fine.
"Mr Evra was a credible witness," read its report.
"He gave his evidence in a calm, composed and clear way. It was, for the most part, consistent, although both he and Mr Suarez were understandably unable to remember every detail of the exchanges between them.
Blog: Out with the old and in with the new in 2012
"Mr Suarez's evidence was unreliable in relation to matters of critical importance. It was, in part, inconsistent with the contemporaneous evidence, especially the video footage," it added.
However, the commission did not believe Suarez was "racist" but had used "insulting" words, which was the basis of the FA charge against him.
"We have found that charge proved on the evidence and arguments put before us. The FA made clear that it did not contend that Mr Suarez acted as he did because he is a racist.
"Mr Evra said in his evidence that he did not think Mr Suarez is a racist. Mr Suarez said in evidence that he will not use the word 'negro' on a football pitch in England in the future, and we believe that is his genuine and firm intention."
Liverpool have until January 13 to appeal, leaving Suarez free to play, including a
English League Cup semifinal first leg tie against Manchester City two days before.
They issued a statement on their website to confirm receipt of the commission's report.
"The player, the club and our legal advisers will now take the necessary amount of time to read, digest and properly consider the contents of the 115 page judgment and will make no further comment at present," it read.
The Suarez affair comes at the same time England captain John Terry is facing a criminal charge of using racist language against QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea's EPL game on October 23.
Terry has vowed to fight the charges "tooth and nail" and like Suarez has received the backing of his club.
The FA is postponing its action until the court proceedings are concluded early this year.
|
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"How much was Suarez's fine",
"Who says Luis Suarez gave unreliable evidence",
"How many pages is the report about his exchanges?",
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"How long is Suarez game ban?"
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"$62,000",
"Independent Regulatory Commission",
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"115-page",
"115-page",
"eight-games",
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question: How much was Suarez's fine, answer: $62,000 | question: Who says Luis Suarez gave unreliable evidence, answer: Independent Regulatory Commission | question: How many pages is the report about his exchanges?, answer: 115-page | question: What was his fine?, answer: $62,000 | question: How many pages did the report contain?, answer: 115-page | question: How long was the report, answer: 115-page | question: For how many games was Suarez banned?, answer: eight-games | question: How long is Suarez game ban?, answer: eight-games
|
(CNN) -- Living Golf's resident pro Adam Scott shows the tricks of the trade that have helped him conquer some of the world's toughest courses.
Whether it is acheiving a better drive, improving approach shots to the green or tackling testing bunkers, Scott has the tips to help your game.
Improve your game by following the Living Golf lessons every month on CNN.com
|
[
"Where does he teach?",
"What does Australia's Adam Scott tell Living Golf?",
"what did Adam Scott tell?",
"What can you do to improve your game?"
] |
[
"on CNN.com",
"tricks of the trade that have helped him conquer",
"the tricks of the trade",
"following the Living Golf lessons every month on CNN.com"
] |
question: Where does he teach?, answer: on CNN.com | question: What does Australia's Adam Scott tell Living Golf?, answer: tricks of the trade that have helped him conquer | question: what did Adam Scott tell?, answer: the tricks of the trade | question: What can you do to improve your game?, answer: following the Living Golf lessons every month on CNN.com
|
(CNN) -- Local and federal authorities in Enfield, Connecticut, are investigating how a band of burglars broke into a large pharmaceutical warehouse and made off with approximately $75 million in prescription medications.
Police say the well-orchestrated heist at the Eli Lilly and Co. distribution center occurred during a rainstorm shortly after midnight Sunday.
"Based on the sophistication of what was used, this had to be well-executed and planned," Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza said.
According to Sferrazza, the thieves scaled the side of the building onto the roof, where they cut an opening. He said they then rappelled into the building, disabled the alarm and proceeded to steal several dozen pallets of prescription pills, loading them onto one or more getaway vehicles.
Police say the robbery was not discovered until almost 2 p.m. ET Sunday.
When asked whether the crime could have been an inside job, Sferrazza replied, "Anything is possible; we are not ruling anything out at this point."
A spokesman for Eli Lilly, Ed Sagebiel, said the company is working closely with both the Enfield Police and the FBI. Though Sagebiel would not confirm what types of medications were stolen, he said there were no narcotics at the site.
Although the intended destination of the drugs is unknown, the spokesman speculated that the suspects will attempt to sell them on the domestic or international black markets.
"We certainly know that there is a market for these products," Sagebiel said. "We have a closed system here in the U.S. that makes it more difficult to distribute them in the United States for legitimate means."
Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Eli Lilly is the ninth-largest pharmaceutical company in the world.
|
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"What does the police chief say?",
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"\"Based on the sophistication of",
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question: What does the police chief say?, answer: "Based on the sophistication of | question: Was this an inside job?, answer: point." | question: What facility did thieves break into?, answer: large pharmaceutical warehouse | question: was the heist well organized?, answer: well-orchestrated | question: are the Authorities ruling out an inside job?, answer: anything | question: Where was the facility?, answer: Enfield, Connecticut,
|
(CNN) -- Local and state authorities in Northampton, Massachusetts, are investigating nine suspicious fires that have killed two people and left residents shaken, officials said Sunday.
In just over an hour early Sunday, five structures -- including a single-family residence -- burned, in addition to "numerous cars," District Attorney Betsy Scheibel told a news conference that included fire and police officials and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
The fires were reported between 2 a.m. and 3:15 a.m., Scheibel's office said.
Two people were found dead on the first floor of a residence, Scheibel said. Identities of the victims are being withheld pending autopsy results.
"We know this community is deeply shaken by this series of suspicious fires," Patrick said. "I want the public to know that every resource at the local [and] at the state level is being applied to deal with this to bring comfort and safety to the community" and to find the individual or individuals responsible.
A joint task force of local, state and federal fire officials has been formed to investigate the circumstances under which the fires started, Scheibel said. All of the blazes have been extinguished.
|
[
"When were the fires reported?",
"Who is the District Attorney?",
"Where are the fires taking place?",
"When did the fires start?",
"How many fires killed 2 people?",
"How many structures burned?"
] |
[
"between 2 a.m. and 3:15 a.m.,",
"Betsy Scheibel",
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"nine",
"five"
] |
question: When were the fires reported?, answer: between 2 a.m. and 3:15 a.m., | question: Who is the District Attorney?, answer: Betsy Scheibel | question: Where are the fires taking place?, answer: Northampton, Massachusetts, | question: When did the fires start?, answer: between 2 a.m. and 3:15 a.m., | question: How many fires killed 2 people?, answer: nine | question: How many structures burned?, answer: five
|
(CNN) -- Local security forces and coalition soldiers in western Afghanistan killed several insurgents Thursday in what the NATO command called a "successful operation against high-priority Taliban targets."
British troops detain suspected Taliban Militants during a recent operation in Afghanistan.
The operation took place in the Shindand district of Herat province. Two Taliban leaders, Haji Dawlat Khan and Haji Nasrullah Khan, and "significant number of other insurgents" were killed, according to a statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
It added there was no evidence of civilian casualties or accidental damage in the operation, in which a "number of men were discovered handcuffed and imprisoned in appalling conditions in one of the insurgent compounds."
The incident reflects the increasing violence between troops and Taliban militants across Afghanistan and the growing concern in the United States that the war there should be more of a priority than it has been.
Since May, the deaths of U.S. and allied troops have far outpaced the toll in Iraq. On Thursday, the toll in Afghanistan was 21 compared to six in Iraq. The International Security Assistance Force did not provide the nationality of the soldier who died in Afghanistan Thursday.
Two top Pentagon officials said Wednesday they expect to be able to recommend more troop reductions in Iraq this fall and will try to find ways to increase troops in Afghanistan.
One of the toughest fronts in the war has been the southern province of Helmand.
The British Defense Ministry said its troops in southern Afghanistan killed a senior Taliban leader, two weeks after another leading militant died in a British missile attack.
Mullah Bismullah Akhund was killed Saturday in the Now Zad district of Helmand, long a Taliban bastion.
The Defense Ministry, in a statement on Wednesday, called Bismullah "a senior key facilitator and logistician responsible for the northern Helmand region." The ministry says his death will disrupt the Taliban's leadership structure and hamper the group's ability to conduct attacks.
"He is believed to have commanded numerous fighters and was identified by Task Force Helmand as a key player in the insurgency, and criminality, before the strike," according to ISAF.
British troops, which are part of the assistance force, announced the killing on Thursday. Saturday's operation occurred 15 days after British troops killed another senior Taliban militant, Sadiqullah, in an Apache missile strike.
"Bismullah was closely associated with local Taliban leader Mullah Rahim, whose brother was also killed during this operation," ISAF said.
The Defense Ministry said that "combined with the elimination of Sadiqullah, this is the most significant blow struck against the Taliban logistics and facilitation chain in northern Helmand this year."
The U.S.-led coalition said it also is investigating an airstrike in western Afghanistan's Farah province. Launched after a coalition convoy was attacked Tuesday, it struck a house and killed eight civilians.
CNN's Joe Sterling contributed to this report.
|
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question: What did NAATO say?, answer: the NATO command called a "successful operation against high-priority Taliban targets." | question: Who is described to be a senior key facilitator?, answer: Mullah Bismullah Akhund | question: Who killed another Taliban leader?, answer: British troops | question: Who was attacked?, answer: coalition convoy | question: What did the UK say?, answer: "successful operation against high-priority Taliban targets." | question: What international organization reported on these events?, answer: NATO's | question: Who said its troops killed another senior Taliban leader?, answer: NATO's International Security Assistance Force. | question: Number of Taliban leaders killed?, answer: Two | question: Who is described as a "senior key facilitator and logistician?, answer: Mullah Bismullah Akhund
|
(CNN) -- Long a pillar of Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule over Egypt, Omar Suleiman now sits at the top of the pyramid as its de facto president.
Under pressure from street demonstrations calling for his ouster, Mubarak named his veteran spymaster to the long-vacant vice presidency in late January. Suleiman quickly became the face of the government's reform pledges, announcing talks with opposition leaders and promising swift reforms.
But Mubarak's February 1 announcement that he would step down when his term ends in September failed to satisfy the crowds in Cairo's Tahrir Square and other cities. Attacks on demonstrators by pro-government crowds in the following days failed to dislodge the demonstrators, whose ranks were bolstered when thousands of workers in several industries went on strike Thursday.
After a day of intense speculation, Mubarak repeated that he would remain in office to serve out his term -- but he announced that he was delegating power to Suleiman, who quickly urged Egyptians to go home and get back to work.
"We call upon you to unite, and to think rationally and to look forward to the future," Suleiman said in a televised speech that followed Mubarak's.
But the vice president, whose agents are among the fingers of Mubarak's iron hand, wasn't seen as much of an improvement by opposition figures.
"Mubarak is only one part of this regime," human rights activist Gigi Ibrahim, one of the Tahrir Square protesters, said. "People have been here for 17 days, and they are not for Suleiman either. Mubarak has lost all legitimacy, and now him handing over the power to the vice president is as illegitimate as Mubarak being in power."
And in Alexandria, protesters met the announcement with chants of "No to Mubarak, no to Suleiman."
A former general who trained under both the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War, Suleiman took over Egypt's Mukhabarat intelligence agency in 1993. He is credited with leading Mubarak's efforts to crush an Islamic insurgency in the 1990s. That earned him the ear of Western intelligence officials thirsting for vital information about regional terrorist groups, and he became a key intermediary in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
"He is basically your main go-to guy in Egypt," former Deputy CIA Director John McLaughlin said. Suleiman has been "helpful in many arenas," including the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. McLaughlin said.
A 2006 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, disclosed by the WikiLeaks website in January, called intelligence collaboration with Suleiman "probably the most successful element" of the U.S. relationship with Egypt. But that relationship is "a little like being in bed with the Mafia," author Ron Suskind told CNN's "Parker Spitzer."
"If someone knocks on your door at night and you disappear, Omar Suleiman is probably behind it," said Suskind, whose 2006 book "The One Percent Doctrine" detailed the Bush administration's post-9/11 counterterrorism policies. "He is a feared man, and certainly not a man with any legitimacy when it comes to rule of law or any of the principles we prized in America."
In 2002, al Qaeda captive Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi "was tortured rather dramatically" by Suleiman's agents, Suskind said, yielding a "confession" that Iraq had trained the terrorist group in the use of chemical and biological weapons. His assertion was a key point in the Bush administration's arguments for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but he recanted it once back in U.S. hands.
That sort of history leaves an opening for critics to question U.S. support for democratic change in Egypt, Suskind said.
"The fact is, we are allied with the people they're trying to overthrow, and right now the United States hasn't done much to separate those bonds," he said.
Suleiman had long been mentioned as a possible successor to Mubarak, along with the aging ruler's son, Gamal. A 2007 U.S. cable called his loyalty to Mubarak "rock solid," and some analysts viewed his vice presidential appointment as a way
|
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] |
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"Omar Suleiman"
] |
question: What kind of leader dismissed Mubarak, answer: opposition | question: Who is the former intelligence chief?, answer: Deputy CIA Director John McLaughlin | question: Who was the former intelligence chief?, answer: Omar Suleiman
|
(CNN) -- Long after she escaped a polygamist Colorado City, Arizona, community in 1986, Flora Jessop found another way to escape: cocaine.
Flora Jessop says she ran away from a polygamist sect in 1986 after being married to her cousin.
"It killed the pain. It killed the hurt," she said. "I didn't have to hurt so bad because I missed everything I knew."
Once she fled the fundamentalist Mormon sect, she was an apostate. She believed God hated her. Her parents and siblings thought she was wicked. Worst of all, she knew she was damned to hell, Jessop said.
Jessop, then 17, began hitchhiking across the country, almost killed herself with cocaine, worked as a topless dancer and eventually became pregnant, she said.
Fearing that church members would hunt her down, she looked over her shoulder for five years, she said. She occasionally drank alcohol -- she liked tequila best -- but preferred to use cocaine because it kept her alert.
"When you're running for your life, you can't afford to get to the point you cannot run," she said. Watch Jessop explain how running was an education »
It was a need to protect her daughter that finally convinced her there was more to life, she said.
Today, Jessop, 38, escapes by freeing others trapped unwillingly in polygamist sects: 84 to date. She finds particular solace in rescuing women and children, some of whom are child brides like she was. It was a marriage to her first cousin Philip that prompted Jessop to run.
Her story strikes a common theme among those who have left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Mormon offshoot that disavowed the mainstream church in 1890 when it abandoned polygamy as a pathway to the highest level of heaven.
The FLDS has strict rules, especially for girls: no pants, haircuts, drugs, booze or boys; just "keep sweet" and obey. So young women who leave often delve into worldly pleasures once outside, indulgences as innocent as blue jeans and as destructive as heroin and prostitution, survivors and an expert say.
Jenny Larson experienced such urges in 1946, when her mother, Berna, left a polygamist household in Glendale, Utah, with seven of her nine children. In those days, however, rebellion bore a different hue.
Larson, 73, recalls how "you wouldn't have caught me wearing a long-sleeve blouse" after leaving Glendale.
"I think I was one of the first girls in the seventh grade to wear lipstick. I put henna in my hair to make it red. I wasn't going to look like a little 'polyg' kid," she said, using the slang "polyg" with all the contempt of a racial slur.
Larson -- who goes by Aunt Jenny to the dozens of girls she's helped escape and who wrote the book "Brainwash to Hogwash: Escaping and Exposing Polygamy" -- concedes it's rare that young women can shed the sect's psychological shackles.
So how did she know polygamy wasn't for her? Larson recalls seeing her father, Vergel, smack her mother for expressing jealousy over his second wife, Mae. Watch an ex-sect member say she's now free »
"There was no way in hell I was going to live that way," Larson said.
And Larson quipped of the men hounding her for her hand in marriage when she was 11: "Some of them were so ugly I wondered how they could have sex without putting a sack over their head, but I'm being mean."
Larson's and Jessop's escapes are not typical. Many women don't want to leave, ex-sect members and an expert said.
The purportedly rescued women often return to polygamy. An example is the 1953 raid at Short Creek (now Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City), where dozens of women and more than 260 children were placed in state custody.
Three of the then-children taken
|
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] |
question: who she escaped abusive community?, answer: Flora Jessop | question: What does Flora Jessop do now?, answer: freeing others trapped unwillingly in polygamist sects: | question: what does the expert say?, answer: The FLDS has strict rules, especially for girls: no pants, haircuts, drugs, booze or boys; just "keep sweet" and obey. So young women who leave often delve into worldly pleasures once outside, indulgences as innocent as blue jeans and as destructive as heroin and prostitution, survivors and an
|
(CNN) -- Long before fish swam in Macquariums, hipsters got Apple logo tattoos and thousands camped out for days to get into computer store openings, there was a machine.
Danielle Brecker found this 1989 photo of friends on their Macs at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the original Macintosh, the first personal computer to draw masses, introduce the mouse and incorporate a graphical user interface, relying on images instead of text.
The Apple Inc. watershed product entered American consciousness amid fanfare, with a $1.5 million commercial, made by Ridley Scott, wowing audiences during Super Bowl XVIII. The piece's title, "1984," invoked author George Orwell's message and stood as a warning against conformity.
Two days after the ad ran, the Macintosh became available and life, as people knew it, changed. No longer were computers viewed as toys with which to play primitive games or as untouchable tools reserved for degreed engineers. We began to think different.
"The Macintosh demonstrated that it was possible and profitable to create a machine to be used by millions and millions of people," said Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, research director for the Institute for the Future, a Palo Alto, California, think tank, and chief force behind "Making the Macintosh: Technology and Culture in Silicon Valley," an online historical exhibit. "The gold standard now for personal electronics is, 'Is it easy enough for my grandmother to use it?' People on the Macintosh project were the first people to talk about a product in that way."
Pang, 44, remembered being "mesmerized" by the computer when he first saw it up close in his college bookstore. He wasn't alone. Read about how iReporters are preserving Mac history
For graphic designers like Zoë Korstvedt, now a Los Angeles creative director, the evolving Mac, with each added feature, was ripe with ah-ha moments.
To tinker with a piece, play with the text, "to visualize on your computer was just insane," she said. "My colleagues and I wonder how we did it [their jobs] before."
No wonder, then, that when Korstvedt, 44, married her first husband in 1989, she used half of their wedding money to buy her first home computer: a Mac SE/30, for which she forked over extra bucks for an upgrade to a whopping 8 megabytes of RAM. Nothing compared to the 12 gigs she now has. "I was styling," she said with a laugh.
Jeremy Mehrle, 30, of the St. Louis, Missouri, area is too young to know a world without Macs. This MacAddict began hoarding and tinkering with tossed-out computers, and then he discovered eBay. Today, the motion graphics designer's 1,400 square-foot basement is a museum to Apple computers, all-white and in gallery-style with about 80 fully-functioning machines on display.
"Some people think it's really cool. ... Others say 'It's Jeremy's thing, it's a little weird, whatever,'" he said. "I think if I had stacks everywhere, and you couldn't move in my house, people would be worried."
What's Mehrle's hobby, however, became a career for Dan Foust, 38, of Bloomington, Illinois. "Danapplemacman," as he's known on eBay, makes a living out of buying, and when necessary resuscitating, these computers before hawking them online to customers/collectors in places as far-flung as Italy and Australia.
So what would people pay for an original Macintosh?
"A complete boxed system?," he said. "I can't put a price on that."
The extremes to which people have gone in their love and loyalty for Apple (and specifically Macs) knows no bounds. Perhaps no one knows this better than Leander Kahney, news editor at Wired.com and author of Cult of Mac, as well as the more recently published Inside Steve's Brain. That would be Apple co-founder Steve Jobs
|
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question: on which day marks the 25th anniversary of the first Macintosh computer?, answer: Saturday | question: who launched the Mac in 1984?, answer: Apple Inc. | question: When is the anniversary of the first Macintosh?, answer: Saturday | question: What did apple launch in 1984?, answer: the original Macintosh, | question: What does Saturday mark?, answer: the 25th anniversary of the original Macintosh,
|
(CNN) -- Longtime "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell said he'll be leaving the popular Fox talent show at the end of the season, the network announced Monday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California.
Cowell's popular U.K. talent show, "The X Factor," will be coming to the United States in the fall of 2011 with the acerbic critic in tow, according to Fox.
"I want to leave 'Idol' this year bigger and better than it was in the past," Cowell said at the TCA tour Monday.
Cowell will be both executive producer and judge on "The X Factor."
"I'm thrilled that we have put a date on the launch of the U.S. version of 'The X Factor,' and delighted to be continuing to work with Fox," said Cowell in a statement. "We have a fantastic relationship, a great team and are all very excited about this." iReport: Will you watch "Idol" without Simon?
Speculation has raged for weeks as to Cowell's future. Though he's well paid for his "Idol" work -- an estimated $36 million per season -- he has expressed a desire to focus on "The X Factor."
Cowell said at the press session that it's taken some time to reach an agreement for his new duties, hence the buzz. (Indeed, he signed the last page of his "contract" on stage with Fox executives Peter Rice and Kevin Reilly.)
"[I] didn't think it was right to do two shows in America at the same time, so [I] decided to leave one and start another," he said.
He said he missed Paula Abdul, the former "Idol" judge who left the show in August, but wouldn't confirm or deny whether she would appear on "X Factor" in the U.S. Cowell and Abdul had a good-naturedly contentious relationship on "Idol," with the tough-minded Brit often acting as bad cop to the "Forever Your Girl" singer's good cop.
Ellen DeGeneres, who's taking over Abdul's judging slot, joked about Cowell's announcement on her talk show Monday -- getting in a dig at NBC's late-night troubles as well.
"So this just happened, Simon Cowell just announced that he's leaving 'Idol.' This will be his last season. He announced he's leaving on my first day. I'm trying not to take it personally," she said. "But seriously, I am going to be very, very sad to see him go, because I think he's made the show what it is. He's a huge part of that show but he wanted a change. I wish him all the luck in the world hosting 'The Tonight Show,' " said DeGeneres, referring to widespread speculation about how NBC will resolve its issues with its late-night talk shows. In reality, of course, Simon Cowell has not been part of that speculation.
Since its premiere in 2002, "Idol" has been an entertainment phenomenon, regularly ranking as TV's top show, creating several musical stars and pulling in millions more viewers than its closest competition. Its new season premieres Tuesday.
Cowell's presence has been credited as a major reason. The British music executive was a judge on the British version of "Idol," "Pop Idol," and came to the United States when Fox imported the show. Unlike judges on many American talent shows, Cowell didn't sugar-coat his criticisms to contestants.
With the show's growing popularity -- by its fourth season it was the top show on television, a rank it has held ever since -- Cowell and fellow "Idol" players Abdul, judge Randy Jackson and amiable host Ryan Seacrest became stars in their own right.
Though the show continues to dominate American TV, ratings have started sliding in "Idol's" past two seasons. But Cowell told the TCA audience he had no doubt about the show's future.
It
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question: Who is leaving American Idol?, answer: Simon Cowell | question: Who is leaving the show?, answer: Simon Cowell | question: When is the X factor coming?, answer: fall of 2011 | question: What show is coming to the U.S.?, answer: "The X Factor,"
|
(CNN) -- Longtime character actor Pat Hingle, a veteran of early television dramas, Westerns and four "Batman" films, has died at age 84, his family announced Sunday.
Pat Hingle was a familiar face to moviegoers and TV watchers for his many roles.
Hingle died Saturday evening at his home in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, after a two-year battle with the blood disorder myelodysplasia, his cousin, Lynn Heritage, told CNN.
"He was awake one moment, and in the next breath, he was gone," Heritage said.
Hingle began his acting career in the 1950s, appearing in numerous television theater shows. His first movie role was an uncredited appearance in 1954's "On the Waterfront," which won eight Academy Awards; he played the by-the-book judge opposite Clint Eastwood's vengeful marshal in 1968's "Hang 'Em High," and appeared as Sally Field's father in 1979's "Norma Rae."
In 1989, he appeared as Gotham City's Commissioner Gordon in Tim Burton's "Batman," carrying on the role through three sequels. His last film role was in "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," released in 2006.
He also guest-starred in countless TV series, including a memorable turn as a character named Col. Daniel Webster Tucker in a 1980 "M*A*S*H" episode. In the episode, called "April Fools," Hingle's Tucker antagonized the unit's surgeons -- with surprising consequences.
Hingle's other TV series included "Hawaii Five-O," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Hart to Hart," "St. Elsewhere," "Magnum, P.I." and "Cheers."
Hingle is survived by his wife of nearly 30 years, Julia, and their five children.
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question: Who appeared in many TV series movies?, answer: Pat Hingle, | question: Where did Hingle live?, answer: Carolina Beach, North Carolina, | question: Who played Commissioner Gordon in '90s "Batman" films?, answer: Pat Hingle, | question: Who did Pat Hingle play in "Batman"?, answer: Gotham City's Commissioner Gordon | question: What other shows did Pat Hingle guest star in?, answer: "M*A*S*H" | question: What was Pat Hingle's occupation?, answer: character actor | question: What other movies was Pat Hingle in other than "Batman"?, answer: "On the Waterfront," | question: What was Hingle's role in Batman movies?, answer: Gotham City's Commissioner Gordon | question: Who played Commissioner Gordon in the 1990's "Batma" films?, answer: Pat Hingle, | question: How old was Hingle?, answer: 84, | question: How old was Pat Hingle at the time of this article?, answer: 84, | question: What other shows did Hingle have roles in?, answer: He also guest-starred in countless TV series, including a memorable turn as a character named Col. Daniel Webster Tucker in a 1980 "M*A*S*H" episode.
|
(CNN) -- Longtime talk show host Larry King says he's joined an effort to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"It would be a thrill of a lifetime to be a part owner, a partial owner, of a team I grew up rooting for as a child in Brooklyn," the former host of CNN's "Larry King Live" said Wednesday."
"To go to a ballpark and have an owner's box, to even have a say in a possible trade -- are you out of your mind?" he asked rhetorically.
King says he's part of group of investors interested in acquiring the franchise, despite its apparent financial troubles and unresolved contract issues with Fox Sports.
Major League Baseball, which took charge of the team in April, has been embroiled in legal battles over future media rights after baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rejected a $3 billion television deal with Fox.
The beleaguered club then filed for bankruptcy in June and has since drawn a number of high-profile buyers into the bidding process after team owner Frank McCourt agreed to sell.
A court hearing over the Dodgers' future media rights is scheduled for December 7.
King's investor group, meanwhile, is led by insurance agent Dennis Gilbert, who also works as a special assistant to Chicago White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
"What bigger thrill?" asked King, a native of Brooklyn, New York, which the Dodgers once called home.
The team, formerly known as the Trolley Dodgers because of the maze of trolley cars that Brooklynites once dodged in the streets, eventually shortened its name, then and moved to California, kicking off its first L.A. season in 1958, to the dismay of many New Yorkers.
"The emotional part would be that they'd have to carry me out," King said of his possible part-ownership stake in the team.
|
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"Which owner agreed to sell?",
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"What does King say his bidding is a part of?"
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question: Where did the Dodgers once play?, answer: Brooklyn, New York, | question: Who says he's bidding as part of an investor group?, answer: Larry King | question: Which owner agreed to sell?, answer: Frank McCourt | question: Where is the former CNN talk show host from?, answer: Brooklyn," | question: What does King say he's doing?, answer: joined an effort to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers. | question: What did the club file for in June?, answer: bankruptcy | question: When did the club file for bankruptcy?, answer: June | question: What does King say his bidding is a part of?, answer: group of investors interested in acquiring the franchise,
|
(CNN) -- Looking directly at the man who murdered his 9-year-old daughter, Mark Lunsford told John Evander Couey, "I hope you hear her cry as you try to sleep at night."
"You will never hurt another child again," Lunsford said in testimony Tuesday in a Florida court hearing where a judge will decide whether to give Couey the death penalty.
Jessica Lunsford, seen in an undated family photo, was 9 when she was abducted and killed. She disappeared in 2005 from her home in Homosassa, Florida.
His eyes fixed on Couey, Lunsford continued, "For 29 months, my daughter has heard me cry and begged God to stop the pain in my heart."
Addressing Florida Circuit Court Judge Ric Howard, Lunsford pleaded for Couey to die for his crime. Then he turned back to the man who took his daughter. Watch Lunsford's emotional testimony »
"I hope you see the tears at night when she asked you [if she could] go home. You will never hurt another child again."
Lunsford spent much time talking about memories of Jesse Lunsford.
"I can remember when she was about 1 year old and would give me kisses and hugs and steal the raisins from my cereal," he said.
"From bumps to bruises, from Band-Aids to bicycles, she was a tomboy with her daddy and a very nice little lady for her grandmother."
The hearing will continue Wednesday.
Couey's attorneys are trying to convince Howard that Couey is mentally incompetent and should be spared the death penalty.
"That's a cop-out," Lunsford said Tuesday on Larry King Live. "He is not retarded."
The father said he wants Couey to die for his crime. King asked him if he would attend the execution by lethal injection. "I'd hold the syringe if they'd let me," he answered.
But a prosecution expert testified Tuesday that the convicted killer had an IQ of between 80 and 90, about low average.
"My opinion is that he is not mentally retarded," said Dr. Greg Pritchard, a clinical psychologist.
Couey was convicted in March on charges of kidnapping, raping and murdering Jessica.
The jury voted 10-2 to recommend the death penalty. In Florida, the vote does not have to be unanimous to recommend the death penalty.
The judge is expected to sentence Couey next month.
Jessica Lunsford disappeared in February 2005 from her home in Homosassa. Her body was found three weeks later in a shallow grave outside a mobile home about 100 yards from where she lived.
Couey, a convicted sex offender, was staying nearby in a trailer with his half-sister. Couey kidnapped the girl from her bedroom and later, in a taped confession, admitted that he buried the child alive. "I went out there one night and dug a hole and put her in it. Buried her," he said.
She was found wrapped in garbage bags, holding a stuffed toy dolphin, her hands bound with stereo wire. Jessica died from asphyxiation after being sexually assaulted, according to a medical examiner's report.
The judge ruled the confession was inadmissible in court because Couey had asked for a lawyer the day before he told police he committed the crime.
Evidence at the trial included Jessica's fingerprints in a closet in Couey's trailer and DNA from Jessica's blood and Couey's semen on a mattress in his bedroom.
Lunsford has led a push for stricter sex offender laws since his daughter's death.
Then-Gov. Jeb Bush signed the Jessica Lunsford Act into Florida law. The 2005 legislation calls for prison sentences of 25 years to life for sex offenses against children under age 12, better registration of convicted sex offenders and a Global Positioning System notification mechanism to track down probation violators.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed similar legislation Monday. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Who testified at sentencing hearing for 9-year-old daughter's killer?",
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] |
[
"Mark Lunsford",
"kidnapping, raping and murdering Jessica.",
"the death penalty.",
"voted 10-2 to recommend the death penalty.",
"Mark Lunsford"
] |
question: Who testified at sentencing hearing for 9-year-old daughter's killer?, answer: Mark Lunsford | question: what was Couey convicted of?, answer: kidnapping, raping and murdering Jessica. | question: what did the jury recommend?, answer: the death penalty. | question: What was the jury's recommendation for John Evander Couey?, answer: voted 10-2 to recommend the death penalty. | question: who testified at the hearing?, answer: Mark Lunsford
|
(CNN) -- Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham has revealed he is set to miss the entire Major League Soccer (MLS) season with the Achilles injury that ended his 2010 World Cup dream.
The former England captain has said he will not be able to start running on his ankle for another three months, and is now targeting a November return.
"I won't be running for another three months so I won't be playing again until probably November," Beckham told American broadcaster ABC.
With the U.S. season set to reach its conclusion on November 21, it looks unlikely that the 34-year-old will feature for the Galaxy this term.
While Beckham accepts his injury needs time to heal, he admitted there is a temptation to push along his recovery.
"This is an injury that's going to take time to heal," he said to MLSsoccer.com.
"I started therapy 10 days ago and I'm just doing that everyday. I kind of want to push it, but with this kind of injury you can't. You just have to wait for it to heal and move on."
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star also spoke of his frustration at having to wear a protective boot, or use crutches, at all times.
"If I haven't got the boot on, which I didn't today for a few interviews, I have to use crutches," said Beckham.
"It's either one or the other at the moment, which is a pain. It's not easy moving around but I have to protect it."
Beckham sustained the injury last month while playing on loan for Italian giants AC Milan, shattering his hopes of playing in a fourth consecutive World Cup finals for England.
It led to speculation that the former Manchester United star would retire, but he clearly remains determined to return to action after having surgery on the injury.
|
[
"What did Beckham suffer during a loan spell with Italian side AC Milan?",
"what team is he on?",
"who is david beckham?",
"What ruled Beckham out?",
"When will Beckham return to action?",
"Who is to miss the entire MLS season?",
"what injury did beckham suffer?",
"Who hopes to return to action?",
"Who suffered an Achilles tendon injury ?"
] |
[
"Achilles injury",
"Angeles Galaxy",
"Los",
"Achilles injury",
"November",
"David Beckham",
"Achilles",
"David Beckham",
"David Beckham"
] |
question: What did Beckham suffer during a loan spell with Italian side AC Milan?, answer: Achilles injury | question: what team is he on?, answer: Angeles Galaxy | question: who is david beckham?, answer: Los | question: What ruled Beckham out?, answer: Achilles injury | question: When will Beckham return to action?, answer: November | question: Who is to miss the entire MLS season?, answer: David Beckham | question: what injury did beckham suffer?, answer: Achilles | question: Who hopes to return to action?, answer: David Beckham | question: Who suffered an Achilles tendon injury ?, answer: David Beckham
|
(CNN) -- Los Angeles Galaxy reached Major League Soccer's (MLS) championship match on Sunday after a 3-1 defeat of Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference final.
The Galaxy, two-time MLS Cup winners, reached the deciding game for a record seventh time thanks to goals from captain Landon Donovan, American Mike Magee and Ireland striker Robbie Keane in front of their home fans at the Home Depot Center.
Manager Bruce Arena's Galaxy will face Houston Dynamo in the post-season's final match, after Dynamo beat Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference final.
The final, which will take place at the Home Depot Center, could be midfielder David Beckham's last match for Los Angeles, with the former England captain's contract expiring at the end of the season.
But Beckham, 36, is focused only on the upcoming match with Dynamo, after playing in the MLS Cup 2009 when the Galaxy were beaten by Real Salt Lake in a penalty shoot-out.
"We're happy to be winning the Western final, but we know that there is one more game to go so we're not getting carried away," the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star told the league's official website.
"We did that a couple of years ago and we paid for it. We didn't win the MLS Cup final, so hopefully this will be something that we're happy to win [on Sunday], but we know that we've got one more game."
Galaxy went ahead on 23 minutes when Donovan, 29, converted a penalty after Andy Williams' push on Omar Gonzalez.
Dynamo responded almost immediately, striker Alvaro Saborio scoring with a close-range header to equalize after 25 minutes.
Beckham, capped 115 times by England, helped Galaxy regain the lead on 58 minutes, his pin-point cross headed home by Magee.
Former Tottenham and Liverpool forward Keane secured the win for Galaxy with 22 minutes remaining, wriggling free of his marker before firing a low shot beyond Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimandi.
Dynamo needed second half goals from defender Andre Hainault and forward Carlos Costly to see off the challenge of Sporting Kansas City in front of a record crowd at Livestrong Sporting Park.
The 16th MLS Cup final will complete the 2011 season and will be played on Sunday November 20.
|
[
"Who did they beat?",
"What was the score of the winning game?",
"Who has reached the cup?",
"Who will they play in final?",
"Who has reached the MLS Cup?",
"When will the team face Houston Dynamo?",
"What sport fo the Los Angeles galaxy play?"
] |
[
"Real Salt Lake",
"3-1",
"Angeles Galaxy",
"Houston Dynamo",
"Angeles Galaxy",
"in the post-season's final match,",
"Major League Soccer's"
] |
question: Who did they beat?, answer: Real Salt Lake | question: What was the score of the winning game?, answer: 3-1 | question: Who has reached the cup?, answer: Angeles Galaxy | question: Who will they play in final?, answer: Houston Dynamo | question: Who has reached the MLS Cup?, answer: Angeles Galaxy | question: When will the team face Houston Dynamo?, answer: in the post-season's final match, | question: What sport fo the Los Angeles galaxy play?, answer: Major League Soccer's
|
(CNN) -- Los Angeles police are searching for a serial killer dubbed the "Grim Sleeper," who is thought to have killed 11 people.
Alicia Alexander was one of the Grim Sleeper's victims in the 1980s.
The killer, who police say murdered from 1985 to 2007, was nicknamed the Grim Sleeper because he seemed to take a break between homicides, police said.
Authorities this week released a 9-1-1 tape recorded shortly after a killing in 1987, in the hope of producing clues.
"Yes ... I'd like to report a murder," an anonymous caller says on the tape. "The guy that dropped her off was driving a white and blue Dodge van. He threw her out. ... He threw a gas tank on top of her. All that you can see sticking out is her feet." Watch the hunt for a serial killer »
Police found the scene just as the caller described and found the van. But they are still searching for the caller and members of the now-defunct church that owned the van.
The killer is wanted in 11 deaths and another homicide attempt, police say.
Detectives say they have the Grim Sleeper's DNA, and a $500,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest and prosecution. The killer shot his victims, police said.
Porter Alexander has waited two decades for the Grim Sleeper's arrest. His daughter Alicia Alexander became the Grim Sleeper's eighth victim in 1988, police say.
"No one should have to face anything like this," he said. "To experience their daughters or sons taken away as early as she was."
CNN's Kara Finnstrom contributed to this report.
|
[
"Whose DNA does police have?",
"How many people did he kill?",
"How much is the reward that is being offered?",
"What the LA police release?",
"Was there actually a murder?",
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"Do they have this guy's DNA?",
"Does he have a nickname?",
"What was the nickname given to the killer?"
] |
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"police say murdered from 1985 to 2007,",
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"\"Grim Sleeper,\""
] |
question: Whose DNA does police have?, answer: Grim Sleeper's | question: How many people did he kill?, answer: 11 | question: How much is the reward that is being offered?, answer: $500,000 | question: What the LA police release?, answer: 9-1-1 tape | question: Was there actually a murder?, answer: police say murdered from 1985 to 2007, | question: What's Grim Sleeper?, answer: Alicia Alexander was one of the | question: Do they have this guy's DNA?, answer: the Grim Sleeper's | question: Does he have a nickname?, answer: Grim Sleeper | question: What was the nickname given to the killer?, answer: "Grim Sleeper,"
|
(CNN) -- Los Angeles police have launched an internal investigation to determine who leaked a picture that appears to show a bruised and battered Rihanna.
Rihanna was allegedly attacked by her boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, before the Grammys on February 8.
The close-up photo -- showing a woman with contusions on her forehead and below her eyes, and cuts on her lip -- was published on the entertainment Web site TMZ Thursday. TMZ said it was a photo of Rihanna.
Twenty-one-year-old Rihanna was allegedly attacked by her boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, on a Los Angeles street before the two were to perform at the Grammys on February 8.
"The unauthorized release of a domestic violence photograph immediately generated an internal investigation," an L.A. police spokesman said in a statement. "The Los Angeles Police Department takes seriously its duty to maintain the confidentiality of victims of domestic violence. A violation of this type is considered serious misconduct, with penalties up to and including termination."
A spokeswoman for Rihanna declined to comment.
The chief investigator in the case had told CNN earlier that authorities had tried to guard against leaks. Detective Deshon Andrews said he had kept the case file closely guarded and that no copies had been made of the original photos and documents.
Brown was arrested on February 8 in connection with the case and and booked on suspicion of making criminal threats.
Authorities are trying to determine whether Brown should face domestic violence-related charges.
Brown apologized for the incident this week.
"Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired," the 19-year-old said in a statement released by his spokesman. "I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God's help, to emerging a better person."
CNN's Brittany Kaplan contributed to this report.
|
[
"when The two were scheduled to perform at the Grammys?",
"What was the investigation about?",
"when Los Angeles police investigating leak of photo of a battered woman?",
"Which celebrity was attacked by her boyfriend?",
"What wsd the source of the leak?"
] |
[
"February 8.",
"that appears to show a bruised and battered Rihanna.",
"that appears to show a bruised and",
"Rihanna",
"entertainment Web site TMZ"
] |
question: when The two were scheduled to perform at the Grammys?, answer: February 8. | question: What was the investigation about?, answer: that appears to show a bruised and battered Rihanna. | question: when Los Angeles police investigating leak of photo of a battered woman?, answer: that appears to show a bruised and | question: Which celebrity was attacked by her boyfriend?, answer: Rihanna | question: What wsd the source of the leak?, answer: entertainment Web site TMZ
|
(CNN) -- Lots of kids are into dinosaurs. Tyler Lyson says he just never grew out of it. He grew up in rural North Dakota and says fossils were more widespread there than in other places in the U.S.
Tyler Lyson's interest in fossil discovery led him to help create a research foundation.
"I was very fortunate to grow up in a very rural area ... that just happens to be one of the best places to find dinosaur fossils," Lyson said.
But in 1999, he didn't find just any fossil; he discovered something jaw-dropping: a 25-foot-long dinosaur, complete with skin. Lyson's find was an Edmontosaurus he named Dakota.
The 65 million-year-old mummified dinosaur was unearthed with Lyson standing by in 2004.
Lyson explained that the dinosaur is one of approximately six "dinosaur mummies" in the world.
"This dinosaur mummy has portions that none of the other dinosaur mummies have preserved," he said.
"So we're able to get a good look at the feet and the legs and the hands and basically the entire body -- what it actually looked like." Watch the CNN.com Live interview »
Lyson is the co-founder of the Marmarth Research Foundation in his hometown. The foundation is creating a museum and outreach programs to give volunteers hands-on field and lab work with fossils.
While getting his doctorate at Yale, Lyson wants to make sure that other kids don't grow out of their fascination with the extinct. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"In what year was the dicovery?",
"When was the fossil discovered?",
"What was the length of the fossil?",
"What did Tyler Lyson discover in 1999?"
] |
[
"1999,",
"1999,",
"25-foot-long",
"a 25-foot-long dinosaur, complete with skin."
] |
question: In what year was the dicovery?, answer: 1999, | question: When was the fossil discovered?, answer: 1999, | question: What was the length of the fossil?, answer: 25-foot-long | question: What did Tyler Lyson discover in 1999?, answer: a 25-foot-long dinosaur, complete with skin.
|
(CNN) -- Lotus Renault driver Robert Kubica has confirmed that he will not be fit in time for the start of the 2012 Formula One season.
The 26-year-old Pole, winner of the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, missed the whole of this season after suffering serious injuries following a rallying crash in February.
There had been some hope that Kubica would be fit enough to start the new campaign, but he released a statement on the team's official website confirming this would not be the case.
Kubica said: "I have come to the conclusion that I am not yet certain to be ready for the 2012 season. This was a difficult decision to make, but it is the most reasonable one.
"I know that Lotus Renault need to prepare for next year, and further extending deadlines would not have been the right thing to do. On a personal level, my recovery is very encouraging and my doctors keep being impressed."
Kubica added: "I just need more time, as I want to be 100% ready before I commit to anything driving related."
Team principal Eric Boullier also released a statement, saying: "Everybody in the team is, of course, very disappointed. Robert not driving in Australia at the start of next season is not what we were all hoping for.
"However, he has taken a very mature decision, acting in the best interests of Lotus Renault GP. As a team and as a family, we remain 100% behind him and we'll help as much as we can."
Kubica suffered a partial amputation of his forearm and compound fractures to his right elbow, shoulder and leg in the accident in Andorra last February.
He subsequently had three operations and has undergone a lengthy period of rehabilitation but has so far not driven a car.
Kubica's decision leaves the team with a choice of three drivers to fill its two seats, Vitaly Petrov, Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean, unless they look outside their current line-up.
|
[
"Robert Kubica's return with what team has been delayed?",
"What person has not recovered from arm injuries",
"Has he fully recovered?"
] |
[
"Lotus Renault",
"Robert Kubica",
"not yet"
] |
question: Robert Kubica's return with what team has been delayed?, answer: Lotus Renault | question: What person has not recovered from arm injuries, answer: Robert Kubica | question: Has he fully recovered?, answer: not yet
|
(CNN) -- Lourdes Batista wishes she had super powers so she could use them to find her husband, she said Wednesday, 105 days after authorities said he was kidnapped in Mexico.
Lourdes Batista says she has no idea why someone would kidnap her husband, Felix.
Felix Batista, a renowned kidnapping consultant, disappeared after getting into a vehicle outside a Saltillo restaurant December 10. The family has yet to hear a word from his abductors.
"I don't have words to describe the pain," Lourdes Batista said. "It's cruel, very cruel."
Lourdes Batista was getting ready for bed at her Miami, Florida, home when she received a phone call informing her that her husband of 31 years had been snatched. She tried contacting him on both of his phones, but to no avail.
Felix Batista, 53, had arrived four days prior in Saltillo, the Coahuila state capital about 250 miles from the U.S. border, to take part in a security seminar about kidnappings. He was giving talks about kidnappings to a business group in Saltillo and Torreon.
Though the Cuban-American worked as a contract consultant for the Houston, Texas-based ASI Global Response, the trip was not affiliated with the company.
On the day of his kidnapping, Felix Batista was in a restaurant with several other people when he received a phone call, according to a statement from the Coahuila state attorney general's office.
"After speaking for a few minutes, [he] left the restaurant, telling his colleagues that several people in a white pickup truck were going to give him a message," the statement said.
"Afterward, outside the business, at about 7 p.m., he got into a vehicle with different characteristics from those he had mentioned to his colleagues and, since then, no one has had any communication with him," the statement said.
There was no indication of violence at the scene, the attorney general's office said.
Jackie Batista said she has no clue why someone would abduct her brother.
"We can speculate till next year," she said. "We've waited for answers. We don't have any information, and no one has contacted us."
Lourdes Batista added, "It's very perplexing. I don't know. I don't understand why. This is why I can't sleep at night." Watch Felix Batista's wife, sister plead for his release »
Felix Batista served four years in the U.S. Army before entering private practice. He has 23 years of experience as a crisis responder and had worked with ASI Global Response since May 2007, President Charlie LeBlanc said.
A profile on the company's Web site, which has been taken down, said Felix Batista conducted threat assessments and had been credited with the "successful resolution" of almost 100 kidnap-and-ransom cases.
LeBlanc said Felix Batista was a "multidisciplined security practitioner" who also worked on extortion cases and consulted corporations.
His aptitude as a consultant aside, Lourdes Batista said, he was an outstanding family man: "a great man and a great father and a wonderful husband. I couldn't ask for better."
Since Felix Batista's kidnapping, ASI Global has been working with his family, acting as a liaison with the FBI and Mexican authorities and vetting those offering to help with the case, LeBlanc said.
It's the same kind of work Felix Batista was known for, he said.
ASI Global has been sharing information with the Mexican national police, who have "been very forthcoming in sharing information and asking for advice," LeBlanc said.
"We've had viable leads. They just haven't panned out," he added.
Kidnappings and violence have long been problems in Mexico, but the problem has spiked in the past year, at least statistically.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said this month that there were 6,500 organized-crime killings in 2008, more than double the number from 2007. The nation's human rights ombudsman has reported that there were 5,140 reported kidnappings
|
[
"Who was kidnapped December 10th?",
"Who is a skilled crisis responder who helped families of kidnapping victims?",
"What was she doing at the time",
"Who says of perplexing motive, \"This is why I can't sleep at night\"?"
] |
[
"Felix Batista,",
"Felix Batista,",
"getting ready for bed",
"Lourdes Batista"
] |
question: Who was kidnapped December 10th?, answer: Felix Batista, | question: Who is a skilled crisis responder who helped families of kidnapping victims?, answer: Felix Batista, | question: What was she doing at the time, answer: getting ready for bed | question: Who says of perplexing motive, "This is why I can't sleep at night"?, answer: Lourdes Batista
|
(CNN) -- Love was present everywhere at the University of Virginia's Klockner Stadium on Sunday -- in the stands, over the loudspeaker and on the field.
"One Team; One Heart; One Love," read the warm-up T-shirts that members of the school's women's lacrosse team wore. Spectators waved a sign reading "No. 1 Yeardley in our hearts." At the end of the game, as the team celebrated its 14-12 victory over Towson University, the song "Believe" by Cher played over the stadium sound system.
Its lyrics: "Do you believe in life after love?"
The tribute was in honor of slain teammate Yeardley Love, the 22-year-old senior found dead in her off-campus apartment on May 3. A former boyfriend and member of the school's men's lacrosse team, George Huguely, has been charged with first-degree murder in her death.
Sunday's game in the first round of the NCAA championship tournament was the first the team had played since Love's death, and the day was marked with remembrance.
The Virginia team wore black patches on the front of their jerseys with one word: Love. The Towson team wore orange armbands stitched with her initials Y.L. Love's mother and sister, Sharon and Lexie Love, were present in the stands to honor the game she loved.
"I think we're exhausted, we're drained and I think it's never felt so good to win a game," head coach Julie Myers told ESPNU after defeating Towson. "Not only is it an NCAA game, but just to get this hurdle cleared over -- the kids did a great job."
After celebrating the win at midfield, the team surprised those in the stands by emerging from their huddle holding signs emblazoned with the number 1.
It was one last tribute to Love, who wore that number for her team.
|
[
"what did towson wear",
"what do shirts say",
"who wins the game",
"what is the point to the shirts",
"who is love's former boyfriend?",
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] |
[
"orange armbands stitched with her initials Y.L.",
"\"One Team; One Heart; One Love,\"",
"University of Virginia's",
"in honor of slain teammate Yeardley Love,",
"George Huguely,",
"The Towson team",
"Yeardley Love,"
] |
question: what did towson wear, answer: orange armbands stitched with her initials Y.L. | question: what do shirts say, answer: "One Team; One Heart; One Love," | question: who wins the game, answer: University of Virginia's | question: what is the point to the shirts, answer: in honor of slain teammate Yeardley Love, | question: who is love's former boyfriend?, answer: George Huguely, | question: who wore orange armbands stitched with her initials, Y.L.?, answer: The Towson team | question: who found dead in apartment May 3?, answer: Yeardley Love,
|
(CNN) -- Luci Baines Johnson was just 16 years old when she approached her father, President Johnson, with what she considered a reasonable request.
Luci Baines Johnson, left, and her older sister, Lynda Bird, pose inside the White House in 1963.
"I asked my father if we could have the Beatles come to play at the White House," she recalled. "I was very excited about it."
His response? A decisive no, "without even any moment of trying to soften the blow," Johnson said in a recent phone interview.
The president thought the move would be viewed as self-serving. His daughter, however, saw it as a chance to honor "a great talent" and strengthen ties between the United States and Great Britain -- not to mention a golden opportunity for her and her friends.
"I could see how different sets of folks could have either perspective. And I suspect my father could see that too," she said.
Luci Baines Johnson learned quickly of the scrutiny that came from being a first daughter. Her family moved into the White House in 1963, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Johnson was catapulted into the exclusive fraternity of White House families and embraced what she describes as a role she landed simply by chance. That fraternity has most recently expanded to include President Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia.
"I was an eyewitness to history, over and over, during my father's five years in the White House. And I wasn't elected to that option. I had no qualifications that provided me that privilege except an accident of birth," she said. See famous first kids who grew up in the White House »
Johnson speaks fondly of the opportunity she was afforded to dine with kings and queens, meet the movers and shakers of her time, engage with the body of America and hold a front-row seat to history. While most of her memories fall into two categories -- "the fond personal memories" and "the fond memories of public privilege" -- there's one in particular that was a combination of both.
"My 17th birthday, I received a handwritten note from my father, the only handwritten note I have, telling me how much he loves me and how much he has delighted in having me as his daughter for all those 17 years," she said.
The note was dated noon, July 2, 1964.
Six hours later, in the East Room of the White House, Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination based on race or gender in public places, schools and places of employment.
"Can you imagine ever receiving a more momentous, glorious, exciting, thrilling birthday present that lasted forever and ever than something like that, that would change the world for all time and make it a much more decent place? That took place on my birthday," she said.
Life in the White House, however, came at a cost. Johnson and the first children before and after her will always have to "pay a big price in terms of personal time," she said. More than 45 years after she moved into the White House, she still receives requests for interviews about the time she spent there.
But the public's interest in first daughters is nothing new. Fanny Hayes, for example, who was about the same age as Malia when she moved into the White House in 1877, was followed by the media until the day she died. "She was an American celebrity," said presidential historian Doug Wead.
While the interest in first daughters has stayed steady, the pressure on the children has intensified, said Wead, author of "All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families."
"It's like the Miss America contest -- it's a real dilemma for the daughter of a president. She's supposed to be gracious. She's mocked and ridiculed if she isn't pretty," he said.
|
[
"Who is a first daughter?",
"Who follows first daughters?",
"What has intensified over the years, according to the historian?",
"What does Johnson say?",
"What did Luci Johnson describe?",
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"What has intensified?",
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] |
[
"Luci Baines Johnson",
"the media",
"the pressure on the children",
"\"I asked my father if we could have the Beatles come to play at the White House,\"",
"a role",
"Luci Baines Johnson",
"pressure on the children",
"the exclusive fraternity of White House families"
] |
question: Who is a first daughter?, answer: Luci Baines Johnson | question: Who follows first daughters?, answer: the media | question: What has intensified over the years, according to the historian?, answer: the pressure on the children | question: What does Johnson say?, answer: "I asked my father if we could have the Beatles come to play at the White House," | question: What did Luci Johnson describe?, answer: a role | question: Who describes being a first daughter as an "extraordinary privilege"?, answer: Luci Baines Johnson | question: What has intensified?, answer: pressure on the children | question: Luci Johnson described being what as an extraordinary privilege?, answer: the exclusive fraternity of White House families
|
(CNN) -- Lucia Whalen strolled down a sidewalk near Harvard University, enjoying a lunchtime ritual she'd repeated many times in her 15 years working in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But on this day, July 16, her outing would become something else altogether -- the first steps in a national drama.
President Obama has invited police Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates for beer.
An older woman approached Whalen, worried that she'd just witnessed two men breaking into a home. That's when Whalen, a first-generation Portuguese-American, called 911 from her cell phone -- alerting police to 17 Ware St. -- the home, as it turns out, of renowned Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Whalen's call -- now clearly the well-intentioned act of a passerby -- ignited a firestorm over race and police relations, a national debate that went all the way to the White House. It was a call she says she never expected to be "analyzed by an entire nation."
Gates was arrested by Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley for disorderly conduct, a charge that was later dropped. Exactly what happened inside Gates' home may never be known, but it seems clear that the key players in this saga brought their own personal history with race to the moment. That was true of Gates and Crowley, as well as the nation's first African-American president.
All three will meet for a beer today at the White House to help chill the furor over Gates' arrest and, in Obama's words, try to turn the events of the past two weeks into a "teachable moment."
"White woman" targeted
It's a bit ironic, said Whalen's attorney Wendy Murphy, that the three people who "reacted badly" will sit down together while the "one person who did not overreact" will be at work Thursday. "Maybe it's a guy thing," Murphy said, adding of Whalen: "She doesn't like beer anyway." Watch Whalen describe "painful" criticism »
Gates' arrest sparked heated rhetoric on TV, radio and the Internet. Initially, it seemed to break down along racial lines: African-Americans saw it as racial profiling by a white officer. Whites asked why the acclaimed scholar on black history didn't just show his ID to Crowley at the outset. Wasn't the officer just doing his job?
Even Whalen, the Good Samaritan, got smeared in the initial response. The police report identifying her as a "white woman" resulted in a torrent of accusations that she racially profiled Gates and his driver when she first called 911.
But a review of the call showed she never identified the suspects as "black" -- and even told a police dispatcher she wasn't sure it was a break-in. "The criticism at first was so painful for me. ... I was frankly afraid to say anything," Whalen said Wednesday, fighting back tears. "People called me racist and said I caused all the turmoil that followed, and some even said threatening things that made me fear for my safety."
Whalen is sensitive to the issue of racial profiling, because of her own olive-skinned complexion, her attorney said.
Two men; two views
Inside 17 Ware St., Gates and Crowley exchanged words as the officer sought to determine whether Gates belonged in the home. Each blamed the other for a situation that escalated; each felt the other brought prejudices to the moment.
Both had personal experience with racial profiling. iReport: Racial profiling, from both sides
Long before his acclaim as a scholar of black history, Gates had faced the prejudice of a white man. Gates was just 14, and had suffered a hairline fracture in his hip.
"The white doctor who examined Gates shortly afterward questioned the boy about his injury as well as his career plans. When the young Gates replied that he wanted to be a doctor and then correctly answered many questions about science, the doctor made his diagnosis," according to a biography of Gates posted on Gale, an
|
[
"What did they drink at the white house?",
"How many people reacted badly?",
"when was this taken place",
"Who was arrested?",
"Who went to the White House?"
] |
[
"beer.",
"three",
"July 16,",
"Gates",
"Whalen's"
] |
question: What did they drink at the white house?, answer: beer. | question: How many people reacted badly?, answer: three | question: when was this taken place, answer: July 16, | question: Who was arrested?, answer: Gates | question: Who went to the White House?, answer: Whalen's
|
(CNN) -- Luciano Pavarotti died Thursday at the age of 71 after suffering from pancreatic cancer. I-Report contributors shared their memories of the famed opera tenor. Here is a selection of those stories:
Annamaria Capicchioni shared this snapshot from the 1993 Pavarotti San Marino Grand Prix in Modena, Italy.
Leslie Oakley of Davenport, Florida I grew up in a small town in Kentucky where opera didn't exactly fit in the scheme of things. My family wasn't at all musical either but seeing as though I took an interest in it, my parents indulged me with opera recordings. One of the first ones I received was The Three Tenors. Luciano Pavarotti was to me what Michael Jordan was to other children. He was my hero. I even did a report on him one year in high school. I can remember sitting in my room listening to his voice, closing my eyes and seeing the operas unfold in my mind. He inspired me to teach myself to sing, and I went on to win awards in high school and to sing for three professional groups out of college. Singing has enriched my life immeasurably, and I owe it all to that beautiful voice that so entranced me as a child. I have many fond memories of Pavarotti. His voice always moves me to tears. It is the feeling of being given a glimpse of the divine that I will most remember about him. My prayers and thoughts are with his family and friends. There will never be another Pavarotti.
Edmund Chua of Singapore Maestro's voice was truly a blessing. That exciting, that fascinating quality, that, sigh ... too many adjectives. Of course, there was that unforgettable personality. Personally, (don't know if this is a right thing to say but) I saw Italy in him, so to speak, always loving life. Knew he was fighting cancer but always thought he'd recover. I was hoping I'd be able to watch him live but I guess it'll only be in the footage. He's indeed a legend lost, a legacy remembered. ... We'll miss him.
Tina Minges of Woodland, California I never cared for opera ... then I heard Pavarotti ... and from that point I loved it.
Sandra Miser of Dallas, Texas I consider him the greatest singer ever. His voice had a quality like no others. I cried going to work this morning when I heard he was gone. When I listen to his music I can disappear into the beauty of it and be a peace. He will be greatly missed. Thank goodness for CDs so that we will never be without his voice.
George Wendy of Eatons Neck, New York We had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Pavarotti sing a few times. His recital with James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera House was remarkable. I could not imagine feeling more emotion from listening to someone sing. Ciao, Luciano!
Shannon Broussard of Springfield, Missouri Heaven now has a tenor for its choir.
Chris Nissen of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania I heard Pavarotti perform twice in Philadelphia during the years he sponsored an operatic competition for young performers. I still have goose bumps thinking about the brilliance of those two evenings. Not only was his performance breathtaking, but his genuine joy in sharing the stage with the winners of the competition was obvious and written all over his face with a grand smile. Whenever I need to feel inspired with my own work I go and dig out my Pavarotti CDs. Bravo to the great one!
Reynaldo O. Arcilla, Philippines Even Mt. Etna wept when Luciano Pavarotti, one of the greatest opera singers of all time, died.
Marelize, South Africa In the mid-'90s, Luciano Pavarotti came to South Africa and performed in the town of Stellenboch. It was a very exclusive open-air concert. The tickets were very expensive and all the rich and famous in South Africa were there. Next to the stadium is a river that runs through the town. On the night, crowds of people gathered along the banks of the river. Like me, they could not afford the concert. From where we stood we could see
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question: What did one user write?, answer: Heaven now has a tenor for its choir. | question: What did Luciano Pavarotti die of?, answer: pancreatic cancer. | question: When did Luciano Pavarotti die?, answer: Thursday | question: What type of singer was Luciano Pavarotti?, answer: opera tenor. | question: Who died Thursday?, answer: Pavarotti
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(CNN) -- Luis Caplan served the poor of the South Bronx for decades out of a small medical office. His leg was amputated after a bout with cancer in 1990, yet he continued to work for another five years.
Luis Caplan, 71, asks of the stimulus package: "What happens to the real middle class?"
Now, his savings have nearly been wiped out because of the economic crisis. At the age of 71, he faces losing his apartment if things don't change soon. The government bailed out the big institutions, but "what happens to the little people?" he asks.
"What happens to the real middle class? What happens to me?" he says, choking back tears. "It's awful. It's really awful."
With Congress working to pass the $800 billion stimulus bill, millions of Americans -- especially those with homes they're trying to sell or about to be foreclosed on -- are asking the same thing: What's in it for me?
Caplan says most of his equity is tied up in his 800-square-foot apartment that he purchased in 1985. He wants to sell it to move to Seattle, Washington, to be near his daughter, who was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
But his place has sat on the market for three months without an offer. Located in a tony neighborhood in Manhattan's Upper East Side, apartments used to sell in a matter of weeks. Caplan has dropped $50,000 from the original asking price of $625,000 and may have to drop the price again.
He says he can barely afford maintenance fees and other monthly costs associated with his place. He hopes to make enough money to pay off the reverse mortgage he took out to supplement his Social Security payments.
"I don't know how much more I can go through like this," he says, sobbing even more. "I'm going crazy with this."
His son, Danny Caplan, says, "He's collateral damage. He has equity and could sell it and walk away and have enough to live comfortably. But [he can't] because of the economic situation."
America's housing crisis has become a key issue for Washington policymakers. Millions of Americans are in foreclosure or facing foreclosure; others are out of work trying to sell their homes in a down economy. And there are elderly people, such as Caplan, who want to sell immediately to help stabilize their finances. Send us your thoughts on the stimulus plan
President Obama on Tuesday told people at a town hall meeting in Fort Myers, Florida, that he plans to announce in coming weeks "what our overall housing strategy is going to be."
Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner made the rounds in Washington on Tuesday to push the stimulus bill, including the need to jump-start America's housing market. See stimulus bill provisions »
"Homeowners around the country are seeing the value of their homes fall because of forces they did not create and cannot control," he said. "This crisis in housing has had devastating consequences, and our government should have moved more forcefully to help contain the damage."
At one Senate hearing, Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, said "decisive action" is needed to address the housing crisis. "I think the message should come through clear from all of us, you have to move aggressively, clearly, and to start working," Reed said.
"I agree with you," Geithner responded. "Our objective is, and our hope is, that our program meets that test."
The stimulus bill does sweeten the pot for potential homebuyers, which supporters say could help spur the economy. Critics charge that letting housing prices stabilize on their own is healthy for the economy.
The Senate's version of the bill offers a $15,000 tax credit to anyone who purchases a home in the next year, more than double the tax credit offered by the House.
Dwight Jaffee, a professor of real estate and finance at the
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question: what does he ask, answer: "What happens to the real middle class?" | question: What has Luis Caplan committed his life to?, answer: served the poor of the South Bronx for decades out of a small medical office. | question: what did he committed life to, answer: served the poor | question: What does he face, answer: losing his apartment | question: What does the stimulus plan offer?, answer: a $15,000 tax credit to anyone who purchases a home in the next year, more than double the tax credit offered by the House. | question: What kind of credit will homebuyers get?, answer: a $15,000 tax | question: What was Luis Caplan committed to?, answer: served the poor of the South Bronx for decades
|
(CNN) -- Mac computers are known for their near-immunity to malicious computer programs that plague PCs.
Some security experts say viruses are moving toward Mac as those computers become more popular.
But that may be changing somewhat, according to computer security researchers. It seems that as sleek Mac computers become more popular, they're also more sought-after targets for the authors of harmful programs.
"The bad guys generally go toward the biggest target, what will get them the biggest bang for their buck," said Kevin Haley, a director of security response at Symantec.
Until recently, the big target always was Microsoft Windows, and Apple computers were protected by "relative obscurity," he said.
But blogs are buzzing this week about what two Symantec researchers have called the first harmful computer program to strike specifically at Mac.
This Trojan horse program, dubbed the "iBotnet," has infected only a few thousand Mac machines, but it represents a step in the evolution of malicious computer software, Haley said.
The iBotnet is a sign that harmful programs are moving toward Mac, said Paul Henry, a forensics and security analyst at Lumension Security in Arizona.
"We all knew it was going to happen," he said. "It was just a matter of time, and, personally, I think we're going to see a lot more of it."
The malicious software was first reported in January. It didn't gain widespread attention until recently, when Mario Ballano Barcena and Alfredo Pesoli of Symantec, maker of the popular Norton antivirus products, detailed the software in a publication called "Virus Bulletin."
Mac users at large, however, should not be alarmed by the incident, experts said. The program infects only computers whose users downloaded pirated versions of the Mac software iWork.
The harmful software is a Trojan horse, meaning it tries to sneak into the computer with some sort of permission from the user. Computer worms travel differently. They wiggle their way into computers and replicate without the owner's approval or knowledge.
The Mac program is called a botnet because infected computers become part of a network that is controlled by the program's author.
The Mac botnet is significantly less threatening than computer worms like the much-publicized Conficker.c, said Jose Nazario, a senior security researcher with Arbor Networks. Conficker was thought to have infected up to 10 million computers, compared with thousands for the iBotnet, researchers said.
There's also some question as to whether it is the first botnet to target Mac. Others have targeted both PCs and Apple computers.
"This isn't the first botnet that's been built using Mac computers," Nazario said. "This is an interesting one in that it's a little more flexible and includes some new features. ... It's getting a lot of press mostly because it's Mac and people are talking about how Macs are immune to malware -- and, sure enough, they're not."
The potential damage that could be caused by the Mac botnet is also less severe than other attacks, said Darrell Etherington, a contributor to theAppleBlog, which is not affiliated with the computer company.
"It's a very low-level attack," he said. "Some people won't even notice the effect of it."
It is in the interest of software companies like Symantec, who spread the news, and McAfee, which has downplayed the presence of the Trojan, to raise concerns so they can promote their antivirus software packages, he said.
"Yes, it is going to become a bigger problem and, yes, people have to become more aware, but I think that what McAfee and Symantec would like is for the panic to start and for people to start rushing to antivirus software," which isn't necessary yet, Etherington said.
In a statement, Apple said it is working to prevent security problems.
"Apple takes security very seriously and has a great track record of addressing potential vulnerabilities before they can affect users," the statement says.
Only about 7.4 percent
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(CNN) -- Madagascar's military handed over the reins of the island nation to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina on Wednesday, ending a two-month long political crisis -- but apparently creating a constitutional one.
Andry Rajoelina is six years too young to be Madagascar's president under its constitution.
Rajoelina, a former disc jockey turned mayor of Madagascar's capital, declared himself president of a transitional government and his supporters pledged to hold elections in two years.
But Rajoelina, at 34, is six years too young to be president, according to the country's constitution.
Also, the constitution says the head of parliament's upper house must call elections within two months if something happens to the president.
Madagascar's former president, Marc Ravalomanana, ceded power to his military Tuesday after insisting over the weekend that he would remain in control.
Analysts think Ravalomanana had little choice but to step down once he had lost much of the army's support.
The African Union had warned that any power transfer aided by the military would amount to a coup d' etat.
The Union has since removed any mention of a coup in its official communique and called on the transitional government to "comply scrupulously with the provisions of the constitution of Madagascar on interim arrangements."
Monja Roindefo, the opposition-appointed prime minister, vigorously defended the week's developments on the island, located off the southeastern coast of Africa.
"Well, we would like to define what is a coup," he told CNN on Wednesday. "A coup is a group of people or persons who takes the power on behalf of sovereignty, on behalf of the people ... when the representative democracy doesn't work anymore."
"As you know, as stated, in the African Union charter, the people have the right to defend itself from an oppression or a dictatorship in Africa," he added.
Roindefo said the new government will hold elections but has given itself two years to clean up the process. Watch more from iReporters and Twitterers on the crisis »
"How could you make an election immediately?" he said. "We need to reform the electoral commission. ... So the 24 months that we have given ourselves is to prepare all these types of elections in order to build a genuine democratic country."
The African Union also asked that all steps be taken to ensure the safety of the former president. The opposition leader had called for Ravalomanana's arrest, accusing him of corruption, financial mismanagement and dictatorship.
Ravalomanana was first elected in 2001 and won a second term in 2006. To many Malagasy, he represented a new breed of politician -- a self-made millionaire, a no-nonsense business leader.
But Ravalomanana maintained his business empire while in office and it was unclear to many where his business interests ended and his political leadership began. His recent purchase of a $60 million airplane further stoked public discontent.
Opposition leader Rajoelina was quick to seize on the sentiments and made fiery appeals to the country's impoverished masses.
The country was plunged into political instability in January after thousands of people took to the streets to protest rising food prices and what they perceived as autocratic behavior by Ravalomanana.
The protests soon degenerated into rioting and looting, and left about 100 people dead. Watch more on president's resignation »
Soon after, Rajoelina declared that he was in charge of the country. He gave Ravalomanana until early February to step down.
The president responded by firing Rajoelina as mayor of the capital, inciting the latter's supporters to once again descend on the streets. More deadly violence followed.
Clashes spread to most provincial capitals and other cities across the country, with homes and businesses looted and burned, the U.S. State Department reported.
CNN's David McKenzie contributed to this report.
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(CNN) -- Madonna is in Malawi this week attempting to adopt a second child from the African nation. A judge ruled Monday that she will have to wait until Friday to learn a decision.
Dominic Nutt of Save the Children UK has urged Madonna to rethink her adoption of a girl from Malawi.
In the meantime, a children's group is saying that she should not adopt and that the child would be better off in her own country. Madonna has brushed off questions from reporters, saying it is "none of their business."
CNN's Kiran Chetry, spoke with Dominic Nutt, the spokesman for Save the Children UK, Monday on "American Morning."
Chetry: You heard Madonna ... say it's no one's business. Over the weekend, you came out, though, and urged Madonna to rethink this adoption. What is your biggest concern?
Nutt: Well, our biggest concern is that we believe that in the most -- in the majority of cases, orphans, so-called orphans, in fact [are] not orphans -- they have at least one parent living -- and even those that don't, have a wider family that can look after them. And we believe that children in poverty should be best looked after by their own people in their own environment. And that people like Madonna and organizations like Save the Children are best off helping those families by building schools and supporting them to look after these so-called orphans and not transporting them to live across the world in mansions, in pop stars' mansions, that sort of thing. Watch charity explain position on international adoptions »
Chetry: Now, Madonna also is doing both, I guess you could say, because she founded that organization, Raising Malawi, right, back in 2006, did a documentary as well, trying to bring attention and money to the plight of the children there.
Nutt: Well, absolutely right. So she's obviously accepted the logic of the Save the Children argument, it's help children on the ground. If you really do love a child and you want the child to do well, then help them in their own world.
Now, look ... something like 10 million children a year die across the world because of poverty before the age of 5. You cannot possibly help all those children by moving them.
amFIX: Your thoughts on whether Madonna should adopt
So, what we're saying clearly is not that Madonna is wrong or families and parents or want-to-be parents who do go for international adoption are wrong. But it must be a last resort.
They must make sure there is no family network to support them, and if they don't help that child, that child is in peril. The life of that child is in peril. Otherwise ... you are better off supporting that child in its own environment.
Chetry: All right, well, here's what a couple of people who actually live there say. One of them is a resident of ... Malawi, who said, "We're poor people. If a child's mother dies, it's hard for the man to bring the child up." He's saying that because apparently in this situation, the child she's trying to adopt, Mercy James, both -- neither parent [is] living, according to our report.
And then I want you to hear also from the Law Commission of Malawi, one member of it, and what he said about this adoption. Let's listen.
Unidentified male: If you project 20 years from now, where will the child be if the child is left in the orphanage where it is, or if it gets a chance to get an education with Madonna.
Chetry: The figures also from UNICEF show that for every 1,000 births in Malawi, 120 children die. The life expectancy in that country is only 44 years old. And most children over the age of 10 do not attend school. So, wouldn't life be better for some of these children who have no living parents,
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(CNN) -- Madonna said she hopes the Malawian girl she wants to adopt and the boy she already adopted "will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country."
A judge has rejected Madonna's adoption application.
A Malawian judge this month rejected the American pop star's petition to adopt 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James, but her lawyer has filed an appeal.
"I want to provide Mercy with a home, a loving family environment and the best education and health care possible," Madonna said in an e-mail to The Nation, a Malawian newspaper. "And it's my hope that she, like David, will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country."
Madonna's statement, which her publicist provided to CNN, steered away from commenting on her legal battle.
"Though I have been advised that I cannot publicly discuss the pending appeal regarding my desire to adopt Mercy, I do want to say how much I appreciate the level of support that I have received from the people of Malawi and my friends around the world," she said.
The judge who ruled against the adoption said she had "a gripping temptation" to approve it, but decided doing so would open doors to child trafficking, court records show.
"Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect," Justice E.J. Chombo wrote in her ruling.
The judge also said she thought the child was in good hands at an orphanage.
Another Malawian judge approved Madonna's adoption of David Banda in 2006.
Chombo's ruling followed weeks of criticism by human-rights activists, who accused the mother of three of using her fame to circumvent a residency law for foreigners adopting in the southern African country.
Save the Children UK had also urged Madonna to let the child be raised by her relatives in her home community.
The denial was applauded by a coalition of Malawian nonprofits.
"Inter-country adoption is not the best way of providing protection to children. ... Supporting children from outside our country only helps five of the 1.5 million orphans we have," said Mavuto Bamusi, national coordinator of the Malawi Human Rights Consultative Committee.
Malawi government officials have said that they supported Madonna's second adoption.
The recently divorced singer was married to British filmmaker Guy Ritchie.
She has been involved with Malawi for several years and made a documentary, "I Am Because We Are," to highlight poverty, AIDS and other diseases devastating children in that country. She also co-founded a nonprofit, Raising Malawi, which provides programs to help the needy.
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question: what did the singer not meet residency requirement for, answer: foreigners adopting in the southern African country. | question: Who is Madonna?, answer: recently divorced singer | question: what did the judge say?, answer: she had "a gripping temptation" to approve it, but decided doing so would open doors to child trafficking, | question: what do critics say, answer: using her fame to circumvent a residency law for foreigners adopting in the southern African country. | question: where did madonna adopt her son?, answer: Malawi | question: what is Madonna appealing, answer: adoption application.
|
(CNN) -- Madonna was "devastated" to hear that a man was killed in an accident during construction for her upcoming concerts in Marseilles, France, a representative said Thursday.
Firefighters leave the Stade Velodrome stadium in Marseille after the accident on Thursday.
A 53-year-old French man was killed when a stage being built for the concert collapsed, a fire department spokesman in the southern French city said.
Another two people, one British and one American, are severely injured, and four are lightly injured, officer David Goddin told CNN.
"At this point we don't know how it happened, but we are confident no one else is still under the rubble," Goddin said.
"My prayers go out to those who were injured and their families along with my deepest sympathy to all those affected by this heartbreaking news," Madonna said in a statement issued by her representative, Liz Rosenberg.
At least one Madonna show has been canceled, Rosenberg told CNN.
A crane collapsed while lifting a large metallic truss into place, Lt. Thierry Delorme of the French Navy told CNN. In Marseille, the Fire Department is a part of the Navy.
An investigation has been launched into the cause of the collapse, he said.
In addition to the six injuries and the single fatality, 34 people received psychological support after the incident, he said.
About 27 fire engines and 80 firefighters responded to the emergency when the stage collapsed at 5:15 p.m. (1515 GMT).
"There were a lot of open fractures, of injuries, it was a messy sight," one of the rescue workers told Agence-France Presse.
Madonna was scheduled to play the first of five concerts for her "Sticky and Sweet" tour at the 60,000-seat Stade Velodrome on Sunday.
The singer was in Udine, Italy, when she heard the news, Rosenberg said.
CNN's Per Nyberg in London, England, contributed to this report.
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(CNN) -- Magnificent snow-peaked summits and quaint thousand-year-old villages provide the backdrop for an unforgettable adventure in Nepal. Exploring the dramatic landscape on foot is nothing short of extraordinary, trekkers say.
"[One night] the back doors were open towards the view of Mount Everest and the other peaks of the Himalayas. It was so beautiful with snow-capped mountains and the sky was full of stars. I think that was one of the most magical moments I've ever had," says iReporter Kuna Rajandran, who trekked to Everest base camp in April.
Planning a Nepal expedition may seem daunting at first -- and you will be challenged -- but in the end, it¹s worth it. You will come away with some of the greatest memories of your life, from savoring locally cooked meals at teahouses to soaking in breathtaking views of the high Himalayas, according to adventurers who've made the trip.
There are endless options when it comes to planning a trek in Nepal. One of the most popular routes is the Annapurna Circuit, which loops around the base of the Annapurna range. And, of course, the more difficult Everest base camp trek is a magnet for many visitors.
Worlds away in Kathmandu
Experts urge travelers to be wary of individual porters and guides who approach you on the streets of Kathmandu. They are most likely uninsured, cautions Mohan Lamsal, general secretary of Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN). Have a detailed discussion with your chosen trekking company to assess their professionalism, Lamsal advises.
While booking in advance is a sure thing, some adventurous iReporters say making arrangements in Kathmandu is a convenient way to cut out the middleman.
Be careful not to overestimate your abilities. Even if you feel completely comfortable with the people and the landscape and think you can make the trek on your own -- don't. Trekking with at least one companion is a must, especially if you're a beginner, experienced trekkers say.
Since both the Annapurna base camp and Everest Base camp treks are located in conservation areas, you will need permits, said iReporter Barry Wenlock, a Kathmandu resident and an experienced Himalayan trekker who has been leading tours since 1995. You can get permits before you begin or upon entry into the parks. Additionally, every trekker needs a Trekkers' Information Management System (TIMS) pass. You or your trip organizer can get this card, which is part of a database that stores visitor information for safety reasons.
When deciding on when to make your trek, there is generally one rule of thumb: Avoid the monsoon season (June through August). The most popular times to trek are late spring (March and April) and early to mid-fall (October and November), but keep in mind that is also when the trekking routes are busiest. To beat the rush, try going a week or two earlier or later, suggests Wenlock.
"There are such beautiful forests [at the foothills of the Annapurna], and it's Nepal's primary rhododendron forest, so if you visit there in the last week of March, first week of April, the rhododendrons are full and it's an absolutely staggeringly beautiful place. And the pink and red rhododendrons all up the hillside, a few magnolias mixed in, some jasmine," Wenlock says.
Before heading to Nepal, it's important not only to prepare your itinerary, but also your body. Even the mild or "Nepali Flat" parts of the "easier" Annapurna trek have their fair share of steep inclines.
"Walking around the golf course isn't enough -- you really need to do uphill walking. You can do that for a few weeks before you come, that will make it much easier," Wenlock says.
It's cold in Nepal -- really cold. Weather-appropriate supplies are a must for any trekker, novice or expert. Remember to pack your warmest down jacket and broken-in hiking boots as well as sun and eye protection.
Based on his experience trekking the Annapurna Circuit in 2009, iReporter Dean Gakos, an avid hiker
|
[
"What should you do to prepare for the terrain?",
"Trekking in where is an incredible experience?"
] |
[
"uphill walking.",
"Nepal."
] |
question: What should you do to prepare for the terrain?, answer: uphill walking. | question: Trekking in where is an incredible experience?, answer: Nepal.
|
(CNN) -- Maicon and Samuel Eto'o were both on target in the second half to give champions Inter Milan a 2-0 win over 10-man Juventus, a result that sees Jose Mourinho's side return to the top of the Serie A table.
The win, only Inter's fourth in 12 league matches, sends them back to the top of the table by two points from Roma -- who can reclaim top spot if they beat Lazio in the Rome derby on Sunday.
A cagey first-half exploded into life eight minutes before the interval when Juve midfielder Mo Sissoko received a second yellow card for a late challenge on Javier Zanetti.
The 10-men bravely held out until the 75th minute when Inter took a stunning lead through defender Miacon.
The Brazilian juggled the ball over Amauri on the edge of the area before firing a superb strike past goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Mario Balotelli then struck the crossbar with a free-kick before the points were sealed in the final minute when Samuel Eto'o was left unmarked in the area to slide home a Sulley Muntari cross.
|
[
"What was the final score?",
"Who do Roma need to beat to reclaim title?"
] |
[
"2-0",
"Lazio"
] |
question: What was the final score?, answer: 2-0 | question: Who do Roma need to beat to reclaim title?, answer: Lazio
|
(CNN) -- Maj. Gen. Robert Harding said Friday that, "with deep regret," he has withdrawn his name from nomination to lead the Transportation Security Administration.
"This was a great honor, and I felt that I could bring some leadership, vision and intelligence expertise to that position," he said in a statement. "Ultimately, my goal was to improve the security of our nation's transportation systems. However, I feel that the distractions caused by my work as a defense contractor would not be good for this administration nor for the Department of Homeland Security."
The TSA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
White House Spokesman Nicholas Shapiro noted that Harding has more than 35 years of military and intelligence experience, and added, "The President is disappointed in this outcome but remains confident in the solid team of professionals at TSA."
At a hearing on Wednesday, Harding acknowledged "making mistakes" when a company he formed overbilled the government in 2004.
At issue is a contract that Harding's company, Harding Security Associates, signed with the Defense Department in early 2004 to provide 40 interrogators and debriefers rapidly in Iraq.
Within four months of his firm starting work on the contract, Harding said, the government decided to end the contract.
"I then faced 40 individuals who were now without work," the nominee said, adding that some of them he had lured away from other jobs, including the CIA.
Harding said he told his employees "that I would take care of them, and that I would negotiate and work with the government to provide severance payments." The total severance payments came to about $800,000, Harding said.
"When I went to claim it from the DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency]," government auditors "recognized that I did not have a policy on that, that I had not negotiated with the government for severance, I had not provided the government my plan for severance ... and therefore it was not allowed, that $800,000."
Harding said that government auditors subsequently admitted "there were mistakes on both sides."
The White House said it was "disappointed" at Harding's withdrawal.
"By nominating General Harding, the president tapped an individual with more than 35 years of military and intelligence experience who is dedicated to improving the security of our nation," Shapiro said.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she felt misled by a White House explanation of the events. The White House compared $2.4 million in disputed charges that included the $800,000 in severance payments to the $53 million potential value of the contract, instead of the $6 million value of the work.
"Of the $6 million that HSA was paid, $2.4 million was [in] question. That's a pretty high percentage. The White House, in talking to me about this issue, compared it to $53 million, but that's not what was at stake here at all, and I thought the White House's comparison was pretty misleading," Collins said.
An independent investigation concluded that no fraud was involved. Ultimately, HSA reached a settlement with the government, with HSA paying back $1.8 million of the disputed $2.4 million.
Harding said he learned from his mistake. He said the mistake caused him to add an accounting operation and otherwise professionalize the business, eventually increasing it in size from 60 people in 2004 to about 400 people when he sold the business last year.
Following the hearing, Collins said that Harding "adequately addressed my concerns regarding" the contracts. "Before making a final determination, however, I want to review additional information in order to ensure that all relevant data regarding the nominee have been thoroughly examined," she said.
Harding was Obama's second nominee to head the agency. Sen. James DeMint, R-South Carolina, put a hold on the first nominee, Erroll Southers, after Southers declined to say whether he supported unionization of screeners.
Southers eventually withdrew his name from consideration after another controversy erupted involving a decades-
|
[
"Harding was Obama's what?",
"What did Harding admit to?",
"Who removed himself from consideration to lead TSA?",
"who admitted mistakes?"
] |
[
"Transportation Security Administration.",
"\"making mistakes\" when a company he formed overbilled the",
"Gen. Robert Harding",
"Harding"
] |
question: Harding was Obama's what?, answer: Transportation Security Administration. | question: What did Harding admit to?, answer: "making mistakes" when a company he formed overbilled the | question: Who removed himself from consideration to lead TSA?, answer: Gen. Robert Harding | question: who admitted mistakes?, answer: Harding
|
(CNN) -- Major conflict could return to southern parts of Sudan unless international action bolsters a faltering peace accord, ten aid agencies said in a report released Thursday.
A resumption of conflict between north and south in Sudan, meanwhile, would make a sustainable peace impossible in Darfur, a region of western Sudan that has been the scene of what the U.S. calls genocide, the aid groups said.
"It is not yet too late to avert disaster, but the next 12 months are a crossroads for Africa's largest country, " said Maya Mailer, policy advisor for Oxfam International and the report's co-author.
The warnings were underscored by news Thursday of a clash that killed scores in Southern Sudan, the latest instance of tribal violence among southerners that has alarmed the United Nations.
Locals said fierce fighting in Warap State, one of the most remote regions of the south, killed 140 people, wounded 90, and led to the theft of tens of thousands of cattle early this month or in late December, the United Nations said.
"The human toll is massive -- hundreds if not thousands displaced. The death toll is massive," said Lisa Grande, a top U.N. humanitarian official in Southern Sudan. "These attacks are a matter of great concern."
Resurgent tribal violence in the south also concerned the 10 aid groups. They released their report, "Rescuing the Peace in Southern Sudan," two days before the fifth anniversary of a 2005 peace deal that ended a grinding war between the Sudanese government and southern rebels in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.
They said that peace deal is "on the brink of collapse."
That war pitted a northern government of Arab Muslims against southern blacks who follow Christianity and traditional African religions. It killed 2 million people and forced several million others from their homes.
The peace deal conferred limited autonomy on southern Sudan and ended one of Africa's longest and deadliest wars even as a separate conflict that erupted in 2003 raged in Darfur, killing roughly 200,000, the United Nations says.
Despite the peace deal, violence in the south increased last year, Mailer said, and it could escalate further to become one of the biggest emergencies in Africa this year.
About 2,500 people were killed and 350,000 fled their homes in southern Sudan last year, the aid agencies said. Many died in tribal violence between southerners. Outside countries have ignored the problem and have not provided sufficient help, the agencies said.
The United Nations says more people have been killed in southern Sudan in 2009 than in Darfur, where a separate conflict drew international attention, prompted charges of genocide and led the International Criminal Court to indict the Sudanese president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, for war crimes.
Some southerners blame their former enemies in the north for instigating violence in the south. As the south plans to participate in national elections in April, many southerners say the north has hindered access to registration materials, logistical support and voter education, the United Nations said.
The north denies those charges, but they're among the reasons that analysts worry about an outbreak of north-south violence in a region already buckling under the weight of corruption, cattle rustling and revenge attacks.
Sudan needs diplomatic involvement from neighboring countries and the international community to help secure the 2005 peace agreement, said Paul Valentin, international director of Christian Aid, one of the agencies that produced the report.
"A return to war is by no means inevitable, but it depends whether the world heeds the warning signs of the past year and has the political will to save the peace," Valentin added.
Other agencies that produced the report include the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children and World Vision.
The report urges the U.N. Security Council to ensure that protecting civilians becomes a core priority for a peacekeeping force in Sudan.
The agencies also called on the international community to mediate between the northern and southern parties before the national elections -- the country's first multi-party elections in 24 years -- and before a referendum on independence, which is scheduled for early next year.
|
[
"How many fled in southern Sudan last year?",
"What should be core priority for U.N. peacekeepers?",
"What should be the main goal of the U.N. peacekeepers?",
"Peace deal signed in 2005 is on the brink of what?",
"According to aid-groups, what is on the brink of collapse?",
"How many people were killed in the southern Sudan?",
"What is the number of people who were killed in Sudan last year?",
"What should be the priority for U.N. peacekeepers?"
] |
[
"350,000",
"protecting civilians",
"protecting civilians",
"collapse.\"",
"peace deal",
"140",
"2,500",
"protecting civilians"
] |
question: How many fled in southern Sudan last year?, answer: 350,000 | question: What should be core priority for U.N. peacekeepers?, answer: protecting civilians | question: What should be the main goal of the U.N. peacekeepers?, answer: protecting civilians | question: Peace deal signed in 2005 is on the brink of what?, answer: collapse." | question: According to aid-groups, what is on the brink of collapse?, answer: peace deal | question: How many people were killed in the southern Sudan?, answer: 140 | question: What is the number of people who were killed in Sudan last year?, answer: 2,500 | question: What should be the priority for U.N. peacekeepers?, answer: protecting civilians
|
(CNN) -- Major league catcher Wilson Ramos has been "found alive," two days after he was reported kidnapped by gunmen, Venezuelan state TV reported Friday.
Ramos was found by security forces in Montalban, a mountainous region about 60 miles from the north central Venezuelan town where he was last seen, according to a tweet posted late Friday by Communications Minister Andres Izarra.
Ramos was reported by state-run VTV to be healthy and unharmed.
Ramos, a rising star for the Washington Nationals as a rookie this past year, had returned to his native country to play in Venezuela's winter league.
But before his first game with the Aragua Tigers, gunmen kidnapped him Wednesday night from his mother's home in Santa Ines in Carabobo state, a team spokeswoman said.
On Thursday, authorities said that they had found the SUV they believe was used in the kidnapping and had created sketches of two of the gunmen.
Prior to his release Friday, news about the federal investigation was tightly guarded.
"It's understandable that everyone wants to know what is happening with Wilson and how the investigation goes, but remember that, in these cases, patience is key," Tigers spokeswoman Kathe Vilera said on her Twitter account. She added that keeping the details sealed could help the investigation.
"It has all the earmarks as a targeted kidnapping: selected victim, selected location, selected time," said Chris Voss, a kidnapping specialist for Insite Security who has handled six cases involving Venezuela and who worked for the FBI for 26 years. "There's an outside possibility that they thought they were grabbing another member of the family, but that's extremely unlikely."
Kidnapping as an industry has crossed the border from Colombia into Venezuela, Voss said. "When criminals next door show you a model of how to make money easily -- and kidnapping is usually pretty easy money -- then other kidnappers will simply ape it."
But targeting athletes and other celebrities can be a mistake, he said. "It's going to bring too much law enforcement scrutiny down on them; too much international scrutiny. And media attention and scrutiny from law enforcement worldwide is bad for business."
Ramos, 24, emerged as the Nationals' top catcher this past season. He had a .267 batting average with 15 home runs and 52 runs batted in.
Though soccer reigns in most Latin American countries, it is baseball that rules in Venezuela, which routinely feeds players to major league teams in the United States.
That pipeline has been transformed in recent years because of violence.
As Venezuela's economy has stagnated in recent years, crimes such as kidnapping and murder have risen. According to the National Institute of Statistics, 16,917 people were kidnapped between July 2008 and July 2010, or about 23 kidnappings a day.
Baseball players who play professionally in the United States, whether in the major or minor leagues, are typically targeted for their money, though Ramos' case is the first time a player himself has been snatched. Usually, a family member is held for ransom.
"Government, please do something because Venezuela is crumbling with so much insecurity while you say that Venezuela is safe," Venezuelan baseball player Jose Castillo wrote on his Twitter account.
Melvin Dorta, a Venezuelan playing professionally in the U.S. Atlantic Independent League, told CNN that there are lots of opportunities in Venezuela, but also pitfalls.
Dorta has played for the Aragua Tigers and is a friend and former teammate of Ramos.
"Venezuela does have one of the best winter leagues, but it is one of the leagues where the Americans ask before going because of the insecurity and the dangers that one faces," he said.
Those dangers have led many American teams to abandon their baseball academies in Venezuela, said Arturo Marcano, a lawyer and sports columnist who co-authored a book about the recruitment of players from Venezuela.
When major league teams noticed the talent sitting in places like the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, they increased their investment in the region. Instead of relying on scouts to find players, they instituted the
|
[
"How long was he missing?",
"Where was he last seen?",
"Where Ramos was found?",
"What state-run VTV says of Ramos condition?",
"Who abducted Wilson Ramos?",
"What is his first name?"
] |
[
"two days",
"north central Venezuelan town",
"Montalban,",
"healthy and unharmed.",
"gunmen,",
"Wilson"
] |
question: How long was he missing?, answer: two days | question: Where was he last seen?, answer: north central Venezuelan town | question: Where Ramos was found?, answer: Montalban, | question: What state-run VTV says of Ramos condition?, answer: healthy and unharmed. | question: Who abducted Wilson Ramos?, answer: gunmen, | question: What is his first name?, answer: Wilson
|
(CNN) -- Malawi welcomed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for a regional trade meeting Thursday over the objections of the International Criminal Court and human rights activists.
Al-Bashir is wanted by the court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged war crimes. He arrived in Malawi for the annual summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
Human Rights Watch had urged Malawi authorities to arrest al-Bashir or ban his entry into the country. Malawi ratified the Rome Statute, which created the court, and as such, it is obliged to arrest him.
"Al-Bashir is an international fugitive wanted on charges of genocide and other heinous crimes committed in Darfur," said Elise Keppler, international justice senior counsel at Human Rights Watch. "As an International Criminal Court member, Malawi should arrest him, not host him."
The court issued a warrant for al-Bashir for alleged crimes in the troubled region of Darfur in March, 2009.
Human Rights Watch said a number of al-Bashir's anticipated visits to both member and non-member countries have been canceled following public outcry.
However, last year, Kenya allowed al-Bashir into the country to attend the signing ceremonies for Kenya's new constitution.
The government defended its decision not to arrest al-Bashir by saying Kenya's first obligation was to the African Union, not the International Criminal Court.
The European Union foreign policy chief also expressed concern over the visit.
"The European Union is a staunch supporter of the ICC and the fight against impunity," Catherine Ashton said in a statement Friday. "The Court is a valuable instrument of the international community to ensure that there is no impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern; genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes must not go unpunished and their prosecution must be ensured by measures at both domestic and international level."
|
[
"What is Malawi urged to do?",
"which president is wanted for war crimes?",
"What is the name of the person wanted?",
"who is wanted for alleged war crimes in Darfur",
"Where did the war crimes occur?",
"who urged malawai to arrest al-bashir?",
"what is the international crminal court asking for?"
] |
[
"arrest al-Bashir",
"Omar al-Bashir",
"Omar al-Bashir",
"Al-Bashir",
"The Hague, Netherlands,",
"Human Rights Watch",
"Malawi should arrest him,"
] |
question: What is Malawi urged to do?, answer: arrest al-Bashir | question: which president is wanted for war crimes?, answer: Omar al-Bashir | question: What is the name of the person wanted?, answer: Omar al-Bashir | question: who is wanted for alleged war crimes in Darfur, answer: Al-Bashir | question: Where did the war crimes occur?, answer: The Hague, Netherlands, | question: who urged malawai to arrest al-bashir?, answer: Human Rights Watch | question: what is the international crminal court asking for?, answer: Malawi should arrest him,
|
(CNN) -- Malawi's decision to reject pop star Madonna's adoption of a local child has reignited global debate about the ethics of international adoption.
Author Melissa Fay Greene poses with her family, which includes biological and adopted children.
Some international aid groups have praised the decision as best for the child, a 4-year-old girl named Chifundo James.
"I think it really highlights the bigger picture that there are so many children living in poverty in Malawi, and while Madonna has good intentions ... children would be better off staying in their own communities whenever possible," said Karen Hansen-Kuhn, policy director for ActionAid USA, a development group that also works in Malawi.
"We really need to stay focused on the needs of Malawi and of all the children there," she added.
To get another perspective on the situation, CNN also talked with Melissa Fay Greene, an author and mother of five adopted children.
Greene, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, is the mother of four biological children, four children adopted from Ethiopia and one adopted child from Bulgaria.
The following is an edited transcript of that conversation:
CNN: What's your initial reaction to the news that Madonna's adoption of a Malawian child has been rejected?
Greene: Surprise. ... It was awfully tricky with Madonna's first adoption, when the child turned out to have devoted family members nearby. [The singer's adoption of a Malawian boy was finalized last year.] And if that's true with this child also, it seems a similar sticky situation.
That's not the situation for the majority of orphanage children around the world, who don't have caring grandparents or aunts and uncles a short walk or bike ride away.
I think it gives people an odd perspective on what international adoption can mean for children who don't have any support network outside the walls of an orphanage.
You often hear attacks on international adoption as robbing a child of his or her culture, and that's both true and false. It's true that an internationally adopted child loses the rich background of history and religion and culture and language that the child was born into, but the cruel fact is that most children don't have access to the local, beautiful culture within an orphanage. ...
There's a culture in orphanages that children are eager to escape from, and it's a culture of being reared as a group and not being doted upon by parents. For any child, that's the bottom line. The fact is that a human child wants that mommy or daddy or both. We're just wired to want that and to need that. And there's no way an institutional setting can give a human baby what the child needs. It's impossible. So you have to balance priorities. ...
I think what some of the human rights group say is absolutely accurate: that international adoption does not begin to solve the problems of the world's orphaned children. It's truly not the answer. ...
At the same time, international adoption, even though it doesn't solve the whole problem, it solves a problem for a few. I think it can be a brilliant solution to the problem of adults wanting a child in their lives or wanting more children in their lives and the problem of children who want parents in their lives.
CNN: How is it different for a celebrity person seeking an [international] adoption than for yourself?
Greene: We don't jet in, take a child and fly out with a child. For an average citizen trying to adopt, it takes most of a year. First of all, you work with a country that already has international adoption regulations in place, so you have a bureaucracy dealing with international adoption. A big part of that is determining that the child is a true orphan, that there is no one who can care for the child. And in the case of our older kids' adoptions, people had to come to court to testify that there was no one to take the children. So you don't run the
|
[
"how many kids does the mom have",
"who rejects madonna?",
"What was Madonna's request?",
"what did the aid groups say",
"who debates about the ethics of international adoption?",
"what did the judge reject",
"Who denied Madonna's request?"
] |
[
"five adopted children.",
"Malawi's",
"adoption of a local child",
"praised the decision as best for the child,",
"global",
"pop star Madonna's adoption of a local child",
"Malawi's"
] |
question: how many kids does the mom have, answer: five adopted children. | question: who rejects madonna?, answer: Malawi's | question: What was Madonna's request?, answer: adoption of a local child | question: what did the aid groups say, answer: praised the decision as best for the child, | question: who debates about the ethics of international adoption?, answer: global | question: what did the judge reject, answer: pop star Madonna's adoption of a local child | question: Who denied Madonna's request?, answer: Malawi's
|
(CNN) -- Malaysia swore in a new prime minister on Friday, the country's state news agency reported.
Malaysia's former PM Abdullah Badawi waves from a vehicle in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak became Malaysia's sixth prime minister after taking over for from Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who stepped down after leading the country for more than five years, according to the Bernama news agency.
The new prime minister will immediately be tasked with reuniting a multi-racial nation and shoring up an economy in dire straits.
Until now, Najib Razak had served as the Southeast Asian country's deputy prime minister.
He is part of Malaysia's ruling party, the National Front Coalition, which has ruled the country since it gained independence from Britain in 1957.
But last year, a loose coalition of opposition parties won 82 of 222 parliamentary seats in elections. It was only the second time in the country's history that the ruling party failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution.
The election upset led to calls for Abdullah to step down.
In recent months, the country has seen riots with the country's ethnic Chinese and Indian communities who accuse the government of passing laws that favor the Malay majority. Najib has said he will do more to address their concerns.
Malaysia has been severely affected by the global economic downturn. Critics are demanding Malaysia diversify its technology-heavy economy.
Last month, Najib unveiled a multi-billion dollar stimulus plan for new spending, according to published reports. Watch what can be expected from the new Malaysian leader »
Najib also brings with him a whiff of controversy. Two former bodyguards are facing charges in connection the murder of a Mongolian model. He has denied all links to the killing.
|
[
"How long was Badawi in office for?",
"What problems does Najib Razak face as the new PM?",
"What has the ruling party failed to secure?",
"What does the new PM face?",
"Who is the sixth prime minister of an Asian nation?",
"Who was the outgoing PM before Najib Razak?",
"Which country is Razak prime minister of?",
"What role was Najib Razak sworn in as?",
"What did the ruling party fail in?"
] |
[
"more than five years,",
"reuniting a multi-racial nation and shoring up an economy in dire straits.",
"majority needed",
"reuniting a multi-racial nation and shoring up an economy in dire straits.",
"Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak",
"Abdullah Badawi",
"Malaysia's",
"Malaysia's sixth prime minister",
"gain the two-thirds"
] |
question: How long was Badawi in office for?, answer: more than five years, | question: What problems does Najib Razak face as the new PM?, answer: reuniting a multi-racial nation and shoring up an economy in dire straits. | question: What has the ruling party failed to secure?, answer: majority needed | question: What does the new PM face?, answer: reuniting a multi-racial nation and shoring up an economy in dire straits. | question: Who is the sixth prime minister of an Asian nation?, answer: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak | question: Who was the outgoing PM before Najib Razak?, answer: Abdullah Badawi | question: Which country is Razak prime minister of?, answer: Malaysia's | question: What role was Najib Razak sworn in as?, answer: Malaysia's sixth prime minister | question: What did the ruling party fail in?, answer: gain the two-thirds
|
(CNN) -- Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim came out of hiding Monday, and says he has damaging evidence that proves senior members of the government faked evidence for sodomy charges against him.
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim says he has proof sodomy charges against him were fabricated.
"I have new evidence about the fabrication of evidence against me in 1998," Anwar told CNN Monday. "I totally reject these malicious attacks."
Anwar was the heir apparent to former premier Mahathir Mohamad until 1998, when he was sacked and charged for corruption and sodomy.
The sodomy conviction was overturned, but the corruption verdict was never lifted, barring him from running for political post until this year.
In the CNN interview, Anwar rejected the sodomy charges and also said he had evidence of threats on his life that caused him to go into hiding at the Turkish embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Listen to Anwar Ibrahim defend himself »
CNN could not immediately reach members of Malaysia's ruling party.
The ruling party, National Front Coalition, has led Malaysia since the country declared independence in 1957. Anwar's opposition party has gradually chipped away at the National Front's power.
Recently Malaysian police have said they are investigating a new sodomy charge against him, Anwar said.
The new charges were also false and were fabricated to usurp his political gains, Anwar said.
"I will challenge these attacks on every ground," Anwar said.
|
[
"Who came out of hiding?",
"Who says he can prove government members faked evidence?",
"What did Anwar say?",
"Who came out of hiding Monday?",
"What can he help prove?",
"What was he charged with?",
"When did Ibrahim come out of hiding?",
"What did Ibrahim say?"
] |
[
"Anwar Ibrahim",
"Anwar Ibrahim",
"he has proof sodomy charges against him were fabricated.",
"Anwar Ibrahim",
"senior members of the government faked evidence for sodomy charges against him.",
"corruption and sodomy.",
"Monday,",
"\"I have new evidence about the fabrication of evidence against me in 1998,\""
] |
question: Who came out of hiding?, answer: Anwar Ibrahim | question: Who says he can prove government members faked evidence?, answer: Anwar Ibrahim | question: What did Anwar say?, answer: he has proof sodomy charges against him were fabricated. | question: Who came out of hiding Monday?, answer: Anwar Ibrahim | question: What can he help prove?, answer: senior members of the government faked evidence for sodomy charges against him. | question: What was he charged with?, answer: corruption and sodomy. | question: When did Ibrahim come out of hiding?, answer: Monday, | question: What did Ibrahim say?, answer: "I have new evidence about the fabrication of evidence against me in 1998,"
|
(CNN) -- Malmo is a shopper's heaven. Most stores are within walking distance of the city center, and unlike in neighboring Copenhagen, where shops are usually shut all day on Sunday, most department stores and shopping centers are open seven days a week.
Select from modern and classic designs at the shop at the Form Design Center.
Stock up on souvenirs at the stores around Lilla Torg. Hokeriet, an old-fashioned general store, sells a variety of collectibles and interesting gifts while hand-painted Swedish wooden clogs are a specialty of Toffelmakaren.
Venture into the picturesque Gamla Vaster neighborhood and you'll find chic boutiques like Issue (Stora Nygatan 25a) which stocks designer labels like Marc by Marc Jacobs and Rag & Bone.
Fashion mavens will also want to check out the eclectic label Robert & Blad (Norra Grangesbergsgatan 4), which is known for making well-cut clothes in good fabrics. Kit of Elsinore (Rodergatan 2) in the trendy Western Harbor neighborhood is another spot to hit for of-the-moment style.
If you want the convenience of a big shopping center, you can find just about anything at Hansa (Malmborgsgatan 6) and Triangeln (Sodra Forstadsgatan 41), which are both centrally located. If you have a weakness for shoes, check out the feminine footwear at Scardia, which recently moved from its flagship store in Master Johannsgatan to Hansa.
Scandinavia is synonymous with good design and you don't have to go far in Malmo to find examples to take home. A variety of contemporary and classic designs are on sale in the shop at the Form Design Center in Hedmanska Garden. Also check out Formagruppen (Engelbrektsgatan 8) and Olsson & Gerthel (Engelbrektsgatan 9), which are both located nearby.
Looking to spruce up your home? David Design (Skeppsbron 3) specializes in sophisticated interior design. Design Torget (Sodra Vallgatan 3) is the perfect place to find a gift for that someone who's impossible to buy for. The shop showcases independent designers and sells everything from unique kitchen utensils to quirky toys for kids. New items are added to its shelves every week.
Take a break from your shopping extravaganza at Saluhallen, the covered market on Lilla Torg that is a tourist attraction it is own right. Stalls sell everything from sushi and kebabs to baked potatoes and bagels.
If you're into buying green, Drottningtorget is the place for you. Here you'll find Morot & Annat, which sells everything from organically produced textiles to produce. Nearby Uma Bazaar (Ostra Forstadsg 13) stocks a wide range of fair-trade clothing produced by a women's collective in India.
.................... Malmo City Guide: Where to stay | What to see | Where to be seen | Where to eat | Where to shop
Do you agree with our Malmo picks? Share your comments and suggestions in the SoundOff below.
|
[
"Where are wooden clogs from?",
"Who is a designer?",
"What is a local Swedish designer?",
"What are traditional Swedish shoes called?",
"Where should you go for fashion forward apparel?",
"What make great souvenirs?",
"Where should you shop?",
"What's a good place for eco friendly shopping?"
] |
[
"Toffelmakaren.",
"Marc Jacobs",
"Marc Jacobs",
"clogs",
"Kit of Elsinore",
"hand-painted Swedish wooden clogs",
"Form Design Center.",
"Drottningtorget"
] |
question: Where are wooden clogs from?, answer: Toffelmakaren. | question: Who is a designer?, answer: Marc Jacobs | question: What is a local Swedish designer?, answer: Marc Jacobs | question: What are traditional Swedish shoes called?, answer: clogs | question: Where should you go for fashion forward apparel?, answer: Kit of Elsinore | question: What make great souvenirs?, answer: hand-painted Swedish wooden clogs | question: Where should you shop?, answer: Form Design Center. | question: What's a good place for eco friendly shopping?, answer: Drottningtorget
|
(CNN) -- Mammoth cruise ships can be difficult to get around, even in the best of circumstances. In the worst -- which is how one might describe the situation aboard the listing Costa Concordia -- they are near impossible.
Yet even before the sun rose Monday, about 120 rescue personnel were out in or around the liner that hit rocks near Tuscany and rolled spectacularly on its side.
They were in a race against time, and in a battle with numerous challenges, to try to save survivors or at least recover the bodies of the passengers and crew members who are still missing.
Overheard on CNN.com: Worst-case scenario
The search was temporarily suspended by noon Monday, after authorities said the vessel had begun to sway, making it dangerous for the crews. But it resumed a short time later, despite a forecast calling for increasingly strong winds that Coast Guard spokesman Filippo Marino said had rescuers worried.
They are "working in very, very bad conditions," said Luciano Roncalli of Italy's national fire service. "It's cold, of course. It's dark during the day and the night. ... It's really, really dangerous."
Authorities have said that at least six people died after the Costa Concordia hit rocks Friday night off the tiny island of Giglio, where nighttime temperatures have recently dipped below freezing.
A total of 29 people -- four crew members and 25 passengers -- are still unaccounted for from the listing cruise ship, Italian coast guard chief Marco Brusco said Monday, according to Italy's ANSA news agency. That figure includes two of the 120 Americans who were aboard the ship, the U.S. Embassy in Italy said.
Now turned on its side, the ship is roughly half-submerged. Rescuers hope is that any survivor has found refuge above water, or perhaps in an air pocket, and can be brought out alive.
"There could still be people locked into compartments ... where they can't physically move because of the twisting of the metal," said Butch Hendrick, president of the diving safety company Lifeguard Systems.
In its current state, the Costa Concordia resembles a dark, convoluted cave -- with its countless nooks and crannies and few ways to easily escape. Six underwater cave rescue divers are working among the rescue personnel.
The divers are likely equipped with twice as much oxygen as regular scuba divers, have a guideline nearby in case they need help finding a way back to safety, and have knives and whatever lights they can carry or wear, said Robert Laird, a co-founder of the International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery group.
Still, whatever equipment and precautions they take, "what they are doing is extremely difficult," he said.
"If you do not have the right frame of mind to deal with being in the dark and in tight closed spaces, then you're (in trouble)," said Laird, who has dived in many caves and ships, though neither he nor his group are involved in the Italian operation.
Unlike open water divers, these divers don't have the luxury of coming up for air anytime they want, and they can't count on the help of sunlight.
Laird said he expects that, besides being pitch-black, the water in the ship teems with debris.
"They could swim right by a dead body and not even see it," Laird said.
Rescuers are navigating a seeming labyrinth.
The Concordia is practically a skyscraper in two directions: 17 decks high and 951 feet long.
Emergency personnel are aiming to look into 1,500 cabins and all around the ship's many other public spaces, including eight bars, five restaurants, four swimming pools, a casino and more. Hendrick, a veteran of many such rescue dives, estimated it could take a couple of weeks for the whole ship to be checked.
"It's enormous," said Richard Bordoni, another member of the Italian national fire corps. "They have to stay safe, and it takes them a long time to go down a corridor."
Late Sunday, the
|
[
"what is practically a skyscrapper",
"When was the search suspended?",
"What length is the boat?",
"what did the diving expert say",
"What is the size of the concordia?",
"What is the reason for the suspension?",
"How long could the operation take?",
"the rescue operation resumed despite what"
] |
[
"The Concordia",
"by noon Monday,",
"951 feet long.",
"\"There could still be people locked into compartments ... where they can't physically move because of the twisting of the metal,\"",
"17 decks high and 951 feet long.",
"the crews.",
"a couple of weeks",
"a forecast calling for increasingly strong winds"
] |
question: what is practically a skyscrapper, answer: The Concordia | question: When was the search suspended?, answer: by noon Monday, | question: What length is the boat?, answer: 951 feet long. | question: what did the diving expert say, answer: "There could still be people locked into compartments ... where they can't physically move because of the twisting of the metal," | question: What is the size of the concordia?, answer: 17 decks high and 951 feet long. | question: What is the reason for the suspension?, answer: the crews. | question: How long could the operation take?, answer: a couple of weeks | question: the rescue operation resumed despite what, answer: a forecast calling for increasingly strong winds
|
(CNN) -- Man-made climate change threatens to stress water resources, challenge crops and livestock, raise sea levels and adversely affect human health, according to a report released by the Obama administration on Tuesday.
Farmers and workers in central California are suffering through the third year of a worsening drought.
The nearly 200-page document on global climate change -- released by the White House science adviser and mandated by Congress -- does not include new research, but encompasses several recent studies on the effects of global warming over the last half century.
Among the report's key findings are an "unequivocal and primarily human-induced" rise in the Earth's temperature of 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 50 years, and a projection of more rapidly changing temperatures over the next several decades.
"It's not just a problem for the future," said Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "We're beginning to see the impact on our daily lives."
The continuing temperature rise is likely to spur a series of negative consequences for the Earth's energy supply, water, transportation, ecosystems and health, the study said.
"[The report] tells us why remedial action is needed sooner rather than later, as well as showing why that action must include both global emissions reductions to reduce the extent of climate change and local adaptation measures to reduce the damage from the changes that are no longer avoidable," said John P. Holdren, the White House science adviser.
Among the study's specific predictions: Longer and more intense heat waves; increased heavy downpours likely to cause widespread complications such as flooding and waterborne diseases; reduced summer runoff, creating greater competition for water, especially in the West; rising ocean water temperatures that will threaten coral reefs; an increase in wildfires and insect infestations; and more frequent coastal flooding caused by rising seas.
The report is the first in almost a decade to break down impacts of climate change on regions and economic sectors of the United States. For example, warming trends in coming decades are expected to reduce the lobster catch in the waters of the Northeast, increase the intensity of hurricanes in the Southeast and accelerate drought in the Southwest, it said.
Authors of the comprehensive report said they hope it can serve as a valuable tool for policymakers and other Americans, such as farmers making crop decisions or local governments passing zoning restrictions in coastal areas.
The report comes as Congress debates a White House-backed climate change bill that seeks to reduce the United State's greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050 through a so-called "cap and trade" program.
The bill cleared a key House committee vote in May and could be considered by the entire chamber within the next two weeks, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday.
The bill's future remains unclear in the Senate, where leaders are holding off advancing their own version of the legislation until it clears the lower chamber.
|
[
"Who mandated the document?",
"What does a federal report say about the effects of man-made climate change?",
"Who released the document?",
"What are the affects?",
"What are some of the consequences of global warming?",
"what is affecting the us?",
"The report predicts hotter heat waves, more flooding and what else?",
"what is mandated by congress?",
"What will changes stress?",
"Changes will stress what resources?",
"Who is the document mandated by?",
"what will the changes do?",
"The US is being affected by climate change made by whom?"
] |
[
"Congress",
"threatens to stress water resources, challenge crops and livestock,",
"Obama administration",
"Longer and more intense heat waves; increased heavy downpours likely to cause widespread complications such as flooding and waterborne diseases; reduced summer runoff, creating greater competition for water, especially in the West; rising ocean water temperatures that will threaten coral reefs; an increase in wildfires and insect infestations; and more frequent coastal flooding caused by rising seas.",
"Longer and more intense heat waves; increased heavy downpours likely to cause widespread complications such as flooding and waterborne diseases; reduced summer runoff, creating greater competition for water, especially in the West; rising ocean water temperatures that will threaten coral reefs; an increase in wildfires and insect infestations; and more frequent coastal flooding caused by rising seas.",
"a worsening drought.",
"waterborne diseases; reduced summer runoff,",
"The nearly 200-page document on global climate change",
"water resources,",
"water",
"Congress",
"threatens to stress water resources, challenge crops and livestock,",
"Man-made"
] |
question: Who mandated the document?, answer: Congress | question: What does a federal report say about the effects of man-made climate change?, answer: threatens to stress water resources, challenge crops and livestock, | question: Who released the document?, answer: Obama administration | question: What are the affects?, answer: Longer and more intense heat waves; increased heavy downpours likely to cause widespread complications such as flooding and waterborne diseases; reduced summer runoff, creating greater competition for water, especially in the West; rising ocean water temperatures that will threaten coral reefs; an increase in wildfires and insect infestations; and more frequent coastal flooding caused by rising seas. | question: What are some of the consequences of global warming?, answer: Longer and more intense heat waves; increased heavy downpours likely to cause widespread complications such as flooding and waterborne diseases; reduced summer runoff, creating greater competition for water, especially in the West; rising ocean water temperatures that will threaten coral reefs; an increase in wildfires and insect infestations; and more frequent coastal flooding caused by rising seas. | question: what is affecting the us?, answer: a worsening drought. | question: The report predicts hotter heat waves, more flooding and what else?, answer: waterborne diseases; reduced summer runoff, | question: what is mandated by congress?, answer: The nearly 200-page document on global climate change | question: What will changes stress?, answer: water resources, | question: Changes will stress what resources?, answer: water | question: Who is the document mandated by?, answer: Congress | question: what will the changes do?, answer: threatens to stress water resources, challenge crops and livestock, | question: The US is being affected by climate change made by whom?, answer: Man-made
|
(CNN) -- Manager Jose Mourinho was sent off as Italian leaders Inter Milan crashed to a 2-1 defeat at title hopefuls Juventus on Saturday night.
Second-placed AC Milan are now four points adrift of their city rivals after a 3-0 home crushing of Sampdoria, who remained in fifth.
Ten-man Juve went third, five points behind Inter, after ending the defending champions' eight-match unbeaten run in Serie A.
Brazil midfielder Felipe Melo was credited with the 20th-minute opening goal in Turin as he deflected in a free-kick from compatriot Diego, and Mourinho was ordered from the dugout following his protestations about the foul being awarded in the first place.
Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o leveled six minutes later with a header from Dejan Stankovic's cross, but new Italy international Claudio Marchisio gave the home side victory in the 58th minute after goalkeeper Julio Cesar blocked a shot by midfielder Mohamed Sissoko.
Melo was sent off with three minutes left for his second yellow card after aiming an elbow at Mario Balotelli, who was also booked for his theatrical reaction.
The defeat was a blow to Inter's confidence ahead of Wednesday's Champions League showdown with Russia's Rubin Kazan at the San Siro, with the winner earning a place in the knockout stages.
AC Milan scored all three goals in the first half as striker Marco Borriello, who used to play for Sampdoria's city rivals Genoa, headed the opener in the first minute from Ronaldinho's cross.
The Brazilian was in fine form, and also set up the second goal for Clarence Seedorf in the 21st minute as he threaded a neat pass to the veteran Dutch midfielder.
Ronaldinho's compatriot Alexandre Pato made it 3-0 just two minutes later with his seventh goal of the season, netting at the second attempt after goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi blocked his initial effort following a header on by Borriello.
It was Milan's fifth successive victory, with coach Leonardo taking Ronaldinho off at halftime as a precaution due to a slight knee problem ahead of Tuesday's Champions League trip to FC Zurich, which will determine whether the Rossoneri qualify for the knockout stages.
Sampdoria slumped to a third defeat in a week, having been knocked out of the Italian Cup by lowly Livorno in midweek following the embarrassing 3-0 derby defeat to Genoa last weekend.
|
[
"Who was sent off?",
"What was the score in the AC Milan game?",
"Who scored first?"
] |
[
"Jose Mourinho",
"2-1",
"Felipe Melo"
] |
question: Who was sent off?, answer: Jose Mourinho | question: What was the score in the AC Milan game?, answer: 2-1 | question: Who scored first?, answer: Felipe Melo
|
(CNN) -- Manchester City have confirmed that absent Brazilian striker Robinho will be back in time for the Premier League side's return to training next week.
Robinho had a reputation for partying prior to his British-record transfer to Manchester City last August.
City manager Mark Hughes told the club's official Web site that Robinho, who cost mega-rich City a British record fee of £32.5 million ($45m) when he signed from Real Madrid in August, will be spoken to after not joining the rest of the squad in a Tenerife training camp this week -- choosing instead to fly to Brazil to attend to a family matter.
Hughes told mcfc.co.uk: "Robbie left without permission, he felt that he had personal things that he needed to attend to.
"He made the decision to leave the camp, and go back to Brazil. That was not with my permission, and the situation at the moment is not really practical to get him back here with time differences and length of flights, so he will be back at the weekend ready to train when we are back in Manchester at the first available opportunity.
"Once he is back, I will sit down with him and explain my feelings, and decisions will be made after that. He has rung me, and he understands that we need to address this -- and we will. Then we will move on.
Robinho's decision to fly to Brazil came on the same day that City announced they were pulling out of a world record transfer move for AC Milan star Kaka, a Brazilian team-mate of Robinho. However. Hughes has insisted that that two matters are completely unrelated.
Robinho is no stranger to controversy and had a reputation as a party-goer prior to his move to Manchester last year.
He was dropped by his former Madrid coach, and now England national coach, Fabio Capello, who questioned his attitude and Robinho's eventual departure from the Spanish club was acrimonious.
In fact, in October 2007, Robinho failed to return to Madrid after appearing for Brazil in an international match, claiming he had missed his flight.
Local newspapers later revealed that he had been seen partying in a popular Rio de Janeiro nightclub and he was subsequently fined and dropped by the club.
|
[
"Who is Robinho?",
"He fly to Brazil for what?",
"Where did Robinho fly to?",
"Where will Robinho return to?",
"who its City Manager?",
"who will return to Manchester City?"
] |
[
"Brazilian striker",
"to attend to a family matter.",
"Brazil",
"Manchester",
"Mark Hughes",
"Robinho"
] |
question: Who is Robinho?, answer: Brazilian striker | question: He fly to Brazil for what?, answer: to attend to a family matter. | question: Where did Robinho fly to?, answer: Brazil | question: Where will Robinho return to?, answer: Manchester | question: who its City Manager?, answer: Mark Hughes | question: who will return to Manchester City?, answer: Robinho
|
(CNN) -- Manchester City have sent representatives to Brazil in the hope of persuading Ronaldinho to sign for them.
A move to City could make Ronaldinho the Premier League's highest paid player.
City chairman Garry Cook told BBC Radio Five Live on Sunday that Ronaldinho's Spanish club Barcelona had given City permission to speak to the player about a move to Eastlands.
"We have people in Brazil," said Cook.
"We are nowhere near completing a deal It's a tenuous stage and I don't want to give too much away, but Barcelona gave us clearance to talk to him.
"Ronaldinho wants to show that he is one of the greatest footballers in the world. The Manchester City fans would love to see him kick off the new season with us and I am holding out hope on that happening."
City owner Shinawatra Thaksin is thought to be ready to provide £50 million ($98.47 million) for new manager Mark Hughes to sign players, with around $29.5 million set aside to bring in Ronaldinho, who could well become the English Premier League's highest paid player.
Shinawatra, who sent previous manager Sven-Goran Eriksson packing at the end of last season, despite a marked upturn in the team's fortunes, said last week: "Ronaldinho - you know, he is a great player. Whatever the club in your heart, you would want to see this player in England, wouldn't you?
"It is not a risk. Sponsors will contribute. It will not damage our wage structure."
New manager Hughes knows that he will be expected to produce instant results. Shinawatra said: "I am 59 next birthday, so I am not a man who can wait for many years to see my dreams come true."
Ronaldinho had a poor season in Spain but City's owner said:"Ronaldinho is 28. He has much still to offer, he is a star. You need a combination of new players, existing players, quality, young and old.
"I admit also you need a player who is more than just winning the match. You need a star who can play on the pitch, but who can achieve much more for the club. Ronaldinho is that player.
"I am hearing good things about his hunger. I have spoken to his brother (and agent). Ronaldinho wants the new challenge, the chance to play his best football again, to return to the days when he was really, really famous. The magic is still in his boots. Let us hope we can bring him."
City also expect to snap up another top Brazilian, striker Jo from CSKA Moscow, within the next seven days.
|
[
"who tries to sign him",
"where does jo play now",
"Who wants to sign Ronaldinho?",
"Which other player do they want to sign?",
"Where will they visit?",
"who is ronaldindo"
] |
[
"City",
"CSKA Moscow,",
"City",
"striker Jo from CSKA Moscow,",
"Brazil",
"Premier League's highest paid player."
] |
question: who tries to sign him, answer: City | question: where does jo play now, answer: CSKA Moscow, | question: Who wants to sign Ronaldinho?, answer: City | question: Which other player do they want to sign?, answer: striker Jo from CSKA Moscow, | question: Where will they visit?, answer: Brazil | question: who is ronaldindo, answer: Premier League's highest paid player.
|
(CNN) -- Manchester City may have announced losses of more than $300 million for last season, but the English club's massive investment in players is paying off on the pitch.
Roberto Mancini's men remained five points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday after ending the unbeaten run of third-placed Newcastle with a 3-1 home victory.
That briefly put City eight points clear, but second-placed defending champions Manchester United stayed in touch with a 1-0 win at Swansea in the late kickoff, halting the Welsh side's unbeaten home record.
While City's record deficit casts doubt over the club's ability to adhere to UEFA's financial fairplay rules, Saturday's win -- the 11th in 12 rounds -- was a timely tune-up for the midweek trip to Italy.
Mario Balotelli coolly sidefooted in a 41st-minute penalty after Ryan Taylor handled the ball, then the Newcastle fullback's error allowed City defender Micah Richards to double the lead before halftime.
Sergio Aguero came off the bench to net a 72nd-minute penalty after Richards was fouled by Hatem Ben Arfa, having also scored for Argentina in Tuesday's World Cup qualifying win against Colombia.
Dan Gosling scored a late consolation for the Magpies, who will lose third place on goal difference if Chelsea win at home to seventh-placed Liverpool on Sunday.
Tottenham, in fifth with two games in hand, can also move onto 25 points with victory against visiting Aston Villa on Monday.
City's focus is now Tuesday's Champions League trip to Napoli, which will have a big bearing on the club's hopes of progressing to the knockout stage of Europe's top competition.
"The feeling is good for Napoli. The team has improved a lot in the Champions League," Mancini said. "But I know what we will find in Naples, they are playing very well at home.
"If we want to win there, then we will have to play better than this afternoon."
Manchester United will also need to improve at home to Portuguese side Benfica on Tuesday after battling to beat promoted Swansea, with striker Javier Hernandez scoring a close-range winner in the 11th minute after a low cross by veteran Ryan Giggs.
"They have a great home record so we had to make sure we defended well, and I think we did that," manager Alex Ferguson said.
"We maybe should have done better with the chances we did get on the counter-attack and near the end we could have had a couple of chances, but it was a good result."
Arsenal moved up to sixth, also on 22 points but having played two more matches than London rivals Spurs, after winning 2-1 at promoted Norwich, who dropped to 11th.
Dutch striker Robin Van Persie continued his hot scoring run with a double that took him to a league-leading 13 this season after Steve Morison gave Norwich a 16th-minute advantage following poor defending by Germany international Per Mertesacker.
Queens Park Rangers moved up to ninth with a 3-2 win at Stoke, as striker Heidar Helguson scored twice before the home side were denied a late penalty chance to equalize when Joey Barton brought down Robert Huth but no foul was given.
West Brom claimed 10th place with a 2-1 win that left Bolton in the bottom three, while Everton moved up to 12th after beating visiting Wolverhampton by the same score.
Sunderland and Fulham joined Wolves on 11 points after a 0-0 draw, with all three clubs hovering hovering above the relegation zone.
The bottom two teams Wigan and Blackburn Rovers drew 3-3 in a fiery derby that ended with Yakubu leveling with a penalty nine minutes into time added on.
It was the Nigerian striker's second goal of the day for 10-man Blackburn, having netted the opener after only 68 seconds -- his 100th in the English league.
Rovers had David Dunn sent off for a second yellow card three minutes after the break, but Junior Hoilett made it 2-2 on the hour despite teammate Morten Gamst Pedersen appearing to pass
|
[
"Who beat Newcastle 3-1?",
"How many points was Manchester city clear after Saturdays 12th round of EPL matches?",
"who is Robin can Persie?",
"Who scored two goals against Norwich?",
"Who stay five points clear",
"What is arsenals position?",
"Which team beat Swansea?",
"Where did Manchester United stay in touch with a 1 - 0 win?"
] |
[
"City",
"five",
"Dutch striker",
"Robin Van Persie",
"Roberto Mancini's men",
"sixth,",
"Manchester United",
"at Swansea"
] |
question: Who beat Newcastle 3-1?, answer: City | question: How many points was Manchester city clear after Saturdays 12th round of EPL matches?, answer: five | question: who is Robin can Persie?, answer: Dutch striker | question: Who scored two goals against Norwich?, answer: Robin Van Persie | question: Who stay five points clear, answer: Roberto Mancini's men | question: What is arsenals position?, answer: sixth, | question: Which team beat Swansea?, answer: Manchester United | question: Where did Manchester United stay in touch with a 1 - 0 win?, answer: at Swansea
|
(CNN) -- Manchester City misfit Robinho made a winning second debut for Santos as he scored the decisive goal in a 2-1 victory against Brazilian rivals Sao Paulo on Sunday.
The Brazil forward has returned home in a loan deal in order to boost his hopes of playing at the World Cup finals in South Africa in June, having struggled to win a first-team place with his English club this season.
The 26-year-old, who cost big-spending City a club-record $52.4 million when he agreed to leave Spanish giants Real Madrid in a shock deal right at the end of the August 2008 transfer window, started his career with Santos eight years ago.
He came off the bench 12 minutes into the second half at Sao Paulo's Morumbi ground, and netted the winner with just five minutes to play with a clever backheel at the near post from Wesley's cross.
The victory lifted Santos to the top of the Sao Paulo state Campeonato Paulista Championship above their opponents.
Teenage striker Neymar went to the top of the league's goalscoring charts after putting Santos ahead with a penalty seven minutes before halftime after Arouca was fouled by Miranda, his seventh strike this season.
Roger leveled the score 10 minutes after Robinho came on with a header from Marcelino Paraiba's cross, but the City star settled the outcome in the 85th minute as he caught out goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni with his improvised finish.
Brazil's nationwide league begins in May, with Santos finishing 12th of 20 teams last season, 18 points behind champions Flamengo.
|
[
"what misfit Robinho makes a winning second debut for?",
"Who makes a winning second debut for Santos?",
"What reasons return to Brazil?",
"What happened with Robinho?",
"What does the Brazillian forward's backheel do?"
] |
[
"Santos",
"Robinho",
"loan deal in order to boost his hopes of playing at the World Cup finals in South Africa",
"made a winning second debut for Santos as he scored the decisive",
"netted the winner"
] |
question: what misfit Robinho makes a winning second debut for?, answer: Santos | question: Who makes a winning second debut for Santos?, answer: Robinho | question: What reasons return to Brazil?, answer: loan deal in order to boost his hopes of playing at the World Cup finals in South Africa | question: What happened with Robinho?, answer: made a winning second debut for Santos as he scored the decisive | question: What does the Brazillian forward's backheel do?, answer: netted the winner
|
(CNN) -- Manchester City stunned city rivals Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford Sunday with Mario Balotelli scoring the opening two goals in the rout.
It was the heaviest home defeat for reigning champions United in the English Premier League and left them five points adrift of City at the top of the table.
Balotelli fired City ahead after 22 minutes and was then involved in the game's pivotal moment two minutes into the second half.
The 21-year-old Italian's strength took him clear of United defender Jonny Evans, who could only pull him back as he closed on goal.
Referee Mark Clattenburg was left with no option than to show Evans the red card and the floodgates opened.
Balotelli, forced to move out of his Manchester home on Saturday after a late night prank with fireworks went wrong, was on hand to slot home after brilliant work by David Silva and James Milner.
When Sergio Aguero added the third on the hour mark, the game was up for Alex Ferguson's home team, but they did pull back a goal after a sublime strike by Darren Fletcher.
But that was the signal for City to really rub in their dominance as substitute Edin Dzeko grabbed a fourth in the 90th minute.
With United in total disarray, Silva tapped in from close range and Dzeko added his second and the sixth in injury time.
City manager Roberto Mancini hailed the result as proof of the strength of their title challenge.
"I'm satisfied because we beat United away and I don't think there are a lot of teams that could win here," he told Sky Sports.
"I think this game is important because we beat them at Old Trafford but not for the 6-1."
By contrast, Ferguson was annoyed with his players for conceding late goals when down to 10 men and with the game gone.
"It was our worst ever day," he conceded "It's the worst result in my history, ever. Even as a player I don't think I ever lost 6-1. I can't believe the scoreline. The first goal was a blow for sure but it was retrievable at 1-0.
"The sending off was a killer for us. We kept attacking when we went 4-1 down and we should have just said, 'We've had our day'."
Chelsea later fluffed the chance to move above United into second place when they were beaten 1-0 by west London rivals Queens Park Rangers.
Chelsea were reduced to nine-men after first half red cards for Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba.
Heidar Helguson had put QPR ahead from the spot after being fouled by David Luiz before referee Chris Foy sent off Boswinga for pulling back Shaun Wright-Phillips and Drogba for a studs-up challenge.
Chelsea had their chances to level with Nicolas Anelka wasting the best, but QPR held on to gain three valuable points.
Earlier Sunday, Arsenal captain Robin van Persie came off the substitute's bench to help his side to a 3-1 home win over Stoke City.
Peter Crouch had leveled for Stoke following Gervinho's opener, but Dutch ace van Persie continued his fine scoring run with a double to lift Arsenal up to seventh.
Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur also took closer order in the battle for Champions League spots with a 2-1 win at struggling Blackburn.
Two goals by Rafael van der Vaart secured the Spurs victory, their fifth of the season, while at Craven Cottage, Everton scored twice in injury time to clinch a 3-1 victory over Fulham.
|
[
"Manchester City beat Manchester United",
"What was the score between City and United?",
"Who missed the chance to go second in table?",
"How many points are City clear at the top of the table?",
"Who was sent off early because of a foul?",
"Who beat Manchester United?"
] |
[
"6-1",
"6-1",
"Chelsea",
"five",
"Boswinga",
"City"
] |
question: Manchester City beat Manchester United, answer: 6-1 | question: What was the score between City and United?, answer: 6-1 | question: Who missed the chance to go second in table?, answer: Chelsea | question: How many points are City clear at the top of the table?, answer: five | question: Who was sent off early because of a foul?, answer: Boswinga | question: Who beat Manchester United?, answer: City
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United and their city rivals Manchester City both made embarrassing exits from the European Champions League on Wednesday.
United were beaten 2-1 in Basel to leave the Swiss side and Benfica as the qualifiers from Group C, while City beat Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium but went out as Napoli won 2-0 at Villarreal.
It left Bayern and the Italians to go through from Group A to complete a chastening first experience of Europe's top club competition for Robert Mancini's expensively assembled side.
But it was the exit of last year's runners-up United which was the biggest upset, needing only a draw to ensure their passage to the last 16, goals from Marco Streller and Alexander Frei sent them crashing.
Real Madrid to topple Barca in 'El Clasico' clash?
Phil Jones pulled one back in the 89th minute to set up a frantic finale but they could not force the equalizer.
Streller's goal after nine minutes came as a result of defensive uncertainty with goalkeeper David De Gea parrying out a cross which fell invitingly for the scorer.
Wayne Rooney wasted United best chance to level and Markus Steinhofer belted the ball against his own crossbar in the second half before Frei nipped in to head home the crucial second goal in the 84th minute.
It was the first time Alex Ferguson's men had failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League for six years and only the third time in 16 years.
"Of course we're disappointed, there's no other way you can feel," Ferguson told Sky Sports.
"It's part of football. You have to deal with the disappointment, and this club has used it as motivation many times.
"These young players will feel disappointed tonight but they'll have to cope with it and go on with their careers."
Oscar Cardozo scored the crucial goal after seven minutes for Benfica in their 1-0 win over Otelul Galati which left them top of the group.
English Premier League leaders Manchester City eased to victory against their understrength Bavarian visitors as David Silva and Yaya Toure struck either side of halftime.
But it all proved academic as Napoli left Villarreal pointless after goals from Gokhan Inler and Marek Hamsik inflicted a sixth straight group defeat on the Spaniards.
It was the first time Napoli have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
|
[
"From who Manchester United lost in Switcerland?",
"Who has been out of European Champion League?",
"What was Manchester City's result against Bayern Munich?",
"what city exited the european champions league"
] |
[
"Basel",
"Manchester City",
"2-0",
"Manchester"
] |
question: From who Manchester United lost in Switcerland?, answer: Basel | question: Who has been out of European Champion League?, answer: Manchester City | question: What was Manchester City's result against Bayern Munich?, answer: 2-0 | question: what city exited the european champions league, answer: Manchester
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United are now just one point behind leaders Chelsea at the top of the English Premier League, after a double from in-form Wayne Rooney helped them to a comfortable 3-0 home win over West Ham on Tuesday evening.
England striker Rooney, who is enjoying the best goalscoring run of his career, has now scored 27 goals this season, as well as finding the net in United's last six league matches at Old Trafford.
Former England striker Michael Owen added a late third goal, to ensure that United head into Sunday's League Cup final against Aston Villa at Wembley in good heart.
Rooney opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time, superbly converting a diving header from Antonio Valencia's cross.
And the 24-year-old doubled his advantage in similar vein in the second half, again finding space to head home another pin-point Valencia cross.
West Ham arrived at Old Trafford on the back on consecutive victories that had seen them move away from the relegation zone, but they were always second best here and their fate was sealed when Owen netted his eighth goal of the season from a Paul Scholes through-pass.
|
[
"Who is leading the Premier League?",
"what was the name of the premier league?",
"How many goals did Rooney score?",
"What was the final score in the game?",
"Who scored the other goal?",
"Who scored twice when Manchester United defeated West Ham?",
"how many times did Wayne Rooney scored?",
"Who scored the third goal?"
] |
[
"Chelsea",
"English",
"scored 27",
"3-0",
"Michael Owen",
"Wayne Rooney",
"27 goals",
"Wayne Rooney"
] |
question: Who is leading the Premier League?, answer: Chelsea | question: what was the name of the premier league?, answer: English | question: How many goals did Rooney score?, answer: scored 27 | question: What was the final score in the game?, answer: 3-0 | question: Who scored the other goal?, answer: Michael Owen | question: Who scored twice when Manchester United defeated West Ham?, answer: Wayne Rooney | question: how many times did Wayne Rooney scored?, answer: 27 goals | question: Who scored the third goal?, answer: Wayne Rooney
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has been ruled out for a minimum of three weeks after suffering a foot injury during the 3-0 Premier League win over title rivals Chelsea.
France defender Patrice Evra will be out for a minimum of three weeks after hurting ankle ligaments.
It was Evra's first game back after a four-match suspension imposed by the Football Association for his involvement in a post-match fracas involving groundstaff at Stamford Bridge last season.
The French left-back was hurt after firing over a cross for Wayne Rooney's goal and now faces another spell on the sidelines as United chase trophies on four fronts.
Evra suffered ligament damage and manager Alex Ferguson said: "He will be out for three weeks minimum and maybe four. It shouldn't be any more than that.
"He just went over on his foot and has done the little ligament in his foot, so we need to get the swelling down and that will take about 7-10 days."
Evra sits out Wednesday's Premier League clash with Wigan, the trip to Bolton three days later and next week's League Cup semifinal return at home to Derby when United will be expecting to overturn a 1-0 deficit.
Central defender Rio Ferdinand remains on the sidelines for at least another week although a scan on his back problem confirmed there is no long-term damage.
Ferdinand, out for a month, needs more rest and Jonny Evans will continue in central defense with Wes Brown still two weeks away from a comeback after ankle surgery.
Ferguson hopes Ferdinand will be back for the televised FA Cup fourth round home clash against Tottenham on Saturday January 24.
|
[
"What happened to Rio Ferdinand?",
"Name of Manchester United defender?",
"Who hurt their ankle?",
"What is Ferdinand out for?",
"When did the ankle injury occur?",
"What player remains out due to a back issue?",
"Name of England defender that is out for another week?",
"What did the frenchman hurt?"
] |
[
"back problem",
"Patrice Evra",
"Patrice Evra",
"his back problem",
"during the 3-0 Premier League win over title rivals Chelsea.",
"Rio Ferdinand",
"Rio Ferdinand",
"little ligament in his foot,"
] |
question: What happened to Rio Ferdinand?, answer: back problem | question: Name of Manchester United defender?, answer: Patrice Evra | question: Who hurt their ankle?, answer: Patrice Evra | question: What is Ferdinand out for?, answer: his back problem | question: When did the ankle injury occur?, answer: during the 3-0 Premier League win over title rivals Chelsea. | question: What player remains out due to a back issue?, answer: Rio Ferdinand | question: Name of England defender that is out for another week?, answer: Rio Ferdinand | question: What did the frenchman hurt?, answer: little ligament in his foot,
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United have accepted a world-record $130 million offer for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
Ronaldo is set to smash the world record transfer fee if he agrees to move to Real Madrid.
The English champions have given the big-spending Spanish giants permission to talk to the World Player of the Year, according to the official United Web site.
United said on Thursday that the Portugal winger had again expressed his desire to leave Old Trafford, and the club now expect the deal to be concluded by June 30.
Madrid confirmed on the club's Web site that it hoped to seal an agreement with Ronaldo "in the coming days."
Real, who have fallen behind bitter rivals Barcelona, have swooped to follow up the $92 million signing of Brazil star Kaka from AC Milan earlier this week. What's your view? Tell us what you think about Ronaldo joining Real.
Real also held the previous record when they paid €77 million (now worth $108 million) for Zinedine Zidane in 2001.
The club's president Florentino Perez said after the Kaka deal was concluded that he would do "everything possible" to sign the 24-year-old Ronaldo, as he sought to build a new empire that would match his first stint at the Bernabeu. The 20 most wanted players in the world.
United held off Real's advances last summer, with manager Alex Ferguson traveling to the Portugal camp during the Euro 2008 finals to hold crisis talks with Ronaldo.
The player committed himself to another season in Manchester, but was affected by injuries early on and -- despite a sizzling end to the campaign -- was unable to help United retain the UEFA Champions League title, losing to Barcelona in last month's final.
Perez is seeking to rebuild a team which finished second in the Primera Liga last season, nine points behind Barcelona, and again failed to progress past the first knockout stage of Europe's premier club competition.
He failed in his first bid for the presidency in 1995, but won the 2000 elections on a promise to sign Luis Figo from Barca.
Perez duly brought in the Portuguese forward and followed it up with a series of budget-busting transfers, including that of Zidane and David Beckham, as he created a team dubbed the "Galacticos."
United have been linked with moves to sign Bayern Munich's France star Franck Ribery and Wigan's Ecuador winger Antonio Valencia as Ferguson seeks to replace Ronaldo. Check out the latest transfer rumors and gossip.
Perez has also expressed an interest in bringing Ribery to Spain from Germany.
Ronaldo moved to Old Trafford in August 2003 in a $20 million transfer from Sporting Lisbon just days after scoring against United in a pre-season friendly.
He made his first senior outing for the national side that November and helped Manchester United win the FA Cup in May before suffering heartache as Portugal lost to underdogs Greece in the final of Euro 2004 on home soil.
In November 2005, he agreed a two-year extension to his contract until 2010.
He was vilified in England in the summer of 2006 after his antics helped get United clubmate Wayne Rooney sent off as Portugal progressed to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Germany.
After the tournament, Ronaldo revealed that he would like to leave United, but at the end of the 2006-07 season the forward agreed a new five-year contract. Watch CNN on why Ronaldo moved »
The next campaign he beat George Best's 40-year-old club record for goals scored by a winger in a single season, with 33 in the Premier League and 42 overall.
Ronaldo suffered an ankle injury as Portugal lost 3-2 to Germany in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008, and told Portuguese newspaper Publico he would remain with United "for at least another year".
In December he was named Europe's top player, then the next month he escaped uninjured after writing off his Ferrari sports car when crashing into a roadside barrier under a tunnel near Manchester Airport on his way to training. Read about it here.
|
[
"How much did they offer him?",
"Who are Real Madrid allowed to talk to?",
"What insane sum is offered by Real Madrid?",
"How much was offered for the Manchester United winger?",
"When will he complete his transfer?",
"At what club is Ronaldo currently enlisted?"
] |
[
"$130 million",
"World Player of the Year,",
"$130 million",
"$130 million",
"by June 30.",
"United"
] |
question: How much did they offer him?, answer: $130 million | question: Who are Real Madrid allowed to talk to?, answer: World Player of the Year, | question: What insane sum is offered by Real Madrid?, answer: $130 million | question: How much was offered for the Manchester United winger?, answer: $130 million | question: When will he complete his transfer?, answer: by June 30. | question: At what club is Ronaldo currently enlisted?, answer: United
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United have hit back at Owen Hargreaves after their former midfielder claimed he had been mistreated by the English champions' medical staff.
Hargreaves, who joined United's archrivals Manchester City in August after his contract at Old Trafford expired, was reported in the British press as having said he felt like a guinea pig during an injury plagued four-year spell with the Red Devils.
The England midfielder was speaking after making a goal-scoring debut for City in their 2-0 Carling Cup win over Birmingham City on Wednesday.
"Manchester United is disappointed with Owen Hargreaves' remarks after the game on Wednesday," read a statement on the three-time European champions' website.
What are the reasons behind Man Utd's flying start?
"The club gave him the best possible care for three years and is as disappointed as anyone he was not able to play a part in the team's success at that time.
"It has shared all the medical records with Manchester City and is comfortable with the actions taken by its medical staff at each step of his many attempts at rehabilitation."
The Canada-born star arrived at United from German outfit Bayern Munich in 2007, but only made 27 appearances for Alex Ferguson's team due to persistent injury problems relating to the tendons in his knee.
"They said I would be fit for the start of pre-season but, after that, I never got back on my feet," Hargreaves was reported as saying in British newspaper The Guardian. "My tendon was never the same. They said my tendon was good, but it felt like I was made out of glass.
"We treated it and it got significantly worse through the injections. That obviously had a huge impact. Basically, I was left to pick up the pieces, which was incredibly frustrating. That was surgery, and that was 18 months gone."
But United denied Hargreaves' claims, with the statement continuing to say: "United does not acknowledge any validity in the comments Owen is alleged to have made.
"Manchester United has some of the best sports medical staff in world sport, who have made a significant contribution to United's on-pitch success in recent seasons."
Prior to joining City, Hargreaves posted a series of clips on the video-sharing website YouTube aimed at proving his fitness.
The 30-year-old made his professional debut for Bayern in 2000, and went on to win four Bundesliga titles with the club and the European Champions League in 2001.
Hargreaves also represent England at both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and won a second career Champions League title when United beat Chelsea in Moscow in 2008.
|
[
"What were his injuries?",
"What did the Manchester United people say?",
"What did Hargreaves claim?",
"Who has hit back?",
"Who joined the team?",
"What is Owen's role?",
"What team is he on?",
"What did he join recently?"
] |
[
"knee.",
"is disappointed with Owen Hargreaves' remarks after the game on Wednesday,\"",
"had been mistreated by the English champions' medical staff.",
"United",
"Hargreaves,",
"midfielder",
"Manchester City",
"United's archrivals Manchester City"
] |
question: What were his injuries?, answer: knee. | question: What did the Manchester United people say?, answer: is disappointed with Owen Hargreaves' remarks after the game on Wednesday," | question: What did Hargreaves claim?, answer: had been mistreated by the English champions' medical staff. | question: Who has hit back?, answer: United | question: Who joined the team?, answer: Hargreaves, | question: What is Owen's role?, answer: midfielder | question: What team is he on?, answer: Manchester City | question: What did he join recently?, answer: United's archrivals Manchester City
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was furious after his team's hopes of retaining the English Premier League title were dented by a controversial 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Saturday.
Demba Ba's second-half penalty kept the visitors in fourth place despite having Jonas Gutierrez sent off with 11 minutes to play, and Manchester City can now move seven points clear at the top by winning at Liverpool on Sunday.
Javier Hernandez put second-placed United ahead four minutes after the halftime break with a lucky goal when a volley by teammate Wayne Rooney hit visiting defender Steven Taylor and ricocheted into the net off the Mexico striker.
Ba continued his hot scoring run, with the Senegalese striker netting his ninth league goal this season in the 64th minute as referee Mike Jones ruled that Rio Ferdinand fouled Hatem Ben Arfa -- but only after consulting with his linesman.
Ferguson insisted the England defender had made a fair tackle.
"I think it was everyone's view, including the referee as he thought Rio won the ball because he gave the corner kick," the Scot told reporters. "He let the assistant referee over-rule him.
"We had that situation a few weeks ago when the linesman gave a penalty kick for handball against Sunderland when it was obviously an opponent's hand."
United hit the woodwork through England winger Ashley Young after Argentina international Gutierrez was dismissed for a second booking.
Tottenham retained third place after winning 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion as Emmanuel Adebayor followed up his double against Aston Villa with two more goals to put his side two points behind United.
The on-loan striker canceled out Youssouf Mulumbu's early header when he was quickest to react after Ben Foster saved his 25th-minute penalty.
Striker Jermain Defoe, handed a rare start in place of Rafael van der Vaart, put the London side ahead in the 81st minute after Adebayor helped put him clear with a backheel, then the Togo international sealed it in time added on from Gareth Bale's cross.
Fifth-placed Chelsea bounced back from successive defeats to beat Wolverhampton 3-0 and relieve the pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas.
The Portuguese has had to defend himself with Chelsea well off the pace and battling to stay in Europe after losing to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League in midweek.
Captain John Terry headed the London side ahead in the seventh minute, while young striker Daniel Sturridge and Spain winger Juan Mata also scored before halftime to leave the visitors hovering above the relegation zone.
Sixth-placed Arsenal failed to join Chelsea on 25 points after being held 1-1 by London rivals Fulham, who moved up to 15th.
Thomas Vermaelen's 65th-minute own-goal gave Fulham hope of a first win at the Emirates, but the Belgium defender made amends by heading an equalizer with eight minutes to play from Theo Walcott's right-wing cross.
Bolton remained third from bottom after a 2-0 home defeat by Everton.
Bolton had David Wheater sent off after just 20 minutes before second-half goals from Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini and Greek forward Apostolos Vellios lifted the visitors up to eighth.
Norwich moved up to ninth with a 2-1 win at home to fellow promoted side Queens Park Rangers, as substitute striker Grant Holt scored a close-range decider with 17 minutes to play.
Russell Martin put Norwich ahead in the 15th minute but Luke Young leveled on the hour after Jamie Mackie's shot hit the post.
Wigan moved off the bottom with a last-gasp 2-1 win at Sunderland, the club's second victory in 13 games.
Franco di Santo profited from an injury-time error by former Manchester United defender Wes Brown, after Jordi Gomez's 44th-minute penalty had canceled out Sebastian Larsson's opener for the home side.
The result left Blackburn at the foot of the table in seven points following a 3-1 defeat by Stoke in the early match.
Goals from Rory Delap, Glenn Whelan and Peter Crouch helped the home side end a run of four defeats and move up to 12th.
|
[
"What was Alex Ferguson criticizism of the Ref?",
"Who drew with Arsenal?",
"Who was the referee?",
"Who drew with Fulham?",
"What was the score in the Manchester United game?",
"Who gained from a second half penalty?"
] |
[
"the England defender had made a fair tackle.",
"Fulham,",
"Mike Jones",
"Arsenal",
"1-1",
"Newcastle"
] |
question: What was Alex Ferguson criticizism of the Ref?, answer: the England defender had made a fair tackle. | question: Who drew with Arsenal?, answer: Fulham, | question: Who was the referee?, answer: Mike Jones | question: Who drew with Fulham?, answer: Arsenal | question: What was the score in the Manchester United game?, answer: 1-1 | question: Who gained from a second half penalty?, answer: Newcastle
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United returned to the top of the English Premier League with a 3-1 victory over in-form Tottenham on Saturday but the champions' title hopes suffered a blow with the news that top scorer Wayne Rooney may miss the rest of the season.
The England striker sat out the home win, which put United two points clear of Chelsea, with a groin injury suffered in training and he may miss the final two matches of the season.
England coach Fabio Capello will be hoping that United take no risks with the 34-goal forward, who will be one of his key players at the World Cup in South Africa starting in mid-June.
"I think he'll probably take two to three weeks to recover," United manager Alex Ferguson told match broadcaster Sky. "We'll try to get him back, he'll obviously be desperate to get back himself. We'll just have to wait and see."
Earlier this month, Rooney made a sooner-than-expected return from an ankle injury to play in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich, then missed the 0-0 draw with Blackburn before a below-par outing in the 1-0 win over Manchester City that kept his side in the title race.
United face mid-table Sunderland and Stoke in the climax to the season as the club seek a fourth successive league crown, while Chelsea hosts Stoke on Sunday before a trip to Liverpool and a home clash with lowly Wigan.
Tottenham, who upset third-placed Arsenal and Chelsea in the two preceding matches, have not beaten United since 1989 and have not defeated one of the "big four" away from home in 66 matches.
Harry Redknapp's team still retained fourth place in the table as Manchester City drew 0-0 at Arsenal in Saturday's late match.
The Londoners looked like matching United at Old Trafford when defender Ledley King equalized in the 70th minute, but Portugal midfielder Nani snatched victory for the hosts with a delightful chip on 81 and then won a penalty for Ryan Giggs' second spot-kick of the game five minutes later.
The 36-year-old Giggs had never scored a penalty in his near 600-game career for United, but coolly took over Rooney's duties in the 58th minute after Benoit Assou-Akotto brought down Patrice Evra in the box.
United lost Evra to the lingering effects of his pre-match illness and winger Antonio Valencia went off with injury, while Spurs rallied with the return of England midfielder Aaron Lennon from long-term injury as a substitute.
Defender King headed in Gareth Bale's corner as United fullback Rafael strayed from his position on the post and could not clear the ball to give the visitors hope of a point.
But Nani raced onto substitute Federico Macheda's pass to beat goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes with an exquisite finish, and the Brazilian was again beaten by Giggs after a clumsy challenge from behind by Wilson Palacios.
Manchester City trail Tottenham by a point in the battle for the fourth Champions League place, with the two teams to meet in their penultimate game of the season on May 5.
City boss Roberto Mancini surprisingly left Emmanuel Adebayor on the bench after the Togo striker's ill-advised goal celebrations in front of his former club's fans when the teams last met in the league in September.
Adebayor made an impact when he came on in the second half, but the match was most notable for a season-ending shoulder injury suffered by City's Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given that allowed Gunnar Nielsen to become the first Faroe Isander to play in the Premier League.
The 23-year-old was largely untested as Arsenal's faint title hopes were finally extinguished, with the Londoners now seven points behind United with two matches left.
Nielsen may have to fill in for the rest of the season, with Given's deputy Stuart Taylor injured and England international Joe Hart on loan at Birmingham.
City next take on sixth-placed Aston Villa, who can keep their own Champions League hopes alive with victory at home to Midlands rivals Birmingham on Sunday.
|
[
"did Manchester United return to top of English Premier League?",
"Who will host Stoke on Sunday?",
"which teams drawed in a late match?",
"What were score between Manchester United vs. Tottenham?",
"what happened to Wayne Rooney?",
"What is the name of United's top scorer?",
"For how many points United is clear from Chelsea?",
"Which side returns to top of English Premier League?"
] |
[
"with a 3-1 victory",
"Chelsea",
"Manchester",
"3-1",
"groin injury",
"Wayne Rooney",
"two",
"United"
] |
question: did Manchester United return to top of English Premier League?, answer: with a 3-1 victory | question: Who will host Stoke on Sunday?, answer: Chelsea | question: which teams drawed in a late match?, answer: Manchester | question: What were score between Manchester United vs. Tottenham?, answer: 3-1 | question: what happened to Wayne Rooney?, answer: groin injury | question: What is the name of United's top scorer?, answer: Wayne Rooney | question: For how many points United is clear from Chelsea?, answer: two | question: Which side returns to top of English Premier League?, answer: United
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United secured their first victory in this season's UEFA Champions League with an unconvincing 2-0 victory against Romanian side Otelul Galati at The National Stadium in Bucharest.
After a tepid first period the game burst into life in the second half with a string of penalties and red cards following a handball by the Galati defender Sergiu Costin.
Wayne Rooney scored from the penalty spot but the relief was short lived.
Two minutes later, Manchester United's Serbian center back Nemanja Vidic was harshly sent off for a high tackle on Gabriel Giurgiu.
Galati pushed on but failed to make their numerical supremacy count, with Bratislav Punosevic guilty of missing the target when found unmarked in front of goal.
A second red card was flashed, this time for the Romanian side, when Milan Perendija picked up a second yellow card.
Deep in injury time Rooney was tripped in the Galati box and awarded a second penalty which he duly dispatched.
It was a far from convincing performance from Manchester United, who now sit second in Group C, two points behind Portugal's Benfica who beat Basel 2-0 in Switzerland.
"We didn't have the penetration first half," coach Alex Ferguson told the cameras after the game.
"[Wayne Rooney showed] Composure with his two penalties, he took them well."
He was less convinced by Nemanja Vidic's red card.
"He's raised his foot and in the context of the interpretation [of the rules] I can see why he [the referee] has given it," he admitted.
"But it's very harsh."
Manchester City kept up appearances with the neighbors after they too secured their first UEFA Champions League win.
City have found life harder in the Champions League compared to the English Premier League - where they are currently top - and soon fell behind to Spanish side Villarreal after Ruben Cani scored within four minutes.
A Villarreal own goal leveled the match but Sergio Aguero scored with virtually the last kick of the match to keep City in touch with Group A leaders Bayern Munich, who drew 1-1 with Napoli
Real Madrid continued their perfect start to their Group D campaign by thumping French side Lyon 4-0. Karim Benzema scored against his old club before Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil and Sergio Ramos completed the rout. With Madrid all but through to the next round Ajax gave their chances of finishing second a boost with a 2-0 victory against Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia.
Group B, on the other hand, is much harder to predict.
Troubled Inter Milan went top after beating French side Lille on the road thanks to a first half Giampaolo Pazzini strike. Meanwhile CSKA Moscow beat Turkish side Trabzonspor 3-0. But only four points separate top from bottom at the half way stage.
|
[
"Who did Villareal play?",
"What was the Romanian score",
"What team Manchester United beat with score 2-0?",
"Who beat Lyon?",
"Who does Wayne Rooney play for?",
"How many penalties Wayne Rooney penalties scored?",
"In what minute did they score",
"How many penalties did Wayne Rooney score"
] |
[
"Manchester City",
"2-0",
"Otelul Galati",
"Real Madrid",
"Manchester United's",
"two",
"within four",
"two"
] |
question: Who did Villareal play?, answer: Manchester City | question: What was the Romanian score, answer: 2-0 | question: What team Manchester United beat with score 2-0?, answer: Otelul Galati | question: Who beat Lyon?, answer: Real Madrid | question: Who does Wayne Rooney play for?, answer: Manchester United's | question: How many penalties Wayne Rooney penalties scored?, answer: two | question: In what minute did they score, answer: within four | question: How many penalties did Wayne Rooney score, answer: two
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has completed a notable awards double after being named Player of the Year by the English Football Writers' Association for the second year in a row.
In-form Cristiano Ronaldo has won both major English awards for the 2007-08 season.
The Portugal winger followed up his second successive victory in the Professional Footballers' Association awards, where he was voted Player of the Year by his peers on April 27.
He topped the writers' poll ahead of Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and Portsmouth goalkeeper David James.
The 23-year-old, who has scored 38 goals in all competitions this season, emulated the feat of Barcelona's former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry -- the last man to collect the FWA award twice in a row, in 2003 and 2004.
"Ronaldo's award is no surprise after his brilliant form this season and incredible goal-scoring record -- 38 at the moment -- and he is, of course, essentially a winger," said chairman of the FWA, Paul Hetherington.
"Cristiano was an overwhelming winner and, given his age, he has the potential and ability to dominate this award for years in an unprecedented way."
Ronaldo has this season has helped take United to within touching distance of a second successive Premier League title with two matches to play, and into a Champions League final against Chelsea in Moscow on May 21.
He will receive his award at the FWA's gala dinner at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on May 15. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Who won the English writer's award?",
"Who retained player of the year?",
"Who wins the English writers' award?",
"Who dominated the uk awards?",
"What has Portugal star dominated for the past two seasons?",
"Who has won the award?",
"What is the age of the Portugal star?",
"Who maintained their Player of the Year award?",
"Who dominated UK awards?"
] |
[
"Cristiano Ronaldo",
"Cristiano Ronaldo",
"Cristiano Ronaldo",
"Cristiano Ronaldo",
"Player of the Year",
"Cristiano Ronaldo",
"23-year-old,",
"Cristiano Ronaldo",
"Cristiano Ronaldo"
] |
question: Who won the English writer's award?, answer: Cristiano Ronaldo | question: Who retained player of the year?, answer: Cristiano Ronaldo | question: Who wins the English writers' award?, answer: Cristiano Ronaldo | question: Who dominated the uk awards?, answer: Cristiano Ronaldo | question: What has Portugal star dominated for the past two seasons?, answer: Player of the Year | question: Who has won the award?, answer: Cristiano Ronaldo | question: What is the age of the Portugal star?, answer: 23-year-old, | question: Who maintained their Player of the Year award?, answer: Cristiano Ronaldo | question: Who dominated UK awards?, answer: Cristiano Ronaldo
|
(CNN) -- Manchester United's perfect start to the English Premier League season came to a halt on Saturday when the defending champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Stoke City.
United had won five matches in a row, and took the lead through a superb individual goal from midfielder Nani in the 27th minute as the Portugal international waltzed into the box and drilled in a low shot.
However, the industrious home side never gave up and claimed a point against the 19-time English champions for the first time in the Premier League thanks to a 52nd-minute header from big-money August signing Peter Crouch.
The lanky former Tottenham striker got between central defenders Phil Jones and Rio Ferdinand to nod home from a corner as United goalkeeper David De Gea was left helpless on his line.
United went into the match without England striker Wayne Rooney, who wrote on Twitter that he expects to return from injury for Tuesday's Champions League visit by Swiss side Basel.
His regular forward partner Javier Hernandez is a doubt for that match after coming off in the first half against Stoke having fallen hard on his head when he tumbled following a tussle with Jonathan Woodgate as the Mexican sought to score.
That left United with last season's top scorer Dimitar Berbatov up front alongside Michael Owen, who scored twice in midweek in the League Cup but failed to make the same impression.
Berbatov was similarly ineffectual and was later replaced by Danny Welbeck as United battled in vain to win the match.
The result left United on 16 points, above local rivals Manchester City only on goal difference.
City earlier briefly topped the table as second-half goals from substitutes Mario Balotelli and James Milner ended Everton's run of victories in their last four visits to Eastlands.
Balotelli broke the deadlock in the 68th minute after replacing Edin Dzeko, with his shot taking a deflection off Everton defender Phil Jagielka.
The Italian then set up David Silva, whose effort was ruled out for offside -- and the Spanish playmaker also earlier hit the woodwork.
Silva provided City's second with a minute to play as he sent England midfielder Milner clear after an error by Everton's former Real Madrid winger Royston Drenthe, who came on as a substitute.
Balotelli's return to form will give manager Roberto Mancini a selection dilemma ahead of Tuesday's Champions League trip to Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, Fernando Torres was both hero and villain as third-placed Chelsea beat promoted Swansea 4-1.
The Spain striker scored his second goal in two games after a long drought to put the London side ahead on the half hour, but was sent off before halftime for a bad tackle on Mark Gower -- his first red card in the Premier League.
It was another mixed weekend for the $80 million former Liverpool player, who also netted in the 3-1 defeat at Manchester United before an extraordinary miss that saw him widely lampooned.
Ramires had already made it 2-0 before Torres departed, and the Brazil midfielder doubled his tally in the 76th minute before Swansea defender Ashley Williams headed in Gower's freekick.
Substitute Didier Drogba sealed victory deep into stoppage time to boost his hopes of starting in Wednesday's Champions League trip to Valencia.
Newcastle retained fourth place with a 3-1 victory over Blackburn, who remained in the relegation zone.
Senegal striker Demba Ba scored his first hat-trick in English football before being replaced by France midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, who made his league comeback after almost a year out with a broken leg.
Fifth-placed Liverpool bounced back from the 4-0 trouncing at Tottenham by beating mid-table Wolverhampton 2-1 at home.
Charlie Adam was sent off last weekend but this time his 11th-minute shot produced an own-goal by defender Roger Johnson, and striker Luis Suarez made it 2-0 before halftime.
Substitute striker Steven Fletcher gave Wolves hope four minutes after the break, but Kenny Dalglish's team held on as England midfielder Steven Gerrard continued his comeback from long-term injury when he was introduced late in the match.
Tottenham closed to within a
|
[
"Who retains fourth place as Demba Ba scores hat-trick against Blackburn?",
"Manchester United drop first points of English season with 1-1 draw where?",
"What place retained fourth place",
"What person beat swansea",
"Who heads table on goal difference from rivals Manchester City, who beat Everton?",
"what is the final score?",
"Did Manchester United lose?"
] |
[
"Newcastle",
"Stoke City.",
"Newcastle",
"Fernando Torres",
"United's",
"1-1 draw",
"1-1 draw"
] |
question: Who retains fourth place as Demba Ba scores hat-trick against Blackburn?, answer: Newcastle | question: Manchester United drop first points of English season with 1-1 draw where?, answer: Stoke City. | question: What place retained fourth place, answer: Newcastle | question: What person beat swansea, answer: Fernando Torres | question: Who heads table on goal difference from rivals Manchester City, who beat Everton?, answer: United's | question: what is the final score?, answer: 1-1 draw | question: Did Manchester United lose?, answer: 1-1 draw
|
(CNN) -- Manny Pacquiao defended his WBO welterweight title at the sold-out MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas, defeating Juan Manuel Marquez by majority decision.
Both fighters went toe-to-toe throughout the 12-round fight Saturday night with neither getting knocked down on the canvas.
The fight went down to the Nevada judges' scorecards with Dave Moretti scoring it 115-113, Robert Hoyle 114-114 and Glenn Trowbridge 116-112.
After the decision, Marquez left the ring, apparently upset by the ruling.
This was the third clash between Pacquiao and Marquez. The first bout in 2004 was scored a draw, while Pacquiao won a controversial split decision in the rematch four years later.
SI: Crash Course: Pacquiao vs. Marquez III
In prior meetings, Pacquiao scored four knockdowns yet Marquez won the greater number of rounds.
To further stoke the fire between the fighters, in the days leading up to Saturday's fight, Marquez sported a T-shirt saying, "Marquez beat Pacquiao twice!!"
Pacquiao, who entered the bout having won 10 titles at eight weight divisions, is considered arguably the world's best pound-for-pound boxer.
Pacquiao opens wallet, heart to those in need
Now that Pacquiao has defeated Marquez, the next big fight most boxing fans are eagerly waiting for is a potential multimillion-dollar payday against Floyd Mayweather Jr., the other superstar of his boxing generation.
Both fighters have openly said they want to face each other, but each time they try to consummate the fight, negotiations break down over blood and urine testing.
|
[
"Whose win fuels speculation?",
"Who will Pacquiao finally face?",
"Who defeated Pacquiao?",
"who defeated marquez",
"who is pacquiao",
"who is floyd mayweather"
] |
[
"Manny",
"Floyd Mayweather Jr.,",
"\"Marquez",
"Manny",
"arguably the world's best pound-for-pound boxer.",
"superstar of his boxing generation."
] |
question: Whose win fuels speculation?, answer: Manny | question: Who will Pacquiao finally face?, answer: Floyd Mayweather Jr., | question: Who defeated Pacquiao?, answer: "Marquez | question: who defeated marquez, answer: Manny | question: who is pacquiao, answer: arguably the world's best pound-for-pound boxer. | question: who is floyd mayweather, answer: superstar of his boxing generation.
|
(CNN) -- Manny Pacquiao has put failed talks of a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr behind him as he turns his focus to a bout with Joshua Clottey at the Cowboys Stadium.
The Filipino will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title against Ghanaian Clottey on March 13 at the $1.2billion home of the Dallas Cowboys football team.
Pacquiao had been scheduled to face unbeaten American Mayweather on the date before the proposed super-fight collapsed when the Filipino rejected requests from his opponent to have unprecedented random blood testing.
But the 31-year-old confirmed that he is now fully focused on his new opponent, not any possible fight with Mayweather.
It's going to be a good fight," Pacquiao said at a press conference to promote the fight.
"Clottey, he is a good fighter, a top fighter, and he is bigger than me. I have to prepare hard for this fight and train hard and focus."
When asked about Mayweather, Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said things had moved on but revealed his fighter would be ready to take on the American on the right terms.
"Life goes on without Mayweather. He wouldn't agree to a limit of 14 days before the fight. We did our best to appease him but he wouldn't go along with it," Roach explained.
"Mayweather's people agreed to it but Mayweather wouldn't go along with it. I don't think he wants to fight Manny. It was a smoke screen for him to say no.
"I want to beat this guy's ass, believe me, but he won't give us the opportunity. We will fight him any day of the week. But he doesn't make the rules."
Any Pacquiao-Mayweather fight would have been staged in Las Vegas and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones added that the breakdown in talks benefited him.
"It did. This gave us an opening. We were very aggressive and we were pretty quick to make a deal," Jones said.
"We're going to make this one of the most interesting fights to view that there's ever been. We're going to have some fun with it."
|
[
"who did Manny fight against?",
"Who said his fighter has moved on?",
"What date will the fight take place?",
"Where will the fight be staged?",
"What is Manny's focus?",
"what did his trainer say ?",
"What does Manny's trainer say?"
] |
[
"Ghanaian Clottey",
"trainer Freddie Roach",
"March 13",
"Cowboys Stadium.",
"a bout with Joshua Clottey",
"things had moved on but revealed",
"things had moved on but revealed his fighter would be ready to take on the American on the right terms."
] |
question: who did Manny fight against?, answer: Ghanaian Clottey | question: Who said his fighter has moved on?, answer: trainer Freddie Roach | question: What date will the fight take place?, answer: March 13 | question: Where will the fight be staged?, answer: Cowboys Stadium. | question: What is Manny's focus?, answer: a bout with Joshua Clottey | question: what did his trainer say ?, answer: things had moved on but revealed | question: What does Manny's trainer say?, answer: things had moved on but revealed his fighter would be ready to take on the American on the right terms.
|
(CNN) -- Manny Pacquiao has told CNN even he was surprised at how quickly his fight against Great Britain's Ricky Hatton came to an end.
Manny Pacquiao throws a left hand on his way to a devastating victory over Ricky Hatton.
Pacquiao, often considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, cemented his reputation Saturday night when he knocked out Hatton in the second round.
"That was two of the most exciting rounds I have seen in my career," said Chris Mannix, a writer for Sports Illustrated. "You saw, from the opening bell, Pacquiao was really dominant."
In an interview with CNN's Kristie LuStout after the fight, Pacquiao acknowledged the fight ended sooner than he expected. Watch Pacquiao talk about his post-fight plans »
With the win at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada, Pacquiao added the light-welterweight crown to his past world titles: lightweight, super-featherweight, light-featherweight, featherweight and flyweight.
The Filipino's career record now stands at 49-3-2 with 37 knockouts.
The fight, for which Pacquiao reportedly earned $12 million, was brief. Pacquiao knocked Hatton down in the first round from a series of lightning-fast right hooks.
The British boxer managed to get to his feet and finish the round, but the outcome was evident once the second round began.
Hatton, the International Boxing Organization's light-welterweight champion, tried the classic brawling style that has fueled his career.
But Pacquiao's technique and speed quickly outclassed Hatton. The Filipino's right hooks set up a devastating left hook that flattened Hatton with a second remaining in the second round. The referee quickly ended the match.
"It turned out he (Hatton) just wasn't very good at boxing," Mannix said. "You saw the difference between a great fighter and very good fighter."
The 30-year-old Pacquiao is a national hero in the Philippines, where his bouts bring the country to a standstill. He came into the fight on Saturday as a narrow favorite after sending one of the biggest names in the sport, Oscar de la Hoya, into retirement with a stoppage victory in December.
Nicknamed "Pacman," he grew up poor in General Santos City in the southern Philippines. He found boxing as a way to lift himself to fame and riches, yet he remains self-deprecating outside of the ring.
It is this combination of a fierce fighter in the ring and a smiling deferential one outside that has helped turn him into an idol.
Outside a bar in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong, China, a woman who would only identify herself as Amy and her friends erupted in joy. The second-biggest ethnic group behind Chinese are Filipinos
Amy and her friends -- all from the Philippines and working here in this world financial center -- were part of the crowd that had just witnessed the match live. "This is great, this is wonderful," Amy screamed.
CNN's Kevin Drew contributed to this report
|
[
"What is Pacquaio's reputation?",
"what did the Fillipino add",
"What does victory do?",
"Who knocked out Ricky Hatton?",
"What nationality is Manny Pacquaio?",
"what did Manny do",
"what was Pacquiao's reputation",
"What is the title he won?"
] |
[
"the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world,",
"light-welterweight crown",
"cemented his reputation",
"Manny Pacquiao",
"Filipino's",
"knocked out Hatton",
"best pound-for-pound boxer in the world,",
"light-welterweight crown"
] |
question: What is Pacquaio's reputation?, answer: the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, | question: what did the Fillipino add, answer: light-welterweight crown | question: What does victory do?, answer: cemented his reputation | question: Who knocked out Ricky Hatton?, answer: Manny Pacquiao | question: What nationality is Manny Pacquaio?, answer: Filipino's | question: what did Manny do, answer: knocked out Hatton | question: what was Pacquiao's reputation, answer: best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, | question: What is the title he won?, answer: light-welterweight crown
|
(CNN) -- Manny Pacquiao is aiming to deliver a knockout blow to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the U.S. courts after filing a lawsuit against the American and his connections over claims he used performance-enhancing drugs.
The lawsuit, lodged in the Las Vegas district court on Wednesday, names Mayweather, his father Floyd senior, former boxing star Oscar De La Hoya and fellow Golden Boy Promotions executive Richard Schaefer.
"Calling a professional athlete a cheater is the most serious charge one can make," the lawsuit says, "and in today's world, accusing an athlete of using performance-enhancing drugs -- however baseless and lacking in evidence -- is toxic."
The Filipino fighter, who has won world titles at five different weights, was slated to fight Mayweather on March 13 next year in a money-spinning bout in Las Vegas.
But he was infuriated by the insistence of Mayweather's camp that he undergo Olympic-style pre-fight blood testing and the alleged implication that he had used illegal drugs.
Pacquiao posted a Christmas day message on his personal Web site, saying he would take legal action and has now followed through on the threat.
Top lawyer Daniel Petrocelli is representing him and outlined the substance of their case.
"Manny Pacquiao's achievements come from God-given talent and an indefatigable work ethic -- not steroids," he told gathered reporters.
"He cannot and will not allow others to deliberately misrepresent his years of hard work and tarnish his reputation."
The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $75,000 dollars and also cites interviews given in various publications that appeared to question the fairness of Pacquiao's pre-fight preparation.
Mayweather's connections attempted to diffuse the situation in a statement issued earlier this weak on the Golden Boy Promotions Web site.
"Let it be very clear that nobody from Team Mayweather or Golden Boy Promotions is accusing Pacquiao of anything," it read.
"But the reality seems to be that for whatever reason Pacquiao does not want to participate in random blood testing, which has already been deemed a harmless procedure that many current athletes are subjected to prior to and during competition," it added.
Many viewed the war of words between the respective camps as a pre-fight war ploy to boost interest, but the row over dope testing may well have derailed one of the richest fights in boxing history, with huge pay-per-view revenues forecasted.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday that Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum was pessimistic about a March showdown between the two fighters.
"This is only my opinion, but I don't see the fight happening now," he was quoted.
Positions are hardening ... Manny's fit to be tied. He's very angry."
Arum was also reported to have opened negotiations with World Boxing Association super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman to fight Pacquiao.
|
[
"What did Mayweather's camp want both boxers to submit to?",
"Who did Manny Pacquiao file a lawsuit against?",
"what is the lawsuit about?",
"What does Mayweather's camp want both boxers to submit to?",
"Who filed a lawsuit?",
"who is the lawsuit against?",
"Who filed a lawsuit against Mayweather?",
"What is Pacquiao angered by?",
"What were the alleged claims against the Filipino boxer?"
] |
[
"that he undergo Olympic-style pre-fight blood testing",
"Floyd Mayweather Jr.",
"claims he used performance-enhancing drugs.",
"Olympic-style pre-fight blood testing",
"Manny",
"Floyd Mayweather Jr.",
"Manny",
"claims he used performance-enhancing drugs.",
"he used performance-enhancing drugs."
] |
question: What did Mayweather's camp want both boxers to submit to?, answer: that he undergo Olympic-style pre-fight blood testing | question: Who did Manny Pacquiao file a lawsuit against?, answer: Floyd Mayweather Jr. | question: what is the lawsuit about?, answer: claims he used performance-enhancing drugs. | question: What does Mayweather's camp want both boxers to submit to?, answer: Olympic-style pre-fight blood testing | question: Who filed a lawsuit?, answer: Manny | question: who is the lawsuit against?, answer: Floyd Mayweather Jr. | question: Who filed a lawsuit against Mayweather?, answer: Manny | question: What is Pacquiao angered by?, answer: claims he used performance-enhancing drugs. | question: What were the alleged claims against the Filipino boxer?, answer: he used performance-enhancing drugs.
|
(CNN) -- Manny Pacquiao is threatening Floyd Mayweather Jr. with legal action following a row over drugs testing which leaves their proposed super-bout next year in doubt.
Pacquiao is refusing to agree to a demand by the Mayweather camp to undergo Olympic style blood-screening in the run up to the fight, which is penciled in for the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 13.
Boxing commentators had suggested that the war of words was a pre-fight tactic by the Mayweather camp and his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, to unsettle the Filipino, who has hit back with an angry statement on his personal Web site.
"Enough is enough. These people, Mayweather Sr, Jr, and Golden Boy Promotions, think it is a joke and a right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs," it read.
"I have tried to just brush it off as a mere pre-fight ploy but I think they have gone overboard "
Pacquiao, who became a five-weight world champion by beating Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in November, claimed he would now be calling in the lawyers.
"I have instructed my promoter, Bob Arum, head of Top Rank Inc, to help me out in the filing of the case as soon as possible because I have had people coming over to me now asking if I really take performance-enhancing drugs and I have cheated my way into becoming the number one boxer in the world.
"I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not outside of it.
"I have no idea what steroids look like and my fear in God has kept me safe and victorious through all these years."
The row started earlier this week when Mayweather's promoters Golden Boy Promotions went public with their demands for blood-testing, as mandated by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and making it a condition before the super-fight went ahead.
But Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said this was not necessary under the rules governing fights in Nevada and was mind games by the Mayweather camp.
"We have passed every test ever given to us. We go by the commission rules, since when does the fighter make up the rules?, " he said.
Mayweather himself has largely kept his counsel but told the Golden Boy Promotions Web site that he hoped his possible opponent would change his mind.
"I understand Pacquiao not liking having his blood taken, because frankly I don't know anyone who really does," Mayweather said.
"I hope this is either some miscommunication or that Manny will change his mind and step up and allow these tests, which were good enough for all these other great athletes, to be performed by USADA."
But Pacquiao in his message posted on Christmas Day showed little sign of extending the festive spirit to the unbeaten Mayweather.
"To Floyd, despite all these accusations, may your Christmas be merry and I will see you in court, soon," he added.
|
[
"who claims to have instructed his promoter Bob Arum to file a law?",
"when is a match slated between pacquiao and Mayweather?",
"what Manny Pacquiao threatens Floyd Mayweather and his camp with?",
"who is Pacquiao promoter?",
"where was the fight",
"who is angered by demands?",
"who filed the lawsuit"
] |
[
"Manny",
"March 13.",
"legal action",
"Golden Boy Promotions,",
"MGM Grand in Las Vegas",
"Manny",
"Pacquiao"
] |
question: who claims to have instructed his promoter Bob Arum to file a law?, answer: Manny | question: when is a match slated between pacquiao and Mayweather?, answer: March 13. | question: what Manny Pacquiao threatens Floyd Mayweather and his camp with?, answer: legal action | question: who is Pacquiao promoter?, answer: Golden Boy Promotions, | question: where was the fight, answer: MGM Grand in Las Vegas | question: who is angered by demands?, answer: Manny | question: who filed the lawsuit, answer: Pacquiao
|
(CNN) -- Manor GP are to be rebranded Virgin Racing ahead of their Formula One debut next season.
Manor team chief John Booth and Virgin supremo Richard Branson are due to announce the long-awaited sponsorship tie-up on Tuesday.
The news has effectively been confirmed by motor sport's world governing body, the FIA, as they have announced the 2010 entry list for the F1 world championship.
Currently there are 12 teams, with the name Virgin Racing amongst the newcomers for 2010, joining Lotus F1 Racing, Campos Meta 1 and US F1 Team.
The issue of the 13th entry remains unresolved, although Sauber are widely expected to be granted a place on next year's grid following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on December 11.
Peter Sauber last week regained control of the team he sold to BMW four years ago after the German manufacturing giant's withdrawal from the sport.
"I am very relieved about that development," the 66-year-old Swiss, who is hopeful the FIA will now look favorably on the team's entry, told reporters.
"It would have been a crying shame had one of the best Formula One factories closed down. Regarding the slot on the grid, I am very confident we will be given a final confirmation very shortly."
The Formula One Commission are due to discuss Toyota's fate next week, again in Monaco on Wednesday.
The Japanese manufacturer pulled out of F1 at the end of last season, despite during the summer signing the new Concorde Agreement that bound them to the sport for the next three years.
Speculation has surfaced of late regarding a potential takeover, yet it is unclear whether a buyer would automatically be granted an entry on the basis of Toyota's signature on the Concorde.
In a statement, the FIA said: "Toyota Motorsport GmbH remains formally bound by the Concorde Agreement to put forward a team for participation, though it has indicated that it will not be in a position to do so.
"An announcement will be made regarding this entry in due course."
|
[
"What is Manor GP re-branded into?",
"What is Manor GP going to be rebranded?",
"What did the FIA confirm?",
"Who are ahead?",
"Where will Virgin Racing be competing in?"
] |
[
"Virgin Racing",
"Virgin Racing",
"GP are to be rebranded Virgin Racing ahead of their Formula One debut next season.",
"GP",
"Formula One"
] |
question: What is Manor GP re-branded into?, answer: Virgin Racing | question: What is Manor GP going to be rebranded?, answer: Virgin Racing | question: What did the FIA confirm?, answer: GP are to be rebranded Virgin Racing ahead of their Formula One debut next season. | question: Who are ahead?, answer: GP | question: Where will Virgin Racing be competing in?, answer: Formula One
|
(CNN) -- Mansour Daou is known as the "Black Box" of Moammar Gadhafi's regime -- like an aircraft's data recorder, he knows some of Libya's darkest secrets.
And as one of Gadhafi's top security officials, who remained at his side until the final hours, Daou has a unique insight into the astonishing downfall of Africa's longest-serving leader.
Now in an interview with CNN he describes how the dictator, who was once of the world's most feared leaders, was forced to scavenge for food and hide in abandoned houses in the coastal city of Sirte.
"He was very worried and erratic -- this could be because he was afraid," Daou said.
According to Daou, Gadhafi became desperate to travel to his birthplace, the village of Jaref, 20 kilometers west of Sirte, a journey that Daou feared was "suicide."
"He wanted to go to his village, maybe he wanted to die there or spend his last moments there," he said.
Finally, after NATO jets attacked his convoy, Gadhafi tried to escape on foot through drainage pipes, but was caught. He was later killed in circumstances that are still far from clear.
Gadhafi's autopsy reveals he was shot in head
Daou spoke as he awaited trial at a detention facility in the city of Misrata, which bore the brunt of the regime's most brutal assault during the conflict. The most significant charges he faces relate to his alleged role in the Abu Salim prison massacre in 1996, and his role in the alleged hiring of African mercenaries by the regime during the conflict. He told CNN he had no role in those events.
The interview was initially delayed by a few hours -- officials said Daou was being interrogated and asked CNN to return in the evening to speak to him.
The CNN crew was taken to the bottom floor of the building and led into a conference room where Daou sat at a long table with his interrogator -- a tall, tough-looking Libyan man.
Daou, in his late 50s, wore a traditional Arabic gray dishdasha robe and seemed to be in good health.
During the hour-long interview, Daou described how he had been in the same car as Gadhafi as they made their chaotic escape from the former leader's hometown of Sirte.
Gadhafi left Tripoli for Sirte on August 18, according to Daou -- just two days before fighters seeking to oust him entered the capital.
Daou said he remained in Tripoli until it became clear the city was no longer safe for the regime's top tier.
He then fled to the city of Bani Walid on August 22, along with Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. He stayed with them for four days before joining the former dictator in Sirte.
Daou said their living conditions went from bad to worse as the rebels tightened their siege of the city. They moved around abandoned houses every three to four days, he said, surviving on the little food they could find. Towards the end, they had no power, water or communication with the outside world. "Our lives had turned by about 180 degrees."
Gadhafi spent his final days writing and reading books he had stacked in suitcases, Daou said, but his behavior became more unpredictable. As fighters surrounded Sirte, Gadhafi's group wanted to leave the city.
Daou said he and others knew that if they did not leave before the siege there would be no way out. But Gadhafi refused to leave -- until October 20 -- when he and his son Mutassem decided to make the move to the former dictator's birthplace.
Their group of about 350 men had dropped to fewer than 200, according to Daou. "It started dropping daily with some killed, others wounded and those who had left with their families," he said.
Daou described their force as a mostly undisciplined civilian one under the command of Mutassem. They had no plan -- not for fleeing and certainly not for fighting.
Their convoy of more than 40 vehicles was supposed to head out
|
[
"What was the dictator forced to do?",
"What was Gadafhi desperate to do?",
"Who is Mansour Daou?",
"What was the former Libyan dictator forced to do?",
"Where was Gadhafi born?",
"Who is Mansour Dau?",
"What did Gadhafi do in his final days?",
"What did Gadhafi do in his final days?"
] |
[
"to scavenge for food and hide in abandoned houses in the coastal city of Sirte.",
"to travel to his birthplace,",
"\"Black Box\" of Moammar Gadhafi's regime",
"scavenge for food and hide in abandoned houses",
"Jaref,",
"the \"Black Box\" of Moammar Gadhafi's regime",
"became desperate to travel to",
"writing and reading books"
] |
question: What was the dictator forced to do?, answer: to scavenge for food and hide in abandoned houses in the coastal city of Sirte. | question: What was Gadafhi desperate to do?, answer: to travel to his birthplace, | question: Who is Mansour Daou?, answer: "Black Box" of Moammar Gadhafi's regime | question: What was the former Libyan dictator forced to do?, answer: scavenge for food and hide in abandoned houses | question: Where was Gadhafi born?, answer: Jaref, | question: Who is Mansour Dau?, answer: the "Black Box" of Moammar Gadhafi's regime | question: What did Gadhafi do in his final days?, answer: became desperate to travel to | question: What did Gadhafi do in his final days?, answer: writing and reading books
|
(CNN) -- Manuela Testolini and her colleagues had just sat down to dinner at the Oberoi hotel restaurant in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday when the sound of gunfire erupted outside.
Manuela Testolini was in Mumbai on business when a series of brazen attacks broke out.
At first, they didn't know what it was. Then, one of Testolini's colleagues saw a man get shot to death outside the restaurant's front door, and everyone started to run.
"We left everything behind, including purses and phones," said Testolini, the ex-wife of music icon Prince and founder of In A Perfect World children's foundation. "There was a lot of panic."
Testolini said gunfire followed her as she and dozens more fled through the kitchen and down to the ballroom, where they found temporary refuge from the gunfire and grenades raining outside.
Testolini, a Canadian in Mumbai for business, was at the center of a brazen series of coordinated attacks in the southern part of the city overnight Wednesday. Watch Testolini describe running from gunfire »
Gunmen rampaged through a series of targets in the commercial capital of India, killing indiscriminately and taking hostages at two luxury hotels.
Testolini said she and 200 others waited in the dark ballroom for several hours, listening to the intensifying sounds of gunfire and grenades. Eventually, the hotel staff began evacuating guests 10 at a time, women and children first, to the street.
For a moment, she thought she was safe. But then, the gunfire returned.
"They were pursing us, and we ran, and we could hear them shooting at us," Testolini said.
Testolini and her colleagues eventually found shelter in an undisclosed location, where they are keeping up with the news on their BlackBerrys, waiting for signs that it's safe to move.
"We are far enough away to feel safe but close enough to feel what's going on," said Testolini, who was scheduled to leave Mumbai on Thursday afternoon. "We'll lay low till at least the daylight."
There's no telling where Testolini would be had she been in her room at the Taj Mahal Hotel, where gunmen were holding hostages on multiple floors.
One witness told local reporters that gunmen stormed the lobby, demanding to know who had U.S. or British passports, and took about 15 people hostage.
Yasmin Wong, a CNN employee who was staying in the Taj, said she hid under her bed for several hours after she was awoken by gunfire.
Wong said she received a phone call from the hotel telling her to turn her light off, put a wet towel by the door and stay in her room until she was told otherwise. Watch Wong describe the chaos in the hotel »
She complied, but then she went to her window and saw smoke and debris.
"I saw a guy outside the window above me who had smashed the window and was hanging out," Wong said. "At that point, authorities told us to run out of the hotel."
Wong said she passed dead bodies in the hotel's halls as she searched for an exit, finally leaving through the pool entrance.
"The main thing I thought was, was it going to end? And it just never ended," Wong said.
|
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question: Where did Manuela's colleague see a man killed?, answer: outside the restaurant's front door, | question: Who ran past bodies?, answer: Wong | question: Who says colleague saw a man killed?, answer: Testolini's | question: Where did they hide from gunfire?, answer: ballroom, | question: Who's ex-wife did gunmen pursue?, answer: of music icon Prince | question: Where did the employee of CNN hide?, answer: she hid under her bed for several hours | question: What did Yasmin Wong run past as she sought exit?, answer: passed dead bodies in the hotel's halls | question: Who was pursued along with fleeing diners?, answer: Testolini | question: What did the colleague of Manuela Testolini witness?, answer: saw a man get shot to death outside the restaurant's front door, | question: Who's ex-wife says gunmen pursued her?, answer: music icon Prince | question: Who said gunmen pursued her?, answer: Testolini | question: Where did a CNN employee hide?, answer: under her bed
|
(CNN) -- Many Google users probably didn't notice this month that they can now display their search tips in the Hawaiian language.
Hawaiian is one of more than 125 "interface languages" now available on Google.
Wedged between Hausa and Hebrew, Hawaiian is one of more than 125 "interface languages" now available on Google. The list also includes some humorous twists on English, including "pirate," "Klingon" and "Elmer Fudd."
But for Hawaiian educators, the addition of Hawaiian is a small step toward legitimizing a language that is considered "critically endangered" by the United Nations.
"It's the capstone of a lot of work," said Keola Donaghy, an assistant professor of Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.
"We've been doing this work for 18 years, simply trying to make it easier for people who speak Hawaiian to use these kinds of technologies."
It marks the first native American language available through the "Google in Your Language" program.
Getting started
It took Donaghy several years to get the project off the ground through the "Google in Your Language" program, which was launched by the California-based company not long after it was founded in 1998.
"The idea was to enable users worldwide to be able to access Google in the language of their choice, and if it wasn't available, to enable users to help make it so," Google spokesman Nate Tyler said. "Why limit users to a set of dominant languages if they were willing to help make Google their own?"
The results of the search are still in English, although the user can select a preference for Web pages written in more than 40 other main languages.
Google works with linguists like Donaghy who are interested in translating search instructions into their language.
"Volunteers sign up on their own to provide translation," Tyler explained. "They simply sign themselves up, declare a language proficiency, and then start translating or reviewing the products that are available for volunteer translation.
"When the translations are completed, we make the product(s) available in that language. Recent other languages like this include Maori language."
It was the Maori project, launched last year, that actually helped get Donaghy's initiative off the ground.
Three years ago, Donaghy started e-mailing and calling Google about a Hawaiian language project, but he got no response. He put the project on hold until last year.
"When I heard the Maori version came out, I asked Google about it," Donaghy said. "Apparently the original (language) coordinator had gone and as soon as a new coordinator was brought online, they set up the system."
Donaghy began working on the massive translation project sometime late last year.
"It was whenever I could find an hour or two in between teaching or other duties," he said. "It was a combination of personal and work time."
He spent more than 100 hours translating the search terms that appear on the Google page into Hawaiian through the program.
"I did the actual translation from beginning to end, and then I consulted with my colleagues at the university who have worked on these projects in the past," Donaghy said.
"I wanted to be very consistent -- such as how you say 'Go to this menu and select this' -- or people may become confused."
What's Hawaiian for 'browsing' the Web'?
Some of the Hawaiian words for terms such as "links" or "Web browser" had already been established when Donaghy and others worked on translating the Netscape Navigator search engine in 1997.
"Over the years, we usually face the debate of do we want to 'Hawaiianize' an English word, or take an old Hawaiian word and give it a new meaning," he said.
He explained some of the challenges in translating terms, such as "browsing" or "surfing," into Hawaiian.
"People use the term 'surf the Internet'
|
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question: How many hours did Keola Donaghy spend translating?, answer: 100 | question: What is Hawaiian considered?, answer: "critically endangered" | question: what language are Google search terms now available in ?, answer: 125 "interface languages" | question: who spent 100 hours translating for "Google in Your Language" program?, answer: Donaghy | question: who considers Hawaiian a "critically endangered" language?, answer: United Nations. | question: What language is available on google search?, answer: Hawaiian | question: What are Google search terms now available in?, answer: Hawaiian | question: What language are google search terms now available in?, answer: Hawaiian | question: How long did it take to translate?, answer: 18 years, | question: What are google search terms now available in?, answer: Hawaiian language. | question: Who spent 100 hours translating?, answer: Keola Donaghy, | question: what is new with google search?, answer: tips in the Hawaiian language. | question: what is considered critically endangered?, answer: language
|
(CNN) -- Many leading brands, including Cadbury-Schweppes, Tropicana and Tesco, have begun introducing "carbon labeling" on products to give customers an idea of the environmental impact of the food that they are buying.
How much carbon has that created? Food with CO2 emissions labels can be confusing.
CNN spoke to Tara Garnett, director of the UK-based Food Climate Research Network, an initiative committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the food chain, about the pros and cons of the system.
CNN: How do carbon emissions arise in food production?
Garnett: Only talking about carbon emissions is actually a bit of a misnomer. We should be looking at the full spectrum of greenhouse gases produced during food production.
Once food has left the farm gate, then we are mainly dealing with carbon dioxide from transport and packaging. But while on the farm it's nitrogen oxide and methane. They are present in smaller quantities but are much more potent in terms of the effect they have.
CNN: What proportion of our carbon emissions come from food?
Garnett: Estimates vary. For the UK it's around 19 percent, but one EU report puts European emissions at 31 percent. The thing to understand is this is a relative statistic, so if you're talking about a society where people don't have many cars and TVs, then the proportion will be quite high. It may actually be lower in countries with a high material standard of living. Also, the estimates differ depending upon the boundaries they use, what's included and what's not included in the calculations.
CNN: Do you think food-miles are a useful measure of the environmental impact of food?
Garnett: They have been useful in raising awareness of where food comes from and how it is transported, but in real environmental terms it's more useful to look at total greenhouse emissions. When we do that then there are often quite counterintuitive results.
For example, it might be more environmentally friendly to truck tomatoes from Italy to northern Europe rather than grow them in heated greenhouses closer by. Also, different modes of transport have different footprints; sea freight is better than road, for example.
CNN: What does carbon labeling hope to achieve?
Garnett: Well, it's predicated on the assumption that it will persuade consumers to make the right choice to cut their emissions, and I'm not sure it will. That would depend on having the time to construct a very consistent, clear message, and I'm not sure we do.
Carbon labeling could be very good for manufacturers, to help them understand the wastage and unnecessary expense in their business, but if it's left to consumer choice I'm not sure it will achieve the wholesale shift towards more sustainable living that we need.
Just buying low carbon chips won't change anything; we need to reduce the overall percentage of the high impact foods -- meat and dairy -- in our diet.
CNN: Is there a global standard of labeling?
Garnett: There are a plethora of different labels in Europe and the U.S., and at present there isn't a global standard. It would certainly be a good idea, and at the European level it looks quite likely. But I'm not sure about the U.S. My impression is that they are quite behind on food awareness.
CNN: Do you think labeling can reduce carbon emissions in the food production system?
Garnett: That depends on significant interest from consumers in their carbon emissions, which I'm not sure exists. But even if it does, shaving 10 or 20 percent off certain products doesn't create a different mind-set.
Low carbon snacks won't change the world. We need to be asking: do we need all this stuff? The science says we need to make 80 percent cuts in emission by 2050, and we just don't have time to be trimming the edges.
CNN: Do you think labeling could damage developing world economies that are based around exports?
Garnett: Possibly. When the Soil Association (a British organic certification body
|
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question: According to Garnett, what do we need to reduce in diet?, answer: meat and dairy | question: Who talked to CNN?, answer: Tara Garnett, | question: What does Tara Garnett talk to CNN about?, answer: the pros and cons of the system. | question: What is the name of the expert?, answer: Tara Garnett, | question: What is good for manufacturers?, answer: Carbon labeling | question: Carbon labeling is good for whom?, answer: manufacturers, | question: What are carbon labels good for?, answer: to give customers an idea of the environmental impact of the food that they are buying. | question: What is not the answer?, answer: buying low carbon chips
|
(CNN) -- Many skiers who visit Colorado prefer the slopes of Aspen, Vail or Breckenridge. But there's a cool little day trip from Denver that often gets overlooked by out-of-towners.
The Ski Train begins its round-trip journey to Winter Park at Union Station in Denver, Colorado.
The Ski Train is a 68-year-old local favorite that shuttles about 750 people between Denver and Winter Park. It runs on weekend days -- leaving Denver's Union Station at 7:15 a.m. -- and begins the return leg nine hours later.
The 56-mile trip takes about two hours each way, and many riders say it's worth the cost to avoid the traffic hassles of the oft-congested I-70.
A roundtrip ticket costs between $49 and $85. There are additional expenses, such as parking at the train station in Denver and lift tickets for skiers. If someone chooses to shop instead of ski, a free shuttle into Winter Park is available.
Train riders love the trip route, which winds through the Rockies and climbs to 9,000 feet. It also travels through almost 30 tunnels, including the 6.2-mile Moffat Tunnel, which passes underneath the Continental Divide.
"The train ride up there is spectacular. You see wonderful vistas as you leave Denver through the northern plains and into the mountains," Kristal Kraft, a real estate agent in Denver, says. "And once you get through the Moffat Tunnel, you're right there at Winter Park."
Kraft says she enjoyed her maiden voyage on the train, which came courtesy of a local home builder that bought group tickets in one of the club cars.
"I loved the convenience [of the train],' she says. "We relaxed, talked, socialized. And when you get off the train, you are right there at the slopes."
According to skitrain.com, three additional cars are available for charter and one for company retreats. The Web site lists the price for the presentation car at $5,000 for a winter trip. The site says the current train cars were purchased after Ansco Investment Company bought the Ski Train in 1988.
Kraft says the cars are comfortably heated and there is ample room to move around. Kraft, an amateur photography buff, enjoyed switching from window to window, side to side, to take pictures.
There is one occasional hitch to riding the train. It shares the track with the Union Pacific Railroad and at times has to stop or pullover to make way for a freight train or Amtrak. And there are instances where another train has an accident.
One time a coal train derailed in a tunnel and the Union Pacific officials told the Ski Train operators it would take two days to clear the tracks, says Ski Train media relations director Jim Bain.
They called the passengers together in a cafeteria in Winter Park and advised them to call friends and family to come pick them up. The company also arranged for a few buses to come gather the remaining passengers and Bain says they were all headed back to Denver by 8:30 p.m.
It was a worst-case scenario, he says, and it only happened once. There are occasional delays of a few hours.
The bad news is you're delayed; the good news is you're on a full service train with food service and restrooms. And there's the ability to find a beverage.
One reviewer on the Web site yelp.com said there's another bonus to the train.
"What's great is that once you get back into Denver you can hit Wynkoop brewery or any other bars around there to keep the party rolling," Ramon G. wrote.
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question: what has been a local favorite for 68 years?, answer: The Ski Train | question: where does the train travel from?, answer: Denver, Colorado. | question: where does the train pass through, answer: the Rockies | question: where does the train take skiers to, answer: between Denver and Winter Park. | question: what do residents say about the train ride, answer: riders love the trip route, which winds through the Rockies and climbs to 9,000 feet. | question: what is the name of the tunnel underneath the Continental Divide?, answer: Moffat
|
(CNN) -- Marco Simoncelli's local track is to renamed in his honor following the Italian MotoGP star's death in Malaysia last month.
The 24-year-old was born in Cattolica on the Adriatic Riviera, less than five miles from the Misano World Circuit, which will now bear his name.
The board of directors of the circuit voted unanimously for the change following the tragic accident at the Sepang International circuit on October 23 which claimed Simoncelli's life.
"We owe it to the memory of Sic (Simoncelli's nickname)," Lucas Colaiacovo, the circuit's vice president was quoted on its official website.
"We owe it to his family, to the hundreds of thousands of fans who admired his courage and humanity, all of the individuals in the sporting world and media who support this spontaneous and moving proposal.
"We are pleased and proud to associate the Misano circuit with Marco Simoncelli, a champion in sport and in life."
The circuit added that it would not use Simoncelli's name for any commercial activities.
Meanwhile, the MotoGP series has moved to the Spanish port city of Valencia for the first race since Simoncelli's fatal accident.
His San Carlo Honda Gresini team are taking part in the final round of the world championship in his honor, but it was newly-crowned champion Casey Stoner on his Repsol Honda who set the fastest lap in first practice Friday.
Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista led a wet second session with a time of one minute 47.975 secs, two seconds slower than Stoner's earlier benchmark.
It was marked by a series of crashes, one of them involving Simoncelli's former teammate Hiroshi Aoyama, but he escaped unhurt.
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question: what is to be renamed, answer: Marco | question: after what will it be renamed, answer: Simoncelli's | question: where is sunday's race, answer: Spanish port city of Valencia | question: Where was Simoncelli killed?, answer: Malaysia | question: What World Circuit is going to be renamed?, answer: Misano | question: where Sunday's race in Valencia will be the first since Simoncelli's death, answer: Misano World Circuit,
|
(CNN) -- Marcus Schrenker, the financial manager who officials say faked his own death in a plane crash after scamming his customers, has been found after an apparent suicide attempt, Florida and federal authorities said Tuesday.
Marcus Schrenker was taken to a hospital after he was found in Quincy, Florida, on Tuesday, authorities said.
The man was found in Quincy, Florida, with marks on his body consistent with a suicide attempt, said Lt. Jim Corder, a spokesman for the Gadsden County sheriff's office. He was taken to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Porter said.
U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Peter Swaim said late Tuesday the man has been identified as Schrenker. The service was leading the manhunt for Schrenker, who has been missing since Sunday.
A Marshals Service source, who asked not to be named because the case is still under investigation, said federal agents found Schrenker inside a tent at a camp site with a cut on his wrist. He was airlifted to the hospital, the source said.
The source would not say how marshals knew to look at the camp site.
Schrenker was charged in Hamilton County, Indiana, on Tuesday with unlawful acts by a compensated adviser and unlawful transaction by an investment adviser.
Authorities believe Schrenker defrauded investors through three companies he owns before attempting a bizarre and potentially deadly vanishing act.
Schrenker took off alone Sunday night from Anderson, Indiana, in a Piper PA-46 en route to Destin, Florida. Over Alabama, he contacted air traffic controllers, saying the windshield had imploded and he was bleeding profusely, authorities said. Police suspect he then put the aircraft on autopilot and parachuted to the ground.
The plane later crashed near the Blackwater River in East Milton, Florida, missing a group of homes by only 50 to 75 yards, said Sgt. Scott Haines of the Santa Rosa County, Florida, sheriff's department.
"We do consider him dangerous," U.S. marshals Deputy John Beeman said Thursday. "He has shown his disregard for life by letting this plane go unmanned until it crashed into the ground in Florida."
Shortly before 2:30 a.m. Monday, hours after the crash, Schrenker showed up at a residence in Childersburg, Alabama, and said he had been in a canoeing accident, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
A resident gave him a ride into Childersburg, and police made contact with him, identifying him through his FAA pilot's license, authorities said. Childersburg is about 35 miles south of Birmingham.
Unaware of the crash, the officers took Schrenker to a hotel in nearby Harpersville. After hearing about the crash, they went back to the hotel, where they found that Schrenker had checked in under a fictitious name and was gone, possibly into a wooded area, police said.
Officials now believe he fled Harpersville on a 2008 red Yamaha street bike he had stashed at a storage unit earlier, also using an assumed name. Investigators found the unit empty of the motorcycle and with some wet clothes left behind.
When leasing the storage facility, Schrenker brought the motorcycle in a brown pickup with a trailer and told the leasing agent he would return for it Monday, according to the Marshals Service.
Back in Florida, military aircraft from Whiting Field in Milton, Florida, were dispatched Sunday to intercept the plane after Schrenker reported the emergency. The pilots saw that the plane's door was open, the cockpit was dark and witnessed the plane's crash, according to the Santa Rosa County sheriff's office. Watch what authorities believe happened »
Although Schrenker had said he was bleeding, no blood was found in the downed plane.
Before authorities said Tuesday night that Schrenker was found, friends of Schrenker's seemed as mystified as police, who were seeking him in several states.
"Why someone would jump out of a plane and leave it on autopilot with his training and his background is beyond me," Tom Britt said. "There's no reason for him to do it other than trying to stage something." Watch Schrenker perform airborne stunts »
Britt said he received an e-mail Monday
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question: Where was Schrenker found?, answer: Quincy, Florida, | question: What did Schrenker attempt?, answer: faked his own death | question: What did Marcus Schrenker attempt?, answer: suicide | question: Who attempted suicide?, answer: Marcus | question: What had Schrenker stashed?, answer: 2008 red Yamaha street bike | question: Where was the plane crash found?, answer: Blackwater River in East Milton, Florida, | question: Who was found in Florida after the plane crash?, answer: Marcus | question: Did authorities file charges?, answer: Schrenker was charged
|
(CNN) -- Margaret Sanger opened the first American family-planning clinic in 1916, and nothing would be the same again. Since then the growing proliferation of birth control methods has had an awesome effect on both sexes and led to a sea change in moral values.
And as I've grown older over the past five decades -- from 1960 to 2010 -- and lived through this revolutionary period in female sexuality, I've seen how it has altered American society -- for better or worse.
On the upside, by the early 60's The Pill had made it easier for a woman to choose to delay having children until after she established herself in a career. Nonetheless, for young women of childbearing age (I was one of them) there was a need for some careful soul searching -- and consideration about the long-range effects of oral contraceptives -- before addressing this very personal decision. It was a decision I too would have to face when I discovered I was pregnant at age 19.
Even though I was married to the baby's father, Jim Welch, I wasn't prepared for this development. It meant I would have to put my career ambitions on hold. But "the choice" was not mine alone to make. I had always wanted to have Jim's babies, but wasn't at all sure how he would react. At the time, we were 19-year-old newlyweds, struggling to make ends meet. But he was unflinching in his desire to keep our baby and his positive, upbeat attitude about the whole prospect turned everything around. I have always loved Jim for how he responded in that moment.
During my pregnancy, I came to realize that this process was not about me. I was just a spectator to the metamorphosis that was happening inside my womb so that another life could be born. It came down to an act of self-sacrifice, especially for me, as a woman. But both of us were fully involved, not just for that moment, but for the rest of our lives. And it's scary. You may think you can skirt around the issue and dodge the decision, but I've never known anyone who could. Jim and I had two beautiful children who've been an ongoing blessing to both of us.
Later, I would strike out on my own, with my little ones, as a single mother to pursue a career in the movies. It was far from ideal, but my children didn't impede my progress. They grounded me in reality and forced me into an early maturity. I should add that having two babies didn't destroy my figure.
But if I'd had a different attitude about sex, conception and responsibility, things would have been very different.
One significant, and enduring, effect of The Pill on female sexual attitudes during the 60's, was: "Now we can have sex anytime we want, without the consequences. Hallelujah, let's party!"
It remains this way. These days, nobody seems able to "keep it in their pants" or honor a commitment! Raising the question: Is marriage still a viable option? I'm ashamed to admit that I myself have been married four times, and yet I still feel that it is the cornerstone of civilization, an essential institution that stabilizes society, provides a sanctuary for children and saves us from anarchy.
In stark contrast, a lack of sexual inhibitions, or as some call it, "sexual freedom," has taken the caution and discernment out of choosing a sexual partner, which used to be the equivalent of choosing a life partner. Without a commitment, the trust and loyalty between couples of childbearing age is missing, and obviously leads to incidents of infidelity. No one seems immune.
As a result of the example set by their elders, by the 1990s teenage sexual promiscuity -- or hooking up -- with multiple partners had become a common occurrence. Many of my friends who were parents of teenagers sat in stunned silence several years ago when it came to light that oral sex had become a popular practice among adolescent girls in
|
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question: What is an upside of the pill?, answer: made it easier for a woman to choose to delay having children until after she established herself in a career. | question: What does Welch say has altered society?, answer: the growing proliferation of birth control methods | question: Who said the pill has altered society in good ways and bad?, answer: Sanger | question: What has caused a loss of discernment in choice of sex partners?, answer: "sexual freedom," | question: What has been an upside?, answer: by the early 60's The Pill had made it easier for a woman to choose to delay having children until after she established herself in a career. | question: What is the loss of caution and discernment in choice of sexual partners?, answer: "sexual freedom,"
|
(CNN) -- Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul after suffering successive straight-sets defeats.
The Russian lost to China's Li Na 7-6 (7-4) 6-4, who had herself not won a match, or even a set, since August.
It was a match that ebbed and flowed as Li came from 2-4 down in the first set to force a tie-break, which she won despite losing the first four points.
Li, who this year became the first Asian Grand Slam winner after victory in the French Open, then fought off a late Sharapova surge when 5-2 up to take the second set 6-4. The defeat followed Sharapova's capitulation against U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur 6-1, 7-5 on Wednesday.
"I really wasn't thinking about too much during the match," Li was quoted as saying on the WTA's official website after the match.
"I'm so happy I was able to beat Maria because she's a top player, and also today was my first match ever at the Championships, so I want to thank all the crowd here for supporting me."
But for Sharapova, who has struggled with an ankle injury but had the chance to become world number one with victory in Istanbul, there were some positives to be taken from two defeats in two days.
"I just have to be pleased that I recovered quickly enough to allow myself a chance of playing here," she told AFP.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki crashed to defeat in her second red group match, losing 6-2 4-6 6-3 to Russia's Vera Zvonareva.
In a repeat of last year's semifinal, which Wozniacki won in straight sets, Zvonareva, 27, hit 49 winners to overpower her Danish opponent in two hours and 18 minutes.
"We always have tough matches and this one was very tough too, three sets as usual," Zvonareva said of the pair's first meeting since the final of the Qatar Open in February, which she won 6-4 6-4.
Despite losing, Wozniacki, 21, is now guaranteed to finish the year at the top of the world rankings courtesy of Sharapova's withdrawal.
Elsewhere fourth seed Victoria Azarenka carded a victory in her first match of the Championships with a 6-2 6-2 defeat of U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur.
Azarenka has now won all five of the matches she has played against Australia's Stosur, sealing success on Wednesday in one hour and 17 minutes on her fourth match point.
Stosur, seeded seventh, was broken four times in the match and will need to bounce back quickly in order to repeat her semifinal appearance at last year's tournament.
Azarenka, eliminated at the group stage of the event in 2010, was delighted with her form in the match.
"I feel great," she told the WTA's official website after scoring a sixth straight-sets triumph in a row.
"I wasn't expecting to play so well in my first match here. It was getting close in the end, we had a really close last game.
"Sam started to really go for every shot with nothing to lose, and I backed up a little bit. She made some incredible shots. But I stayed strong. I had to work for it. I'm glad I finished it now."
|
[
"Who beat U.S. Open Sam Stosur?",
"Who lost in straight sets to China's Li Na?",
"Who has quit the end-of-season?",
"when Maria Sharapova has quit the end-of-season WTA Championships in Istanbul?"
] |
[
"Sharapova's",
"Sharapova",
"Sharapova",
"successive straight-sets defeats."
] |
question: Who beat U.S. Open Sam Stosur?, answer: Sharapova's | question: Who lost in straight sets to China's Li Na?, answer: Sharapova | question: Who has quit the end-of-season?, answer: Sharapova | question: when Maria Sharapova has quit the end-of-season WTA Championships in Istanbul?, answer: successive straight-sets defeats.
|
(CNN) -- Maria Sharapova returned to competitive singles after a near 10-month absence on Monday as she bids to prove her fitness for the forthcoming French Open in Paris.
Maria Sharapova is hoping to prove her fitness ahead of the French Open in Paris starting on Sunday.
The Russian defeated Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-1 6-7 6-3 to book her place in the second round of the Warsaw Open claycourt tournament
Sharapova's world ranking has slumped from No.1 to No.126 during her absence from the court because of a shoulder problem that saw her miss three Grand Slam tournaments.
The 22-year-old had to sit out last year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open and also failed to recover in time for the 2009 Australian Open.
She has had to shelve comeback attempts but did appear in one losing game in the doubles tournament at Indian Wells in March.
Sharapova, who has three majors to her name, broke her Italian opponent four times in a row in the opener, dropping her own serve once en route to the set.
Garbin offered stiffer resistance in the second set although Sharapova wasted four match points at 5-3 and 40-0 up in the ninth game -- a seventh double-fault in the subsequent tie-break giving her rival a set point that she converted.
Sharapova, playing with a bandage on her right shoulder, hit back from 3-1 down in the decider to seal victory in two hours and 35 minutes.
The French Open begins in Paris on May 24.
|
[
"Who did Maria Sharapova defeat from Italy?",
"what does she hope to prove",
"who returns with win",
"What caused a 10-month absence by Maria Sharapova?",
"What does Maria Sharapova hope to prove?",
"who did she defeat",
"What was her absence from?",
"When does the French Open start?"
] |
[
"Tathiana Garbin",
"her fitness",
"Sharapova",
"shoulder problem",
"her fitness for the forthcoming French Open in Paris.",
"Tathiana Garbin",
"the court",
"starting on Sunday."
] |
question: Who did Maria Sharapova defeat from Italy?, answer: Tathiana Garbin | question: what does she hope to prove, answer: her fitness | question: who returns with win, answer: Sharapova | question: What caused a 10-month absence by Maria Sharapova?, answer: shoulder problem | question: What does Maria Sharapova hope to prove?, answer: her fitness for the forthcoming French Open in Paris. | question: who did she defeat, answer: Tathiana Garbin | question: What was her absence from?, answer: the court | question: When does the French Open start?, answer: starting on Sunday.
|
(CNN) -- Marin Cilic sealed his place in the third round of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters after a hard-fought win over Igor Andreev of Russia on Tuesday.
The fourth seed eventually dispatched Andreev 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-4 but it took the Croatian nearly three hours to do so.
Cilic, appearing in his first clay-court match for 10 months, started slowly and allowed the Russian to dominate the early exchanges and clinch the first set on a tie-break.
But Cilic regained his momentum in the second set, offering up just one game as he marched to a 6-1 success.
And though Cilic twice went a break down in the deciding set, he held on to claim it 6-4 and progress to round three.
"The conditions were tough, the balls were heavy," Cilic told the official ATP Tour Web site.
"I just wanted to stay in it after losing that first set by making him play a lot of shots. Afterwards I found some solutions so I could win easier points and win the mental battle."
Cilic was joined in round three by French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Spanish sixth seed Fernando Verdasco, who both recorded straight-sets victories.
Verdasco breezed past Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-2 6-1 in just under 75 minutes, while Tsonga defeated Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-6 (7-5) 7-5.
Tomas Berdych set up a third-round match with Verdasco after beating Richard Gasquet of France in straight sets. The Czech 10th seed took less than an hour to record a 6-2 6-0 victory.
The top names in the field -- world No. 2 Novak Djokovic, five-time champion Rafael Nadal and third seed Andy Murray -- begin their campaigns on Wednesday after being handed a first-round bye.
Nadal beat Britain's Murray in last year's semifinals before going on to defeat Serbian Djokovic to claim the title.
The tournament marks the start of the European clay season in the buildup to the second grand slam event of 2010, the French Open starting on May 24.
|
[
"Who does Marin Cilic beat?",
"what was the score of Cilic after defeating the Russian?",
"Who beated the Frenchman Julien Bennetau?",
"who beats Igor Andreev in second round of Monte Carlo Rolex Masters?",
"on what round did Marin Cilic beat Igor Andreev?",
"Who is the Spanish sixth seed?",
"who beats Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-2 6-1?",
"who defeats the Russian?",
"How long did the match take?"
] |
[
"Igor Andreev",
"6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-4",
"Verdasco",
"Cilic",
"third",
"Fernando Verdasco,",
"Verdasco",
"Cilic",
"nearly three hours"
] |
question: Who does Marin Cilic beat?, answer: Igor Andreev | question: what was the score of Cilic after defeating the Russian?, answer: 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-4 | question: Who beated the Frenchman Julien Bennetau?, answer: Verdasco | question: who beats Igor Andreev in second round of Monte Carlo Rolex Masters?, answer: Cilic | question: on what round did Marin Cilic beat Igor Andreev?, answer: third | question: Who is the Spanish sixth seed?, answer: Fernando Verdasco, | question: who beats Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-2 6-1?, answer: Verdasco | question: who defeats the Russian?, answer: Cilic | question: How long did the match take?, answer: nearly three hours
|
(CNN) -- Marius Kloppers was born in South Africa on August 26, 1962.
Marius Kloppers, CEO of BHP Billiton
He obtained a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and a PhD in Materials Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S.
He began his career in South Africa, working in petrochemicals with Sasol and in materials research with Mintek. After receiving an MBA from Insead in France, he worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Co in the Netherlands.
Kloppers joined Billiton Group in 1993 as a core member of the team that created the Group's aluminum business, assuming a variety of operating and functional positions including General Manager, Hillside Aluminum, and Chief Operating Officer, Aluminum.
Prior to the formation of BHP Billiton, he also acted as Chief Executive Samancor Manganese and Group Executive of Billiton Plc, responsible for its coal and manganese businesses.
He played a central role in the merger of BHP and Billiton, as Chief Marketing Officer and then Chief Commercial Officer before being appointed Group President, Non-Ferrous Materials and an executive Director of BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton Plc in January 2006.
Kloppers was appointed Group Executive and Chief Executive Non-Ferrous in July 2007 and has been Chief Executive Officer of BHP Billiton since October 2007.
He now lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife Carin and their three children, Noni, Reuben and Gabrielle.
|
[
"From when is he the CEO of BHP Billiton?",
"What was he a core member of?",
"Where did he begin a career in?",
"What was he Chief Executive Officer of?",
"What team was he core member of?",
"In which country did he begin his career?",
"who created Billiton's aaluminumbusiness?",
"When did he become CEO of BHP Billiton?",
"What did he help to create?",
"What career did he begin with?",
"Since when has he been Chief Executive Officer of BHP Billiton?",
"which country did he began the career?"
] |
[
"October 2007.",
"Billiton Group",
"South Africa,",
"Billiton",
"that created the Group's aluminum business,",
"South Africa,",
"Kloppers",
"October 2007.",
"merger of BHP and Billiton,",
"petrochemicals",
"October 2007.",
"South Africa,"
] |
question: From when is he the CEO of BHP Billiton?, answer: October 2007. | question: What was he a core member of?, answer: Billiton Group | question: Where did he begin a career in?, answer: South Africa, | question: What was he Chief Executive Officer of?, answer: Billiton | question: What team was he core member of?, answer: that created the Group's aluminum business, | question: In which country did he begin his career?, answer: South Africa, | question: who created Billiton's aaluminumbusiness?, answer: Kloppers | question: When did he become CEO of BHP Billiton?, answer: October 2007. | question: What did he help to create?, answer: merger of BHP and Billiton, | question: What career did he begin with?, answer: petrochemicals | question: Since when has he been Chief Executive Officer of BHP Billiton?, answer: October 2007. | question: which country did he began the career?, answer: South Africa,
|
(CNN) -- Marjorye Heeney knew something was wrong when she saw a bulging cloud of black dust darken the sky.
Drought-like conditions dried this Kern River bed last year near Bakersfield, California.
She then heard an eerie, train-like whistle as fierce winds rattled her front door and windows. When she looked outside, hordes of grasshoppers and crows swarmed over her father's barren farm. After the storm broke, her father walked outside and muttered curses as he scanned the horizon for rain clouds.
"I can remember my dad just watching the sky so closely," Heeney says. "A sprinkle would excite him so much."
That's how Heeney, now 83, describes growing up on an Oklahoma farm during the Dust Bowl storms in the 1930s. For much of that decade, "black blizzards" -- formed by a prolonged drought and poor farming techniques -- ravaged much of the nation.
Now a new generation of Americans is again anxiously looking to the sky. Drought has returned to the United States, and some warn that more tough days are ahead.
The value of water is starting to become apparent in America. Over the past three years a drought has affected large swaths of the country, and conflicts over water usage may become commonplace in the future, climatologists say.
"Our focus is oil, but the critical need for water is going to make water the most significant natural resource that we're going to have to worry about in the future," says Larry Fillmer, executive director of the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute at Auburn University in Alabama.
At least 36 states expect to face water shortages within the next five years, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, several regions in particular have been hit hard: the Southeast, Southwest and the West. Texas, Georgia and South Carolina have suffered the worst droughts this year, the agency said.
Yet most people don't need scientists to tell them there's a water shortage. Plenty of cities have implemented water bans while state squabbles over water usage are common in some regions. What may surprise people, though, are the causes for the recent drought.
It's not global warming, some climatologists say. The droughts are caused by rapid population growth and unwise agricultural choices.
John R. Christy, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, says the last three years have been drier than usual in many parts of the United States, but overall there's been no shortage of rainfall. He says the U.S. mainland experienced worse droughts in the 12th and 16th centuries.
"The demand for water has gone up," Christy says. "The demand has skyrocketed in places like California and New Mexico because they've tried to grow crops in deserts."
Even drought conditions in the Southeast can't be blamed on a shortage of rainfall, Christy says. The region's water delivery systems can't keep pace with the growth, he says.
"The rain is still falling, but you're out of water because the storage facilities are not big enough," Christy says.
There's also a public perception that ordinary people are wasting more water, but that's not true, says Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center.
"Per capita use of water is down because we're learning to be more efficient," Svoboda says.
Water shortages don't have to remain a fact of modern life, drought experts say. Many offer the same solutions: Build better water delivery systems to accommodate population growth, develop more efficient uses of irrigation, and shift agriculture from the West to the East where it's easier and cheaper to water crops.
Svoboda believes a change in attitude is even more vital than changing habits.
"We take water for granted," he says. "We think it's a cheap commodity that's always going to be there."
Heeney, the Dust Bowl survivor, doesn't appear to need that lesson. She remembers how precious
|
[
"Who remembers the Dust Bowl storms",
"How many states expect water shortages",
"What do experts say the main causes are",
"What do experts say is a main cause of the drought and water shortages?",
"How many states are being affected?",
"How many states are expected to have water shortages?",
"What do 36 states face?",
"What are the main causes of the drought?",
"What country has the drought affected?"
] |
[
"Heeney, now 83, describes growing up on an Oklahoma farm during the",
"At least 36",
"rapid population growth and unwise agricultural choices.",
"unwise agricultural choices.",
"At least 36",
"36",
"water shortages",
"rapid population growth and unwise agricultural choices.",
"United States,"
] |
question: Who remembers the Dust Bowl storms, answer: Heeney, now 83, describes growing up on an Oklahoma farm during the | question: How many states expect water shortages, answer: At least 36 | question: What do experts say the main causes are, answer: rapid population growth and unwise agricultural choices. | question: What do experts say is a main cause of the drought and water shortages?, answer: unwise agricultural choices. | question: How many states are being affected?, answer: At least 36 | question: How many states are expected to have water shortages?, answer: 36 | question: What do 36 states face?, answer: water shortages | question: What are the main causes of the drought?, answer: rapid population growth and unwise agricultural choices. | question: What country has the drought affected?, answer: United States,
|
(CNN) -- Massachusetts sued the U.S. government on Wednesday, challenging the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
The state of Massachusetts says the Defense of Marriage Act denies same-sex couples essential rights.
"We're taking this action today because, first, we believe that [the Defense of Marriage Act] directly interferes with Massachusetts' long-standing sovereign authority to define and regulate the marital status of its residents," Attorney General Martha Coakley said Wednesday afternoon.
"Massachusetts has a single category of married persons, and we view all married persons equally and identically," she said.
"DOMA divides that category into two distinct and unequal classes of marriage."
The lawsuit argues that the act, which became law in 1996, denies same-sex couples essential rights and protections, including federal income tax credits, employment and retirement benefits, health insurance coverage and Social Security payments.
"In enacting DOMA, Congress overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people," the state wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in federal court.
Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, said that about 16,000 same-sex couples have been married there since 2004, when it began issuing marriage licenses. Since that time, the lawsuit said, "the security and stability of families has been strengthened in important ways throughout the state. "
The state is challenging Section 3 of the law, which defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and a spouse as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."
Before the act, the lawsuit argues, defining marital status was the prerogative of the states.
The law "eviscerated more than 200 years of federal government deference to the states with respect to defining marriage," it said.
The lawsuit also argues that the law forces Massachusetts to treat same-sex married couples differently from heterosexual married couples, particularly through determining who qualifies for the state's Medicaid program, known as MassHealth, and whether a same-sex spouse of a veteran can be buried in a veteran cemetery.
"But for DOMA, married individuals in same-sex relationships in the commonwealth would receive the same status, obligations, responsibilities, rights, and protections as married individuals in different-sex relationships under local, state, and federal laws," the lawsuit said.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include the Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and the United States itself.
Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said the department will review the case but noted that President Obama supports the legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.
In March, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders -- the same Boston-based group that successfully argued in 2003 for same-sex marriage rights in Massachusetts -- also sued the federal government over Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Besides Massachusetts, three other states recognize same-sex marriages: Connecticut, Maine, and Iowa. Vermont and New Hampshire will join their company when same-sex marriages become legal later this year and early next year.
|
[
"What does it call marriage?",
"What did attorney general say?",
"What did lawsuit challenge?",
"What is the typical definition for marriage in the past?",
"What did the lawsuit challenge?",
"What defines marriages?",
"What does the suit say?",
"What does the lawsuit challenge?",
"What does the measure define?",
"What was the lawsuit challenges?",
"What did the law denies?"
] |
[
"the union of a man and a woman.",
"\"Massachusetts has a single category of married persons, and we view all married persons equally and identically,\"",
"Section 3 of the law, which defines marriage as \"a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife\" and a spouse as \"a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.\"",
"union of a man and a woman.",
"federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.",
"\"a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife\" and a spouse as \"a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.\"",
"the act, which became law in 1996, denies same-sex couples essential rights and protections, including federal income tax credits,",
"federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.",
"marriage as the union of a man and a woman.",
"federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.",
"same-sex couples essential rights."
] |
question: What does it call marriage?, answer: the union of a man and a woman. | question: What did attorney general say?, answer: "Massachusetts has a single category of married persons, and we view all married persons equally and identically," | question: What did lawsuit challenge?, answer: Section 3 of the law, which defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and a spouse as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." | question: What is the typical definition for marriage in the past?, answer: union of a man and a woman. | question: What did the lawsuit challenge?, answer: federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. | question: What defines marriages?, answer: "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and a spouse as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." | question: What does the suit say?, answer: the act, which became law in 1996, denies same-sex couples essential rights and protections, including federal income tax credits, | question: What does the lawsuit challenge?, answer: federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. | question: What does the measure define?, answer: marriage as the union of a man and a woman. | question: What was the lawsuit challenges?, answer: federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. | question: What did the law denies?, answer: same-sex couples essential rights.
|
(CNN) -- Mathieu Bastareaud returned from the international rugby wilderness to score two tries as France opened their Six Nations campaign with an 18-9 victory away to Scotland on Sunday.
The center made his first start since being cast aside after fabricating a tale of being assaulted during France's tour of New Zealand in June last year.
The 21-year-old crossed for his first five-point scores at the highest level, having made his debut in the 2009 Six Nations before causing controversy when he claimed he had been attacked outside his hotel to explain facial injuries.
He later admitted being drunk and falling over a table in his room, but speculation over the incident continued and French sports paper L'Equipe reported that he had psychiatric treatment following a suicide attempt.
However, Bastareaud scored the first try of the game in Edinburgh in the 12th minute following a five-meter scrum, and powered over the line again out on the left seven minutes before halftime.
Scrumhalf Morgan Parra converted to give France a 15-6 lead and then kicked his second penalty five minutes after the interval.
Chris Paterson, playing his 99th international for Scotland, kicked his third penalty to reduce the deficit but the home side never looked like breaching the try line of last year's third-placed team as France could afford to see Parra miss another attempt at goal.
Scotland coach Andy Robinson was left to rue defensive lapses ahead of next weekend's trip to Wales, who lost 30-17 to England on Saturday.
"We conceded two soft scores, and if we do that we're not going to beat anybody," the Englishman told reporters. "It was hard against a good French scrum. The French were very canny in what they did."
France winger Vincent Clerc praised teammate Bastareaud, who was banned for three months after his admission of lying.
"It was a good performance after some problems in July. He had a great match with two tries and some great defense," Clerc said.
|
[
"Which country defeated Scotland in 18-9 opening?",
"How many scores did Mathie score?",
"What result gave France the match against Scotland?",
"Who scored two tries on return?",
"Who did France defeat?",
"When did France defeat Scotland?",
"Who was banned for three months?"
] |
[
"France",
"two",
"18-9",
"Bastareaud",
"Scotland",
"Sunday.",
"Bastareaud"
] |
question: Which country defeated Scotland in 18-9 opening?, answer: France | question: How many scores did Mathie score?, answer: two | question: What result gave France the match against Scotland?, answer: 18-9 | question: Who scored two tries on return?, answer: Bastareaud | question: Who did France defeat?, answer: Scotland | question: When did France defeat Scotland?, answer: Sunday. | question: Who was banned for three months?, answer: Bastareaud
|
(CNN) -- Matt Aldridge would have trouble contemplating life without the Shriners Hospital for Children in Greenville, South Carolina.
Maddie Aldridge has received extensive care at South Carolina's Shriners Hospital, including leg amputation.
Aldridge, 28, and his 21-month-old daughter, Maddie, were born without shinbones. Both had their legs amputated at Shriners near their first birthdays. Like all care given to youths admitted to any of North America's 22 Shriners Hospitals, their surgeries and follow-up treatments were free to them.
Aldridge estimates the care he received through his teens in the Shriners' system -- which admits children irrespective of their parents' income -- cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, approaching the lifetime limits of some insurance policies.
Now, he and his wife, Renee, take Maddie to Greenville -- about a 90-minute drive from their South Carolina home -- at least every six weeks, partly for treatment of a hip condition.
Without Shriners' cover-all-costs policy, the family would be in serious trouble, said Aldridge, who works at a Wal-Mart cell phone connection center. Renee is a stay-at-home mother, and the family doesn't have private medical insurance.
"If it weren't for Shriners, we'd be financially devastated," Matt Aldridge said. "With just the care Maddie has received already, we probably would be bankrupt."
For the Aldridges and many other families, accessing care from Shriners may get a lot more difficult.
The system's board says it may ask the fraternity's membership in July for authority to close six hospitals -- including the one in Greenville -- largely because the endowment fund that supports the hospitals dropped from $8.5 billion to $5.2 billion over the last year as the stock market plummeted.
The others that could close are in Erie, Pennsylvania; Shreveport, Louisiana; Spokane, Washington; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Galveston, Texas. The Galveston hospital's operations have been suspended since Hurricane Ike flooded it last year. See map of where all 22 Shriners hospitals are »
Deflated investments aren't the only reason the fund has dropped. The hospitals normally operate with donations and the fund's interest, but the system's $856 million 2009 budget is outpacing both, causing the hospitals to take about $1 million per day from the fund, said Ralph Semb, president and CEO of Shriners Hospitals.
Other proposals from the system's board would close just one hospital or none, but slash spending systemwide. Leaders also are exploring other options, such as partnering with non-Shriners hospitals. But one way or another, the system must cut spending by about 30 percent to survive, Semb said.
"If we do nothing, every hospital would have to cut 25 to 30 percent from their budgets, which in effect would shut about six of them anyway, because they couldn't give the services they've been giving," Semb said.
Still, the hospitals can't close without consent of the fraternity's membership. Two-thirds of the roughly 1,400 representatives at the group's July 6-8 Imperial Council Session in San Antonio, Texas, would have to vote for it. Learn about the Shriners fraternity »
History shows that might be difficult. Members, some of whom transport children to hospitals themselves, killed a 2003 proposal to close the hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a similar market downturn.
"I don't think it will happen. I don't think it should happen," said Carl V. Nielsen, a 40-year Shriner and a board member for the Minneapolis hospital, which is not on the current possible-closure list. "That would leave large areas of the country without a Shriners hospital, and the cost of transportation of the patients back and forth [to the remaining hospitals] would be too great."
Shriners Hospitals, which deals with certain specialties up to age 18, have treated hundreds of thousands of children free of charge since the first facility opened in Shreveport in 1922. Most offer orthopedic care. Four, including the Galveston hospital, care for
|
[
"What do hospitals' leaders seek",
"Who would have to approve closures?"
] |
[
"exploring other options, such as partnering with non-Shriners",
"Two-thirds of the roughly 1,400 representatives"
] |
question: What do hospitals' leaders seek, answer: exploring other options, such as partnering with non-Shriners | question: Who would have to approve closures?, answer: Two-thirds of the roughly 1,400 representatives
|
(CNN) -- Mauricio Funes, a member of a political party that waged guerrilla war against the government 17 years ago, claimed the presidency of El Salvador on Sunday night.
FMLN's Mauricio Funes shows his ballot before voting Sunday in Antiguo Cuscatlan, El Salvador.
"This is the happiest night of my life," Funes told a jubilant crowd at his election headquarters. "It's also the night of greatest hope for El Salvador."
With 90.68 percent of the votes counted, the FMLN party's Funes had 51.27 percent, while the ARENA party's Rodrigo Avila had 48.73 percent, the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal said.
The final tally will be certified within 48 hours, the electoral council's Walter Araujo said in a nationally televised news conference.
Funes' victory ended a 20-year hold on the presidency by the right-leaning ARENA.
"Now the ARENA party passes into opposition," Funes said. "ARENA ... can be assured that it will be listened to and respected."
Although polls had indicated the race had tightened considerably in the past few weeks, most analysts had predicted that Funes would win.
"It's a sign that there's democracy in that country, which is something the United States tried to foster," said Bernard Aronson, who as President George H.W. Bush's assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs from 1989-93 was heavily involved in ending El Salvador's 12-year civil war.
The FMLN, which is the Spanish acronym for the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, was formed in late 1980 as an umbrella group for five leftist guerilla organizations fighting a U.S.-backed military dictatorship. The guerrillas and the government signed a peace pact in 1992 and the FMLN became a legitimate political party.
By some estimates, 75,000 Salvadorans died during the war.
The new president will find "a country that still retains a lot of bitterness, a lot of division," said Peter Hakim, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue policy institute.
"This country is completely divided," ARENA party official Adolfo Torres said on CNN affiliate TCS TV station Sunday night.
The election, Hakim said, was "an important test of how far El Salvador has come."
The result also will be an important test of how far El Salvador will go.
With an economy in deep trouble and neither party having enough seats to control the national Legislative Assembly, much will depend on the party that lost.
"Conflict occurs when one person wants to force a conflict," Hakim said. "Compromise requires both sides."
No one is certain how ARENA will handle the loss.
"That's a big unknown," said Heather Berkman, a Latin America analyst with the consulting firm Eurasia Group. "I still think they'll play ball. They have an incentive to get along with the new administration. They certainly don't want to be shut out of the process."
Otto Reich, who served in high-level Latin American posts for Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, sees the possibility of a spirited fight from ARENA.
"If I had to guess, I'd say ARENA will try to put democratic obstacles in the way of an FMLN consolidation of power," Reich said.
Although ARENA, which are the Spanish initials for the Nationalist Republican Alliance, has come back from a 14-point deficit in some polls two months ago, Reich said winning a fifth consecutive term was "swimming against the tide."
"People in El Salvador are weighing risks and opportunities," Reich said. "They have an opportunity to replace a party with which they have gotten tired."
Hakim also saw voter fatigue with ARENA, saying, "One party has managed the country forever and ever."
Many of the 2.4 million Salvadorans who voted weighed competing doubts.
"The uncertainty is that the FMLN has never been in power," Berkman said.
But voters also asked themselves, she said, whether they were "better off than they were five years ago,
|
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[
"Funes' victory",
"51.27",
"Funes",
"90.68 percent",
"Sunday",
"a 20-year hold on the presidency by the right-leaning ARENA.",
"75,000 Salvadorans"
] |
question: What would end 20-year hold by the right-leaning ARENA?, answer: Funes' victory | question: What percentage of vote did he have?, answer: 51.27 | question: Who had 51.27 percent of the vote, answer: Funes | question: how many ballots were counted, answer: 90.68 percent | question: When did he last win?, answer: Sunday | question: what would the victory end, answer: a 20-year hold on the presidency by the right-leaning ARENA. | question: Who died during the civil war?, answer: 75,000 Salvadorans
|
(CNN) -- Maybe marriage to Kate Winslet isn't all that bad.
Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski star as a couple on the road in the comedy "Away We Go."
After cruelly dissecting marital malaise in "American Beauty" and again, just six months ago, in "Revolutionary Road," Winslet's husband Sam Mendes takes a slightly more optimistic view of family life in the edgy comedy "Away We Go."
Not that he's offering a whole-hearted endorsement of the institution.
Burt and Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) aren't legally bound -- she staunchly resists his repeated proposals -- but nevertheless they're a couple about to go nuclear: She's six months pregnant.
He sells insurance to insurance companies. She's an illustrator with a lucrative line in anatomical drawings.
Nevertheless, they're struggling to make ends meet.
"Are we losers?" wonders Verona (only she uses a more colorful expression). "We have cardboard windows... I think we must be."
Insomuch as they have a plan at all, it hinges on the support they're expecting from Burt's doting parents. So it's a nasty wake-up call when Jerry and Gloria (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) announce they're taking off for a new life in Belgium -- yes, even before the baby's out.
There is a silver lining: Realizing they no longer have any reason to stay, Burt and Verona decide to widen their horizons. They could move to Arizona where Verona's sister lives. Burt has a job prospect in Madison, Wisconsin. Or they have college friends in Montreal. Their destiny awaits them, all they have to do is go out and find it. And away they go.
Although the couple racks up a good few miles in their search for home, the movie doesn't betray much interest in location. Arizona is hot and arid. In Montreal they pour gravy on French fries. Don't expect cultural insights. It's never explained how these stragglers can afford such speculative wandering, and when they do find their dream home it's mystifying that it hasn't occurred to them before.
Still, the movie's loose-limbed, spontaneous quality is a good part of its appeal, and a refreshing change of pace from other movies by Mendes, whose artfully designed compositions often seem self-conscious and painfully detached.
In keeping with Indie-wood's vogue for shuffling snide satire and sentimentality (see "Juno" and "Little Miss Sunshine"), "Away We Go" presents its trepidatious travelers with half a dozen starkly contrasted parental figures, including Allison Janney's monstrously vulgar alcoholic, Maggie Gyllenhaal's radical earth-mother (who has shortened her name to "LN"), and Paul Schneider as Burt's rawly dumped brother, who wonders aloud if it would be wrong to tell his daughter her mom has been murdered.
There's a level of bile here that some audiences may find alienating -- I can't see it being a big hit in Phoenix -- but Dave Eggers' and Vendela Vida's writing is a cut above the average, and it's performed with gusto.
They may not be the most dynamic duo to hit the road, but the relationship between Burt and Verona feels touchingly true.
Burt is a boy still trying on manhood for size (with a beard for extra emphasis), and though we've seen Krasinski do this before, he seems to have fine-tuned the performance to the point where he could very happily play it for the next two decades. Unlike his character, he's an actor who has found himself.
Maya Rudolph is the joy of this picture. Give or take her role in Altman's "Prairie Home Companion," the "Saturday Night Live" star hasn't made much impact in movies before now. With her frazzled, freckled face, she's not the glamour girl who would normally be shoe-horned into the romantic lead, but she seizes her chance and runs with it.
Mendes brings out a more thoughtful and nuanced
|
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] |
[
"Sam Mendes",
"support",
"She's six months pregnant.",
"Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski",
"loose-limbed, spontaneous quality",
"Maya Rudolph"
] |
question: what is the name of the director?, answer: Sam Mendes | question: what are they expecting, answer: support | question: are they expecting a baby, answer: She's six months pregnant. | question: Who stars as a couple expecting a baby?, answer: Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski | question: What is part of the movie's appeal?, answer: loose-limbed, spontaneous quality | question: what is the lead actress name?, answer: Maya Rudolph
|
(CNN) -- Maybe marriage to Kate Winslet isn't all that bad.
Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski star as a couple on the road in the comedy "Away We Go."
After cruelly dissecting marital malaise in "American Beauty" and again, just six months ago, in "Revolutionary Road," Winslet's husband Sam Mendes takes a slightly more optimistic view of family life in the edgy comedy "Away We Go."
Not that he's offering a whole-hearted endorsement of the institution.
Burt and Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) aren't legally bound -- she staunchly resists his repeated proposals -- but nevertheless they're a couple about to go nuclear: She's six months pregnant.
He sells insurance to insurance companies. She's an illustrator with a lucrative line in anatomical drawings.
Nevertheless, they're struggling to make ends meet.
"Are we losers?" wonders Verona (only she uses a more colorful expression). "We have cardboard windows... I think we must be."
Insomuch as they have a plan at all, it hinges on the support they're expecting from Burt's doting parents. So it's a nasty wake-up call when Jerry and Gloria (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) announce they're taking off for a new life in Belgium -- yes, even before the baby's out.
There is a silver lining: Realizing they no longer have any reason to stay, Burt and Verona decide to widen their horizons. They could move to Arizona where Verona's sister lives. Burt has a job prospect in Madison, Wisconsin. Or they have college friends in Montreal. Their destiny awaits them, all they have to do is go out and find it. And away they go.
Although the couple racks up a good few miles in their search for home, the movie doesn't betray much interest in location. Arizona is hot and arid. In Montreal they pour gravy on French fries. Don't expect cultural insights. It's never explained how these stragglers can afford such speculative wandering, and when they do find their dream home it's mystifying that it hasn't occurred to them before.
Still, the movie's loose-limbed, spontaneous quality is a good part of its appeal, and a refreshing change of pace from other movies by Mendes, whose artfully designed compositions often seem self-conscious and painfully detached.
In keeping with Indie-wood's vogue for shuffling snide satire and sentimentality (see "Juno" and "Little Miss Sunshine"), "Away We Go" presents its trepidatious travelers with half a dozen starkly contrasted parental figures, including Allison Janney's monstrously vulgar alcoholic, Maggie Gyllenhaal's radical earth-mother (who has shortened her name to "LN"), and Paul Schneider as Burt's rawly dumped brother, who wonders aloud if it would be wrong to tell his daughter her mom has been murdered.
There's a level of bile here that some audiences may find alienating -- I can't see it being a big hit in Phoenix -- but Dave Eggers' and Vendela Vida's writing is a cut above the average, and it's performed with gusto.
They may not be the most dynamic duo to hit the road, but the relationship between Burt and Verona feels touchingly true.
Burt is a boy still trying on manhood for size (with a beard for extra emphasis), and though we've seen Krasinski do this before, he seems to have fine-tuned the performance to the point where he could very happily play it for the next two decades. Unlike his character, he's an actor who has found himself.
Maya Rudolph is the joy of this picture. Give or take her role in Altman's "Prairie Home Companion," the "Saturday Night Live" star hasn't made much impact in movies before now. With her frazzled, freckled face, she's not the glamour girl who would normally be shoe-horned into the romantic lead, but she seizes her chance and runs with it.
Mendes brings out a more thoughtful and nuanced
|
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"Who was the director?",
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"Who stars as a couple expected a baby?"
] |
[
"Sam Mendes",
"\"Away We Go.\"",
"a couple on the road",
"Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski",
"Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski"
] |
question: Who was the director?, answer: Sam Mendes | question: What film is John Krasinski starring in?, answer: "Away We Go." | question: What is the movie about, answer: a couple on the road | question: Who stars in the movie, answer: Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski | question: Who stars as a couple expected a baby?, answer: Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski
|
(CNN) -- Maybe you had one as a kid, or knew someone who did. It's the iconic little red wagon with the Radio Flyer logo.
Radio Flyer is developing a prototype of a wagon with digital controls and an MP3 player dock.
If so, you might not recognize the newest product dreamed up by the brain trust at Radio Flyer's Chicago, Illinois, headquarters.
This wagon, called the Cloud 9, is equipped with enough high-tech bells and whistles to make the family minivan jealous.
"We approached this product much like an automotive company might with a concept car," said Mark Johnson, Radio Flyer's product development manager.
Outfitted with 5-point safety harnesses, padded seats, cup holders, foot brakes and fold-out storage containers, the sleek, curved Cloud 9 has every family covered for a ride through the park. But that's just for starters.
There's a digital handle that tracks temperature, time, distance and speed -- just in case energetic parents want to track their split times around the playground. And there's a slot for an MP3 player, complete with speakers, for some cruising tunes.
That's right: The little red wagon has gone 2.0.
"Music is such an important part of kids' and families' lives, we thought it would be great to have a speaker system built in the wagon," said Tom Schlegel, vice president of product development.
The Cloud 9 is still a prototype, but it wasn't developed on a whim. The company did extensive market research beforehand, then tested it out on the real experts at home.
"We sit down [and] observe how moms and kids are using our products," said Schlegel. "That's where our new ideas come from."
To develop those ideas, Radio Flyer's designers are using state-of-the art technology. They use Wacom Cintiq graphic tablets, allowing them to draw directly onto digital renderings of new products. And Radio Flyer also has its own in-house computer numerical control, or CNC, machines that create prototypes right on site.
Radio Flyer's blend of cutting-edge design and old-fashioned products appears to be a successful recipe. In an economy where businesses and families alike are tightening their belts, the company is still going strong.
"Radio Flyer survived the Great Depression, and this year has been a difficult year for a lot of companies," Schlegel says, "But Radio Flyer is actually growing this year. We're actually looking for engineers and designers in our product development group to keep up with the growth of the company."
That's quite a testament for a company nearly 90 years old.
Theirs is an American success story that started when Italian immigrant Antonio Pasin started building wooden toy wagons in 1917. He had limited success but was encouraged enough to start the Liberty Coaster Company in 1923.
The company changed names seven years later, becoming Radio Steel & Manufacturing. The world was introduced that same year to the first steel wagon, called the Radio Flyer. Since then, Radio Flyer has become perhaps the world's most famous maker of wagons, tricycles and other toys.
The company's best-known product even inspired a 1992 movie, "Radio Flyer," about a boy who imagines converting his red wagon into a flying machine to help his little brother flee an abusive stepdad.
Whether you grew up on Rock-'em Sock-'em Robots or Xbox, the little red wagon has remained a mainstay of child's play. It's certainly evolved over the years, though -- the rusty metal has been replaced with plastic.
But the spirit of Radio Flyer, which conjures memories of a simpler time, remains intact.
"One of the most important things about Radio Flyer products is that they really help [keep kids active outdoors]," Schlegel said. "So when we're designing our products, we're really looking at how can we get kids outside and playing, away from the video games and TV screens and computer screens."
CNN.com
|
[
"Who created the red toy wagon?",
"What is the name of the new wagon?"
] |
[
"Antonio Pasin",
"Cloud 9,"
] |
question: Who created the red toy wagon?, answer: Antonio Pasin | question: What is the name of the new wagon?, answer: Cloud 9,
|
(CNN) -- McDonald's probably won't be exclaiming "I'm Lovin' It" in this case.
McCurry restaurant owners A.M.S.P Suppiah and his wife Kanageswary Suppiah.
In a David-and-Goliath match-up in the world of fast food, McCurry -- a small Indian curry shop in Malaysia -- has won an eight-year legal battle against the hamburger giant.
McDonald's claimed that the prefix "Mc" in McCurry trampled on its trademark. The country's Federal Court on Tuesday ruled that it didn't.
"We're very relieved -- much, much relieved -- that this eight-year-old saga is finally over," said McCurry owner P. Suppiah. "We're a typical South Asian-Malay cuisine. No way people walking into McCurry can confuse us with McDonald's."
The sparse 24/7 self-service restaurant in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, is popular with blue-collar workers who are drawn to its affordable fare, such as biryani rice and fishhead curry. Its logo: a chicken flashing a thumbs-up.
The eatery opened in 1999. McDonald's filed suit two years later.
"We were shocked that such a big giant wants to take us to court," Suppiah said. "We felt that we had nothing in common, because we were not selling any Western fast food."
The hamburger chain, which has 185 restaurants throughout Malaysia, said McCurry was violating the prefix "Mc" and that McDonald's had the right to protect it.
McCurry, in turn, said the prefix is common and is part of last names all across Europe. Furthermore, it said, the "Mc" in McCurry stands for "Malaysian Chicken Curry."
A lower court ruled in favor of McDonald's, and Suppiah appealed. An appeals court in 2006 overturned that ruling, prompting McDonald's to appeal this time.
On Tuesday, the Federal Court -- the highest in the land -- held up the appeals court ruling. McDonald's said it accepts the judgment.
"We respect the finding of the court and beyond that have no further comment," said Liam Jeory of McDonald's Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region.
Suppiah said the ruling means he can now add other McCurry locations, with its slogan: "Tasty and so Gooood."
|
[
"what did McDonalds claim about McCurry?",
"Did McCurry defeat McDonald's?",
"who won the case?",
"who owns McCurry?"
] |
[
"was violating the prefix \"Mc\" and that",
"has won an eight-year legal battle against the hamburger giant.",
"McCurry",
"A.M.S.P Suppiah and his wife Kanageswary Suppiah."
] |
question: what did McDonalds claim about McCurry?, answer: was violating the prefix "Mc" and that | question: Did McCurry defeat McDonald's?, answer: has won an eight-year legal battle against the hamburger giant. | question: who won the case?, answer: McCurry | question: who owns McCurry?, answer: A.M.S.P Suppiah and his wife Kanageswary Suppiah.
|
(CNN) -- Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs are used by the military to provide nutritious and compact meals for the troops. The meals spark memories good and bad, for those who ate them in the military and even for some civilians who used them during disasters, when food was not readily available.
Harald Schweizer was 19 when this photo was taken in the summer of 1968 in Vietnam. He is holding a C ration.
CNN.com readers shared their stories and memories of MREs and C rations. Some of the responses have been edited for clarity and length. Here is a selection:
Michael Reimers of Gresham, Oregon MREs are the fancy ones. We had C rations. Probably left over from WWII! For my 21st birthday in 1982 I was on border patrol at the Czech border and my friends snuck in two beers and made a cake for me out of what was available. They took a fruitcake that was in something like a tuna can tin and they mixed hot chocolate mix with grape jelly to make the frosting and added a candle and two German beers and we were in business out in the woods. It was very cool being with all my buddies and them doing that for me.
Ronald Mervyn of Burton, Michigan I served in the army from April 1985 to February 1988. MREs were not all that bad. I liked the chicken ala king, the dehydrated potatoes patty and the chocolate chip cookies the best. They were all edible. I wish I could have brought some home to share with family and friends.
Steven Carrigan of Salina, Kansas I served in the U.S. Marine corps. Did I eat MREs? You bet and a lot of them. They get the job done but always needed a bit of spicing up, Tabasco sauce that someone would bring to the field, usually. Cold weather affected them more than anything. Nothing worse than getting the beans and franks in cold weather. The beans would be semi-hard and the franks rock solid. The preservative that they are in gels up and looks like petroleum jelly. Had to carry them next to your body to get them warm. To me the worst one was the chicken ala king, disgusting. The desserts were always good. Some guys had recipes that you could mix together two or three MREs and have a pretty good meal if you had heat and the time to cook it. Even though I thought I left them behind when I left the military, I still have them in the car during the winter and when I do ice fishing. They are great in a pinch.
Annette Sweet of Leavenworth, Kansas This is a different side of life all together; I believe the best memories were how to heat your MRE before they came out with the heating pouch. Spaghetti, wow that was a good one, the best way to serve it was to take your MRE cheese, a mini bottle of the Tabasco that came in the pack and mix it all together and place on the hood of your Humvee on a hot day or by the heater on a cold day. Umm good. Now, the worst ever that I believe they came out with was the loaf, I can't even say whether it was meat or vegetables but it really left a very heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach. You can never forget the ham slices; unfortunately they forgot to slice it, it was about ½ inch thick filled with gristle and very salty, very hard to digest. The different assortments of all the MREs were, as I call them, Charms candy, hard as a rock and stuck to your teeth; Tootsie roll, huge and didn't taste like chocolate; Chicklet gum, send you straight to the throne; the peanut butter and crackers, well, a bit oily but I considered a keeper. Oh, by the way, they did have real coffee. I believe it was Tasters Choice, not sure though. And fruit loaf, what can you say about a loaf? Once a loaf, always a loaf, and staying with tradition of blended items, you mixed a pack of the powered cream they
|
[
"What 'left a very heavy felling the the pt of your stomach'?",
"What did the meat-vegetable-loaf leave?",
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"What gets the job done?"
] |
[
"the loaf,",
"a very heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach.",
"meat or vegetables",
"stories and memories of MREs and C rations.",
"MREs?"
] |
question: What 'left a very heavy felling the the pt of your stomach'?, answer: the loaf, | question: What did the meat-vegetable-loaf leave?, answer: a very heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach. | question: what left a very heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach?, answer: meat or vegetables | question: what CNN readers recall?, answer: stories and memories of MREs and C rations. | question: What gets the job done?, answer: MREs?
|
(CNN) -- Meat is murder? Well, perhaps not for much longer.
Artist Banksy has satirized modern farming and meat production; could in-vitro meat be a better option?
A pioneering group of scientists are working to grow real animal protein in the laboratory, which they not only claim is better for animal welfare, but actually healthier, both for people and the planet. It may sound like science fiction, but this technology to create in-vitro meat could be changing global diets within ten years.
"Cultured meat would have a lot of advantages," said Jason Matheny of research group New Harvest. "We could precisely control the amount of fat in meat. We could make ground beef with an ideal fatty acid ratio -- a hamburger that prevents heart attacks instead of causing them."
But it isn't just the possibility of creating designer ground beef with the fat profile of salmon that drives Matheny's work. Meat and livestock farming is also the source of many human diseases, which he claims would be far less common when the product is raised in laboratory conditions.
"We could reduce the risks of diseases like swine flu, avian flu, 'mad cow disease', or contamination from Salmonella," he told CNN. "We could produce meat in sterile conditions that are impossible in conventional animal farms and slaughterhouses. And when we grow only the meat we can eat, it's more efficient. There's no need to grow the whole animal and lose 75 to 95 percent of what we feed it."
Conventional meat production is also hard on the environment. The contribution of livestock to climate change was recently highlighted by the United Nations' report, "Livestock's Long Shadow", while groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have demonstrated how soy farming for animal feed contributes to the destruction of the Amazon.
In this context Matheny believes his project could significantly cut the environmental impact of meat production -- using much less water and producing far fewer greenhouse gases.
"We could reduce the environmental footprint of meat, which currently contributes more to global warming than the entire transportation sector," says Matheny.
Preliminary results from a study by Hanna Tuomisto, at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford, suggest that cultured meat would reduce the carbon emissions of meat production by more than 80 percent.
Making cultured meat
In-vitro meat is made from samples of animals conventionally slaughtered. For example, "pork" is made from pig ovaries retrieved from slaughterhouses, which are fertilized with pig semen, transforming them into embryos. They are then placed in a nutrient solution, where they grow and develop.
It's a long way from the popular image of animals wandering round the farmyard in the sunshine, but then so is modern intensive farming. The factor that could take the research from the lab to the store and into refrigerators around the world is its remarkable commercial potential.
According to New Harvest, meat is already estimated to be a $1 trillion global market, and demand is expected to double by 2050. With concerns about health, animal welfare and the environment growing the appeal of in vitro meat is obvious.
Matheny told CNN that venture capitalists Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have shown an interest in his technology, while Stegman, a sausage subsidiary of food giant Sara Lee, is a partner. The Netherlands' Government has also invested around $4 million in Dutch research into in-vitro meat production.
But it isn't just the suits who are circling with their checkbooks out -- campaign group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have announced a $1 million prize for the first commercially viable in vitro chicken product. The Humane Society of the United States has also been supportive.
"We think that a technology to produce cultured ground meats -- burgers, sausages, nuggets, and so forth -- could be commercialized within ten years," said Matheny.
"As with most technologies, successive generations should improve in price, quality, and acceptance. We don't think that matching the taste and texture of ground meats will
|
[
"When could lab made meat be served?",
"what did advocates say about in-vitro meat?",
"What is grown in a lab using animal samples?",
"When could lab-made meat be served?",
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] |
[
"within ten years.",
"healthier, both for people and the planet.",
"protein",
"within ten years.",
"in the laboratory,"
] |
question: When could lab made meat be served?, answer: within ten years. | question: what did advocates say about in-vitro meat?, answer: healthier, both for people and the planet. | question: What is grown in a lab using animal samples?, answer: protein | question: When could lab-made meat be served?, answer: within ten years. | question: Where is in-vitro meat grown?, answer: in the laboratory,
|
(CNN) -- Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch expects News Corporation-owned newspaper Web sites to start charging users for access within a year in a move which analysts say could radically shake-up the culture of freely available content.
Murdoch said the existing Internet business model was "malfunctioning."
Speaking on a conference call as News Corporation announced a 47 percent slide in quarterly profits to $755 million, Murdoch said the current free access business model favored by most content providers was flawed.
"We are now in the midst of an epochal debate over the value of content and it is clear to many newspapers that the current model is malfunctioning," the News Corp. Chairman and CEO said.
"We have been at the forefront of that debate and you can confidently presume that we are leading the way in finding a model that maximizes revenues in return for our shareholders... The current days of the Internet will soon be over."
Murdoch said the experience of the News Corp.-owned Wall Street Journal had proved that charging for content could be made to work. Would you pay to use news Web sites? Sound Off below
He said 360,000 people had downloaded an iPhone WSJ application in three weeks. Users would soon be made to pay "handsomely" for accessing WSJ content, he added.
Murdoch said he envisaged other News Corp. titles introducing charges within 12 months.
Murdoch's international newspaper empire includes the New York Post, the News International stable of UK titles including the Sun and the Times, and a cluster of Australian papers including the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun.
His comments come with the U.S. newspaper industry in a state of crisis amid plunging advertising revenues and falling circulations with several historic titles already going out of business.
Joshua Benton, Director of the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, said Murdoch was not the only executive looking to generate new income streams from online content.
"News executives are starting to recognize that online advertising revenues are not enough on their own," Benton told CNN.
But he said the challenge for media organizations was finding a balance between advertising and subscription revenues and figuring out how to charge for content without alienating existing users -- which could lead to Web sites offering tiered levels of free and paid-for material.
"I suspect within any readership there is a small slice -- maybe three percent -- that is willing to pay. News organizations are going to have to find a way of getting money from that slice without driving away everybody else," Benton said. "I don't think you can afford to put a lock and chain on the front page.
Benton said the U.S. newspaper industry was in a "horrible state" which was likely to get worse.
"We're starting to see holes where newspapers were. The question is, will new Web sites fill the holes, will traditional names come in -- or will they just not get filled?"
Earlier this week, the 137-year-old Boston Globe said it would be forced to shut down unless it reached an agreement with unions over a $10 million program of cost-cutting measures. Watch media chief discuss charging for online content »
The paper's owners, The New York Times Co., postponed plans to close the paper after reaching a deal with six of seven employees' unions but said the Globe was expected to lose $85 million in 2009 if it did not make major cuts.
The developments followed the demise of print editions of The Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado; The Seattle Post-Intelligencer; and The Christian Science Monitor.
The Rocky Mountain News shut down completely; both the Seattle paper and the Christian Science Monitor remain in online editions.
At least 120 newspapers in the U.S. have shut down since January 2008, according to Paper Cuts, a Web site tracking the newspaper industry. More than 21,000 jobs at 67 newspapers have vaporized in that time, according to the site.
Despite the general mood of gloom over the state of the economy, Murdoch said he believed the worst of the financial crisis had passed.
"I'm not an economist
|
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"Which papers do Murdoch own?"
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[
"the existing Internet business model was \"malfunctioning.\"",
"News Corporation-owned newspaper Web sites to start charging",
"will soon be over.\"",
"Herald Sun.",
"\"malfunctioning.\"",
"New York Post, the News International stable of UK titles including the Sun and the Times, and a cluster of Australian papers including the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun.",
"New York Post, the News International stable of UK titles including the Sun and the Times, and a cluster of Australian"
] |
question: What did Murdoch say?, answer: the existing Internet business model was "malfunctioning." | question: What did Rupert Murdoch predicts?, answer: News Corporation-owned newspaper Web sites to start charging | question: What is said about the Internet?, answer: will soon be over." | question: What do Murdoch's newspapers include?, answer: Herald Sun. | question: What did Murdoch say about the Internet?, answer: "malfunctioning." | question: Name the Murdoch's newspapers?, answer: New York Post, the News International stable of UK titles including the Sun and the Times, and a cluster of Australian papers including the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun. | question: Which papers do Murdoch own?, answer: New York Post, the News International stable of UK titles including the Sun and the Times, and a cluster of Australian
|
(CNN) -- Meeting planner Gail Murphy heard about the travel warning to Mexico too late in the day on Monday to do anything about her plans to head to Cancun the following day.
Alberto Morales wore a mask on his flight from Mexico City to Denver, Colorado, on Monday.
"I'm in good health," said Murphy, who is heading to the Eighth Annual Mexico Showcase and Travel Expo from her home in Shelburne, Vermont. "I'm a risk taker, so I'll go anyway."
In light of the swine flu, the U.S. State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning against any non-essential travel to Mexico. The move could potentially devastate an already struggling tourism industry in the country.
The World Health Organization urged countries not to restrict international travel or close borders, as such measures would not in themselves stem the outbreak. Efforts to contain the outbreak by restricting travel would be unlikely to work without "draconian measures," said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the agency's assistant director-general. But he said people who are ill should put off trips abroad, and people who fall ill after a trip should see a doctor.
Mexico is the epicenter for the swine influenza virus outbreak. More than 100 deaths in Mexico are being investigated as possibly tied to the outbreak.
The WHO confirmed 73 cases of swine flu Monday, but health officials in Scotland, California and Texas confirmed nine more, bringing the worldwide total to 82.
Reports of the illness in Mexico couldn't have come at a worse time for the country's tourism industry, which is already grappling with negative publicity about drug-cartel fueled violence.
"They were having a terrible time anyway with all of the problems on the border and now to be hit with this, too," said Barbara Nassau, owner of New York-based In House Travel Solutions. She added that the outbreak has the potential to hamper travel similar to the way it was affected when bird flu hit China.
iReporter Dyana Pari Nafissi works in international business development in Mexico City and said tourism in the country had already been dealt a blow by fears of violence. iReport.com: Watch Dyana discuss what's happening in Mexico
"We've been on a steady decline since the first U.S. travel warning about the drug cartels," she said. "When you look at the kids that braved [that travel warning], and now they are back [in the U.S.] and they are sick. It's devastating to the economy here."
Some of the confirmed cases in the United States were high school students who recently returned from a trip to Mexico.
News of the outbreak didn't seem to overly concern travelers arriving Monday at Denver International Airport on a Mexicana flight from Mexico City.
Two Mexicana crew members who didn't want to be named said about 60 percent of the passengers wore masks during the flight.
Ernesto Vargas, a Mexican businessman, didn't wear a mask. "I thought about carrying one with me, but the crew wasn't wearing a mask. So we asked them, and it seemed quite safe."
Alberto Morales, another businessman, said he wore a mask in the Mexico City airport and on the plane. "Yes. I have a mask, and we are using the mask."
Is he concerned? "Don't worry, I am OK," he said with a laugh.
"People are afraid about the flu, but we have many precautions and the government has a good sense for this trouble," Morales said.
Ian Jeffries, a spokesman for Expedia.com, said the company had no data as of Monday on cancellations or changes caused by fear of swine flu, but added that it was prepared to aid any of its customers that had concerns.
"Expedia is currently offering to waive Expedia-imposed change and cancel fees for hotel and air reservations originally booked to Mexico," he said. "We will continue to monitor the situation and modify our policy accordingly."
Several major U.S. airlines also are
|
[
"Who issues an advisory?"
] |
[
"U.S. State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"
] |
question: Who issues an advisory?, answer: U.S. State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|
(CNN) -- Melissa Huckaby, the former Sunday school teacher accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, will face additional charges that she tried to poison two people, including another 7-year-old girl.
Melissa Huckaby is charged with killing Sandra Cantu and attempted poisoning of second child.
A revised complaint against Huckaby, 28, of Tracy, California, was made public just hours before she was due back in court on Friday.
The new charges caused another delay in the murder case, CNN afiliate KRON reported.
The complaint charged that Huckaby "did willfully and unlawfully mingle a harmful substance with food or drink" with the intent to harm the child, identified only as "Jane M. Doe."
Another alleged poisoning victim was identified as Daniel Plowman, but no age or other information was immediately provided.
The latest charges also include one count of child abuse endangerment relating to the unidentified child, who was allegedly in Huckaby's "care and custody." Read the complaint (PDF)
Huckaby did not enter a plea in the Cantu slaying in her first two court appearances last month.
At an earlier hearing, Judge Linda L. Loftis agreed to keep the autopsy and toxicology reports under seal, citing a "great danger of public outrage."
If convicted on the murder, rape and kidnapping charges, Huckaby, could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole, authorities said.
CNN's Alan Duke and Jim Roope contributed to this report
|
[
"what is huckaby due in court for",
"what is melissa huckaby charged with",
"Will she get the death penalty?",
"Who was charged with attempting poisoning?"
] |
[
"killing Sandra Cantu and attempted poisoning of second child.",
"killing Sandra Cantu and attempted poisoning of second child.",
"could face the",
"Huckaby,"
] |
question: what is huckaby due in court for, answer: killing Sandra Cantu and attempted poisoning of second child. | question: what is melissa huckaby charged with, answer: killing Sandra Cantu and attempted poisoning of second child. | question: Will she get the death penalty?, answer: could face the | question: Who was charged with attempting poisoning?, answer: Huckaby,
|
(CNN) -- Members of the international community have welcomed Barack Obama becoming the 44th President of the United States -- and the first African-American to take leadership of his country.
Barack and Michelle Obama pictured before the inauguration Tuesday in Washington.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said: "I believe President Obama will exercise outstanding leadership and achieve great success, leading his distinguished team on each field including foreign policy, national security, economy, environment/energy, in overcoming the serious economic situations and other difficult challenges.
"I am confident that Japan and the United States, which are in the position of leading the world, can create a better future, by putting together our expertise, will, passion and strategy. With this conviction, I intend to work hand in hand with President Obama, to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance, and make efforts towards the peace and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region and the world."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement: "With your election, the American people has vigorously expressed its confidence in progress and in the future, as well as its resolve to have an open, new, strong and caring America that you embody.
"As you are entering office, I should like to convey to you, on my behalf and on the behalf of the people of France, my very best wishes for great success at the head of the American nation." UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking from Downing Street, said the new president was a "man of great vision and moral purpose" in comments reported by the UK Press Association.
"The whole world is watching the inauguration of President Obama, witnessing a new chapter in both American history and the world's history. He's not only the first black American president but he sets out with the determination to solve the world's problems." Watch world reaction to Obama's inauguration
In a statement Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: "The greatest democracy in the world has again proven that it is a beacon and example for many countries. The entire State of Israel rejoices with the United States and welcomes President Obama, who took the oath of office this evening.
"Barack Obama's journey to the White House has impressed and inspired the entire world. I am convinced that the United States' deep and abiding ties with Israel will strengthen further. The values of democracy, brotherhood and freedom that constitute the building blocks of American society are also shared by Israeli society, together with the faith in man's power and ability to change and influence his surroundings.
"We wish the incoming President success in his office and are certain that we will be full partners in advancing peace and stability in the Middle East."
In a speech to mark Australia Day, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said: "I believe from everything I have seen, read and heard and from the conversations that I have had with him that the American people have chosen well in their new president."
Calling Barack Obama " the hope of our time," Rudd added that "Australia as always stands ready to work with America in the great challenges that lie ahead."
Mwai Kibaki, president of Kenya, birthplace of Obama's father, said: "On behalf of the government and the people of Kenya and on my own behalf, I extend our message of best wishes on the auspicious occasion of your inauguration as the 44th president of the United States of America.
"On this special day we recall the remarkable journey you have traveled to become the leader of your great country. Through that journey you have inspired many young and old people, not only in America but around the world with a strong message of hope. ...
"We, the people of Kenya, cherish the many years of bilateral ties with the U.S.A. and look forward to even stronger relations in areas that are mutually beneficial to our two countries."
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said: "In my conversations with Senator Barack Obama before the elections and President-elect Obama after his election, it was made
|
[
"What did Brown say about Obama?",
"What description did UK's prime minister give of Obama?",
"What did Kenya's president say?",
"what did uk pm say"
] |
[
"was a \"man of great vision and moral purpose\"",
"\"man of great vision and moral purpose\"",
"\"On this special day we recall the remarkable journey you have traveled to become the leader of your great country. Through that journey you have inspired many young and old people, not only in America but around the world with a strong message of hope.",
"the new president was a \"man of great vision and moral purpose\""
] |
question: What did Brown say about Obama?, answer: was a "man of great vision and moral purpose" | question: What description did UK's prime minister give of Obama?, answer: "man of great vision and moral purpose" | question: What did Kenya's president say?, answer: "On this special day we recall the remarkable journey you have traveled to become the leader of your great country. Through that journey you have inspired many young and old people, not only in America but around the world with a strong message of hope. | question: what did uk pm say, answer: the new president was a "man of great vision and moral purpose"
|
(CNN) -- Members of the nation's oldest black sorority have accused the organization's president of using her sorority credit card for personal items and its board of directors of spending too much on her.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority President Barbara McKinzie denies the claims in the lawsuit against her.
The suit alleges that the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority's board of directors signed off on spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on President Barbara McKinzie and commissioned an expensive wax figure of her.
McKinzie denied the allegations, saying they are "without merit."
The most "outlandish representation" in the lawsuit, she said, is the allegation that the sorority spent $900,000 on a wax figure of her.
Two wax figures -- one of McKinzie and one of the sorority's first president, the late Nellie Quander -- were purchased by the hostess chapters of the sorority's centennial convention last year, not the national AKA organization, for a total of $45,000, McKinzie said.
The lawsuit says the sorority's board of directors approved the use of $900,000 for the wax likeness of McKinzie ahead of the centennial celebration.
Edward W. Gray Jr., an attorney representing the plaintiffs, acknowledged that the sorority disputes the lawsuit's account of the statue's price tag.
However, he said, "we have no way of knowing what the actual number was. We hope that it was as little as they say."
He added that $45,000 is still a large amount of money, although, "certainly, it's a lot better than $900,000."
He called the alleged conduct "shocking and bordering on illegal."
The wax figures are to appear in the National Great Blacks in Wax museum in Baltimore, Maryland, according to AKA. The museum said they are on a traveling exhibit.
The lawsuit, filed last month in a Washington superior court, also accuses McKinzie of using her sorority credit card for "designer clothing, lingerie, jewelry, gifts and other excessive and inappropriate expenses of a personal nature."
It demands that the sorority fire McKinzie and the board of directors and that the alleged damages be repaid.
The lawsuit says that by using her credit card for personal purchases, as well as for "properly reimbursed expenditures," McKinzie amassed American Express points, which she then redeemed for a 46-inch television and gym equipment.
It also says that the sorority's board of directors had agreed on compensation for McKinzie without the approval of the sorority's policy-making body. The compensation, it says, included a $4,000-a-month stipend that McKinzie is to receive for four years after she leaves office.
The board of directors also voted to buy a $1 million life insurance policy for McKinzie, a purchase that was also not approved by the policy-making body, the lawsuit says.
McKinzie denied the accusations.
"Allegations about personal use of AKA funds are false and unsupported by the organization's audited books," she said. The "malicious allegations leveled against AKA by former leaders are based on mischaracterizations and fabrications not befitting our ideals of sisterhood, ethics and service."
The lawsuit also blames McKinzie and Betty James, the executive director for the organization's corporate office, for financial decisions they made for the sorority.
The sorority's claimed deductions on its federal tax returns in 2006 and 2007 were "unreasonably large and inappropriate, thus exposing the sorority to potential IRS claims and obligations," the suit says.
Furthermore, the sorority's policy-making body has not approved McKinzie's investment philosophy, which "has caused the shifting of several million dollars of the sorority and foundation funds from cash and cash equivalents to stock and bond investments."
McKinzie said in her statement that under her leadership, "accounting and budgetary practices have been tightened, erasing past IRS liabilities and cost overruns."
In addition to McKinzie, James and the sorority, the lawsuit names other members of the board of directors and the AKA Educational Advancement Foundation Inc. as defendants.
AKA was founded in 1908 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
CNN's
|
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"What was she accused of?",
"what is she accused of",
"What did the board approve, according to Alpha Kappa Alpha members?",
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"What did the President of U.S.'s oldest black sorority deny?",
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[
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"using her sorority credit card for personal items and its board of directors of spending too much on her.",
"using her sorority credit card for personal items",
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"Barbara McKinzie",
"credit card for personal items",
"President Barbara McKinzie"
] |
question: How much was OK'd for wax figure of president?, answer: $900,000 | question: What was she accused of?, answer: using her sorority credit card for personal items and its board of directors of spending too much on her. | question: what is she accused of, answer: using her sorority credit card for personal items | question: What did the board approve, according to Alpha Kappa Alpha members?, answer: the use of $900,000 for the wax likeness of McKinzie ahead of the centennial celebration. | question: Who is president of the U.S.'s oldest black sorority?, answer: Barbara McKinzie | question: What did the President of U.S.'s oldest black sorority deny?, answer: credit card for personal items | question: Who is accused of using the sorority credit card?, answer: President Barbara McKinzie
|
(CNN) -- Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember the U.S. troops who have died. One way to honor the fallen troops is to volunteer at a veterans cemetery. And while there are opportunities on Memorial Day, there are other ways you can help all year long.
There are more than 150 national cemeteries and monument sites maintained by such groups as the the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Park Service. Read more about them or find a volunteer opportunity at a cemetery near you.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has these tips on ways you can help at a veterans cemetery that you might not have considered:
-- Volunteer to greet visitors, give tours or research and document cemetery history
-- Donate items such as golf carts, which are used to transport visitors who need assistance reaching a gravesite
-- Volunteer to raise and lower cemetery flags on national holidays
-- Help maintain the final resting place of fallen troops by volunteering to prune trees, mend cemetery flags, repair cemetery benches or sponsor a burial area or flower bed and maintain it all year long
-- If you're a bugler, volunteer to play a live "Taps" at veterans' funerals. About 1,800 veterans die each day, most of them from World War II, according to the VA. Because the military cannot provide enough buglers to play at such a large number of funerals, Congress passed a law in 2000 to allow a recorded version to be played. But many families of the fallen prefer a live version if possible.
|
[
"what is there all year long",
"What can be a way to honor the fallen at Memorial Day?",
"who is being honored",
"when are there opportunities"
] |
[
"ways you can help",
"volunteer",
"fallen troops",
"on Memorial Day,"
] |
question: what is there all year long, answer: ways you can help | question: What can be a way to honor the fallen at Memorial Day?, answer: volunteer | question: who is being honored, answer: fallen troops | question: when are there opportunities, answer: on Memorial Day,
|
(CNN) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced the resignations Tuesday of three high-level government officials, most notably Communications and Transport Secretary Luis Tellez Kuenzler.
The government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, seen here in January, is facing elections in July.
Abraham Gonzalez, a key official for the powerful ministry that oversees Mexico's government, also resigned. So did Sergio Vela Martinez, president of the National Council for Culture and the Arts.
No official reasons were given for any of the resignations, which analysts said did not appear to be related. But at least two of the resignations did not come as a surprise.
Tellez, who stepped down from a Cabinet-level post, had been involved for weeks in a controversy over taped comments revealed last month by CNN journalist Carmen Aristegui.
In the taped conversation, Tellez said former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari had stolen government money. Salinas has not been formally accused of any crime.
Tellez received an anonymous threat in late February from an apparent political enemy telling him to resign or more damaging audiotapes would be released to the media. He refused and turned the matter over to authorities.
Ana Maria Salazar Slack, a political analyst who is host of a daily radio show in Mexico City, called it "an almost soap opera-ish scandal" that left Calderon little choice but to force Tellez to resign.
"Although Calderon wanted to keep him in office, it made it very difficult to keep him there," she said.
Calderon moved Tellez to a post as a presidential aide dealing with economic matters.
Other observers also were not surprised by the move.
"That was waiting to happen," said Andrew Selee, director of the Mexico Institute at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center. "But evidently the president values his counsel and has kept him in a high-profile position in the presidency from which he'll continue to have influence."
Robert Pastor, the Latin America national security adviser for President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s, praised Tellez but said political considerations prevailed.
"He's a very competent fellow," Pastor said. "One of the most competent people I've known in Mexico. But this tape in particular was very embarrassing."
In a televised news conference after Calderon announced the changes, Tellez expressed his "gratitude for this opportunity that few Mexicans obtain."
Replacing Tellez will be Juan Molinar Horcasitas, the head of the Mexican Institute for Social Security.
Molinar belongs to the same party as Calderon, the National Action Party [PAN], while Tellez belongs to the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party [PRI]. That played a role, Slack said.
"The president is sending a signal to his party that he's going to support people from his own party," Slack said. "Beyond the political scandals of the tapes, there's a decision for the president to appoint people very close to the party."
Gonzalez's departure was not a surprise either, since he is running for a congressional seat in July and Mexican law requires him to resign.
Analysts spoke highly of Gonzalez's replacement, Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez. He had been the top person in the foreign ministry for Latin and North America.
"Gutierrez moving in is outstanding," the Mexico Institute's Selee said, calling him "one of the smartest people ... I've met" and "an impressive guy."
Consuelo Saizar Guerrero takes over as head of the National Council for Culture and the Arts, replacing Vela, whose reasons for resigning were not disclosed. Saizar previously served as head of the Economic Culture Fund, the government's book-publishing enterprise.
The arts and culture post will play a significant role in 2010, when Mexico celebrates 100 years of its social revolution and 200 years of its declaration of independence, radio analyst Slack said.
As for the timing of resignations from three key posts, Slack linked it to Mexico's election calendar.
"In order to understand these changes," she said, "you have to understand there are midterm elections in July.
|
[
"What was linked with Mexican midterm elections in July?",
"What is there controversy over?",
"The key official for ministry left for what reason?",
"What caused the communications and transport secretary to resign?",
"What did the key official for the ministry do?"
] |
[
"resignations from three key posts,",
"taped comments",
"a controversy over taped comments",
"controversy over taped comments",
"resigned."
] |
question: What was linked with Mexican midterm elections in July?, answer: resignations from three key posts, | question: What is there controversy over?, answer: taped comments | question: The key official for ministry left for what reason?, answer: a controversy over taped comments | question: What caused the communications and transport secretary to resign?, answer: controversy over taped comments | question: What did the key official for the ministry do?, answer: resigned.
|
(CNN) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced the resignations Tuesday of three high-level government officials, most notably Communications and Transport Secretary Luis Tellez Kuenzler.
The government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, seen here in January, is facing elections in July.
Abraham Gonzalez, a key official for the powerful ministry that oversees Mexico's government, also resigned. So did Sergio Vela Martinez, president of the National Council for Culture and the Arts.
No official reasons were given for any of the resignations, which analysts said did not appear to be related. But at least two of the resignations did not come as a surprise.
Tellez, who stepped down from a Cabinet-level post, had been involved for weeks in a controversy over taped comments revealed last month by CNN journalist Carmen Aristegui.
In the taped conversation, Tellez said former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari had stolen government money. Salinas has not been formally accused of any crime.
Tellez received an anonymous threat in late February from an apparent political enemy telling him to resign or more damaging audiotapes would be released to the media. He refused and turned the matter over to authorities.
Ana Maria Salazar Slack, a political analyst who is host of a daily radio show in Mexico City, called it "an almost soap opera-ish scandal" that left Calderon little choice but to force Tellez to resign.
"Although Calderon wanted to keep him in office, it made it very difficult to keep him there," she said.
Calderon moved Tellez to a post as a presidential aide dealing with economic matters.
Other observers also were not surprised by the move.
"That was waiting to happen," said Andrew Selee, director of the Mexico Institute at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center. "But evidently the president values his counsel and has kept him in a high-profile position in the presidency from which he'll continue to have influence."
Robert Pastor, the Latin America national security adviser for President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s, praised Tellez but said political considerations prevailed.
"He's a very competent fellow," Pastor said. "One of the most competent people I've known in Mexico. But this tape in particular was very embarrassing."
In a televised news conference after Calderon announced the changes, Tellez expressed his "gratitude for this opportunity that few Mexicans obtain."
Replacing Tellez will be Juan Molinar Horcasitas, the head of the Mexican Institute for Social Security.
Molinar belongs to the same party as Calderon, the National Action Party [PAN], while Tellez belongs to the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party [PRI]. That played a role, Slack said.
"The president is sending a signal to his party that he's going to support people from his own party," Slack said. "Beyond the political scandals of the tapes, there's a decision for the president to appoint people very close to the party."
Gonzalez's departure was not a surprise either, since he is running for a congressional seat in July and Mexican law requires him to resign.
Analysts spoke highly of Gonzalez's replacement, Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez. He had been the top person in the foreign ministry for Latin and North America.
"Gutierrez moving in is outstanding," the Mexico Institute's Selee said, calling him "one of the smartest people ... I've met" and "an impressive guy."
Consuelo Saizar Guerrero takes over as head of the National Council for Culture and the Arts, replacing Vela, whose reasons for resigning were not disclosed. Saizar previously served as head of the Economic Culture Fund, the government's book-publishing enterprise.
The arts and culture post will play a significant role in 2010, when Mexico celebrates 100 years of its social revolution and 200 years of its declaration of independence, radio analyst Slack said.
As for the timing of resignations from three key posts, Slack linked it to Mexico's election calendar.
"In order to understand these changes," she said, "you have to understand there are midterm elections in July.
|
[
"Who left Mexico's government?",
"Who resigned over controvery over comments?",
"Who resigned amid controversy over comments?",
"When are the Mexican midterm elections?",
"What country does the key official oversee?",
"What key official recently left in Mexico?",
"What did a key official for ministry do?",
"What was the resignation linked to?",
"Who resigned amid controversy?",
"Who is being voted on in the Mexican midterm elections?"
] |
[
"Luis Tellez Kuenzler.",
"Tellez,",
"Luis Tellez Kuenzler.",
"July.",
"Mexico's",
"Abraham Gonzalez,",
"resigned.",
"Mexico's election calendar.",
"Luis Tellez Kuenzler.",
"President Felipe Calderon,"
] |
question: Who left Mexico's government?, answer: Luis Tellez Kuenzler. | question: Who resigned over controvery over comments?, answer: Tellez, | question: Who resigned amid controversy over comments?, answer: Luis Tellez Kuenzler. | question: When are the Mexican midterm elections?, answer: July. | question: What country does the key official oversee?, answer: Mexico's | question: What key official recently left in Mexico?, answer: Abraham Gonzalez, | question: What did a key official for ministry do?, answer: resigned. | question: What was the resignation linked to?, answer: Mexico's election calendar. | question: Who resigned amid controversy?, answer: Luis Tellez Kuenzler. | question: Who is being voted on in the Mexican midterm elections?, answer: President Felipe Calderon,
|
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