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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida high school student was killed Tuesday by another student during an altercation at the school, officials said.
One student was killed following an argument between first and second periods, police at the scene said.
The incident occurred just after 9 a.m. at Coral Gables Senior High School in Coral Gables, the officials said. The school was placed on lockdown after the incident.
Two students were arguing between the first and second period at the school, and one produced a weapon and killed the other, police at the scene told reporters.
Miami-Dade Public Schools identified the victim Tuesday afternoon as Juan Carlos Rivera, 17. The students involved were both males, the district said.
CNN affiliate WSVN reported the student was killed in the courtyard area of the school, where the 17-year-old was stabbed in the chest.
A suspect was taken into custody just after the incident and was being interviewed, officials said. His name was not released.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said students' parents were being contacted after the incident, and crisis psychologists were being made available to students, faculty and parents. Watch as bystanders gather at the Florida high school »
"I think we need to understand that whether it's Liberty City, Opa-Locka or Coral Gables, children are responding to everyday stressful situations in very negative ways," Carvalho said. "... Random acts of violence like the one we saw here today are almost not preventable."
Coral Gables is about 8 miles southwest of Miami.
CNN's Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who was taken into custody?",
"Where did murder take place?",
"Where was the high school located?",
"Who was identified in high school stabbing?",
"Juan Carlos Rivera was how old?",
"Who was the victim?",
"what happned in the school"
] |
[
"A suspect",
"at Coral Gables Senior High School in Coral Gables,",
"Coral Gables,",
"Juan Carlos Rivera,",
"17.",
"Juan Carlos Rivera,",
"One student was killed following an argument"
] |
question: Who was taken into custody?, answer: A suspect | question: Where did murder take place?, answer: at Coral Gables Senior High School in Coral Gables, | question: Where was the high school located?, answer: Coral Gables, | question: Who was identified in high school stabbing?, answer: Juan Carlos Rivera, | question: Juan Carlos Rivera was how old?, answer: 17. | question: Who was the victim?, answer: Juan Carlos Rivera, | question: what happned in the school, answer: One student was killed following an argument
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A Fort Lauderdale official said that only one person was on a plane that slammed into a vacant house Friday, a crash called "not survivable" by a fire official.
Bystanders watch the flames after the plane crash Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The twin-engine Cessna crashed about 11:15 a.m. in a neighborhood not far from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, from which it took off, the city official said.
Video from the scene showed a small house virtually cut in two as firefighters poured water on smoking debris.
Chaz Adams -- spokesman for the city of Fort Lauderdale, which owns the airport -- said that there was only one person aboard and that a previous report of four passengers was incorrect.
The Federal Aviation Administration also said the flight plan listed one person on board, and witnesses at the airport have told the FAA that only one person boarded the aircraft.
Adams said three people live in the house that was hit, but "the house was vacant when the plane down."
He said the plane was headed to Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville, Florida. Seconds after takeoff, the pilot reported trouble.
"The tower cleared it to come back and try to land at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. The plane crashed attempting to return to the airport," Adams said. Watch an iReporter describe the crash »
Donald Widing, chief of fire rescue for Oakland Park, said, "the crash was not survivable."
"The fire is under control. The emergency is contained," he said a little more than an hour after the crash. "What we're doing now is making sure that the scene is safe enough to introduce our first responders to do a complete primary and secondary search of the aircraft wreckage itself and the occupancy."
He added, "we are concerned with the plane's fuel tanks and have to save the house and the scene before we can conduct any further search-and-rescue operations." Watch firefighters tackle the blaze »
Asked whether more than one home in the area was impacted, Widing said, "we're still assessing the damage."
He said "the majority of the fire" was "contained on the property that was affected." However, he said, there may be minor fire damage and some heat damage elsewhere.
Nation Transportation Safety Board officials were going to the scene.
CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report .
|
[
"Where was it headed?",
"where did the plane crash?",
"Where was the plane going?",
"WHat happened to the plane?",
"How many were aboard the small plane?",
"What was number of people on board the plane"
] |
[
"Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville, Florida.",
"Fort Lauderdale, Florida.",
"Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville, Florida.",
"crashed",
"only one person",
"only one person"
] |
question: Where was it headed?, answer: Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville, Florida. | question: where did the plane crash?, answer: Fort Lauderdale, Florida. | question: Where was the plane going?, answer: Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville, Florida. | question: WHat happened to the plane?, answer: crashed | question: How many were aboard the small plane?, answer: only one person | question: What was number of people on board the plane, answer: only one person
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A NASA report on the last minutes of Space Shuttle Columbia cited problems with the crew's helmets, spacesuits and restraints, which resulted in "lethal trauma" to the seven astronauts aboard.
Columbia crew members were killed when the shuttle broke apart upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
But the report also acknowledged that "the breakup of the crew module ... was not survivable by any currently existing capability."
The spacecraft broke up while re-entering Earth's atmosphere near the end of its mission on February 1, 2003.
The NASA report found the astronauts knew for about 40 seconds that they did not have control of the shuttle before they likely were knocked unconscious as Columbia broke apart around them. Watch more details from the report »
The report also found that while crew members were wearing their pressurized suits, one astronaut did not have on a helmet, three were not wearing gloves and none lowered the visors before the module lost cabin pressure. One astronaut also was not seated.
"In this accident, none of those actions would have ultimately made any difference," said former shuttle program manager Wayne Hale, now a deputy NASA administrator.
The graphic, 400-page investigative report relied on video, recovered debris and medical findings, supplemented with computer modeling and analyses. It also includes many recommendations to make space travel safer for future astronauts.
A shuttle-program source told CNN the families of the astronauts who died were brought in specifically to look at the report and even in some cases to help with its preparation. The report took more than five years to complete.
"The members of this team have done an outstanding job under difficult and personal circumstances," said Johnson Space Center director Michael L. Coats. "Their work will ensure that the legacy of Columbia and her heroic crew continues to be the improved safety of future human spaceflights worldwide."
Columbia broke apart some 200,000 feet over Texas -- just minutes before it was to have touched down in Florida. The shuttle's wing was damaged on takeoff when a large piece of heat-reflecting foam ripped off and gouged a hole in it.
During re-entry, the hole allowed atmospheric gases to burn the wing and destroy the spacecraft. The oldest orbiter in the fleet, Columbia had just completed a 16-day science mission. Watch the view from the command deck as the shuttle enters the atmosphere »
Killed were commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool, payload commander Michael Anderson and mission specialists David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon, an Israeli Air Force colonel who was Israel's first astronaut.
By request of the families of the Columbia astronauts, NASA released the report between Christmas and New Year's so that the astronauts' children would be at home where they could discuss the findings with their families in private, said former shuttle commander Pam Melroy, deputy project manager for the investigation team.
"It was a way for us to work through our grief about the accident," said Melroy about compiling the report. "This was one of the hardest things I've ever done."
The report stated that "after the crew lost consciousness due to the loss of cabin pressure, the seat inertial reel mechanisms on the crews' shoulder harnesses did not lock.
"As a result, the unconscious or deceased crew was exposed to cyclical rotational motion while restrained only at the lower body. Crew helmets do not conform to the head. Consequently, lethal trauma occurred to the unconscious or deceased crew due to the lack of upper body support and restraint."
Another section of the report focused on the pressure suits used by the space shuttle crew on launch and re-entry. It said the suits were not part of the initial design of the orbiter and that depressurization "occurred so rapidly that the crew members were incapacitated within seconds, before they could configure the suit for full protection from loss of cabin pressure."
Melroy said investigators took some comfort in data that suggests the Columbia crew died abruptly and without suffering.
"Of course, we were relieved,
|
[
"Who released a report?",
"Number of astronauts that died when the spacecraft exploded?",
"What did NASA release a report about Tuesday?",
"What types of pieces of equipment failed in this case?",
"How many astronauts were killed?",
"For how many seconds did they know they were out of control?",
"What was the name of the shuttle in the story?",
"Who reported the last minutes of Space Shuttle Columbia?",
"Were the astronauts ever aware of losing control of the craft?",
"Astronauts knew what for about 40 seconds?",
"How many astronauts died?"
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"seven"
] |
question: Who released a report?, answer: NASA | question: Number of astronauts that died when the spacecraft exploded?, answer: seven | question: What did NASA release a report about Tuesday?, answer: Space Shuttle Columbia | question: What types of pieces of equipment failed in this case?, answer: the crew's helmets, spacesuits and restraints, | question: How many astronauts were killed?, answer: seven | question: For how many seconds did they know they were out of control?, answer: 40 | question: What was the name of the shuttle in the story?, answer: Columbia | question: Who reported the last minutes of Space Shuttle Columbia?, answer: NASA | question: Were the astronauts ever aware of losing control of the craft?, answer: knew for about 40 seconds that they did not have | question: Astronauts knew what for about 40 seconds?, answer: that they did not have control of the shuttle before they likely were knocked unconscious as Columbia broke apart around them. | question: How many astronauts died?, answer: seven
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A newspaper advertisement for a Miami car dealership reads more like a coupon for bags of potato chips: "Buy one, get two!"
It's estimated that 900 automotive dealerships will have shut their doors by year's end.
The ad speaks to the desperation of car dealers as Big Three auto manufacturers beg Washington for billions in bailout dollars to combat sales that keep dipping to all-time lows.
"The first thing people think when they come in is, 'It's a fake ad. It's a normal car dealer ad. It's a gimmick.' But it's not," said Ali Ahmed, sales manager at Rob Lambdin's University Dodge in Miami.
To be fair, there is a catch to the buy-one-get-one-free offer: You must first buy a new Dodge truck at full retail price before you're eligible to receive a second truck for about $3,000 in tax, tags and dealer fees.
"We've been fielding phone calls and e-mail inquiries from every state in the country looking to get this buy-one-get-one deal," Ahmed said.
About 700 dealerships, most of them selling cars from U.S. automakers, have shut their doors since the beginning of the year. The number is expected to hit 900 by year's end.
Last month, National Automobile Dealers Association Chairwoman Annette Sykora told the House Financial Services Committee some 19,700 dealerships will still be around by the end of 2008, compared with 50,000 in the 1940s.
Auto sales are at a 15-year low, she said, which affects more than the Big Three automakers. Dealers are slashing personnel and expenses. Sykora herself has had to cut staff by about 20 percent at her dealerships, she said. iReport.com: Ask the automakers your questions
Sykora, a third-generation car saleswoman who sells Big Three automobiles at dealerships in Slaton and Levelland, Texas, said she recently sat down with the superintendent of Slaton schools.
"We started discussing what would happen if the dealerships in my hometown were to close," she said during her November 19 testimony. "The loss of tax revenue would force them to cut programs and teachers.
"Many displaced dealership families might have to leave town in search of work in other places, compounding the loss. This same scene would play out in hundreds of communities in the U.S."
Dealerships, Sykora explained, are independent businesses, not arms of the automakers. They invest in land, equipment, buildings and take out millions of dollars in loans to put the vehicles on their lots and showroom floors.
She also said car dealerships are a prime source of advertising revenue for local media, they support charities and Little League teams and they are integral to the tax base, she said.
"One-fifth of the nation's retail purchases are automobiles. By getting automotive retailing back on track, Congress can effectively leverage the economic engine of the automobile industry to get this economy running on all cylinders again," she said, pleading with Congress not to let the Big Three file for bankruptcy. Watch what the automakers are asking for »
With the world's economy reeling, expensive items like cars are not high priorities for families and businesses. It doesn't help that the credit crunch is making it difficult to get loans, which the majority of U.S. consumers need to purchase vehicles.
Also compounding matters is consumer confidence, which hit an all-time low in October and didn't improve much in November, according to the nonprofit Conference Board, which maintains indices on consumers' trust in the marketplace.
According to Autodata, car sales have plummeted since last year. In the United States, the number of sales of passenger cars and light trucks in November 2008 was down 36.7 percent from November 2007 -- from about 1.18 million to 747,000.
Also, as of November 2008, automakers had sold about 12.35 million cars and light trucks, compared with 14.76 million during the same time period last year -- a drop of 16.3 percent, according to Autodata's
|
[
"What did Autodata say?",
"how many dealerships in 1940s?",
"what is happening to auto sales?",
"What dealerships are dwindling?"
] |
[
"car sales have plummeted since last year. In the United States, the number of sales of passenger cars and light trucks in November 2008 was down 36.7 percent from November 2007",
"50,000",
"all-time lows.",
"automotive"
] |
question: What did Autodata say?, answer: car sales have plummeted since last year. In the United States, the number of sales of passenger cars and light trucks in November 2008 was down 36.7 percent from November 2007 | question: how many dealerships in 1940s?, answer: 50,000 | question: what is happening to auto sales?, answer: all-time lows. | question: What dealerships are dwindling?, answer: automotive
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A woman who died after she was hit by a spotted eagle ray leaping from the water off the Florida Keys suffered "multiple skull fractures and direct brain injury," a medical examiner said Friday.
The dead spotted eagle ray lies on the deck of a boat in Florida.
Judy Kay Zagorski, 55, of Pigeon, Michigan, died Thursday of "blunt force craniocerebral trauma" after the ray hit her when she was in a boat, Monroe County medical examiner Michael Hunter determined.
He gave no indication in the preliminary report whether the blow from the ray itself or her head hitting the deck, or both, killed her.
"It's just as freakish of an accident as I have heard," said Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "The chances of this occurring are so remote that most of us are completely astonished that this happened."
Zagorski was on the boat with her father and other family members and friends. She was seated or standing in the front of the vessel as it was traveling about 25 mph out of a channel, Pino said.
"The ray just actually popped up in front of the vessel," he said. "The father had not even a second to react. It was too late. It happened instantly and the woman fell backwards and, unfortunately, died as a result of the collision."
The accident happened off the coast of Marathon Key, about 2½ hours' drive south of Miami. Zagorski was taken to the Fishermen's Hospital in Marathon, where she was pronounced dead. Watch marine officers work around dead ray on boat »
Pino said he had seen rays leap into the air, but added, "it's very rare for them to collide with objects." Watch experts explain why eagle rays leap »
The spotted-eagle ray weighed about 75 to 80 pounds and had a 6-foot wingspan, Pino said. Watch officials investigate eagle ray collision »
Florida Fish and Wildlife said eagle rays "are not an aggressive species, but they do tend to leap from the water." Spotted eagle rays can have a wingspan of up to 10 feet and can weigh 500 pounds, it said. Learn more about eagle rays »
Television personality Steve Irwin was killed when a ray's barb pierced his heart in September 2006.
A month later, an 81-year-old Florida man, James Bertakis, survived after a ray leaped from the water and stung him in the heart, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
He spent five weeks on a ventilator and his recovery took several months, his sons told the Detroit Free Press in his former home state of Michigan. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Where was the eagle spotted?",
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"What kind of vehicle was the victim on?",
"What age was the victim?",
"Where was she found?",
"what about the woman"
] |
[
"off the Florida Keys",
"75 to 80 pounds",
"boat",
"55,",
"off the coast of Marathon Key,",
"she was hit by a spotted eagle ray leaping from the"
] |
question: Where was the eagle spotted?, answer: off the Florida Keys | question: What was the weight of the eagle?, answer: 75 to 80 pounds | question: What kind of vehicle was the victim on?, answer: boat | question: What age was the victim?, answer: 55, | question: Where was she found?, answer: off the coast of Marathon Key, | question: what about the woman, answer: she was hit by a spotted eagle ray leaping from the
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- An internationally known Catholic priest who was shown in photographs last week embracing a bathing-suit-clad woman on a Florida beach has admitted they had a two-year affair.
The Rev. Alberto Cutie was removed from his duties after pictures showed him bare-chested with a woman.
The Rev. Alberto Cutie -- sometimes called "Father Oprah" because of the advice he gave on Spanish-language media -- said Monday on CBS' "Early Show" that he is in love with the woman and is considering his options: Whether to break up with her or leave the priesthood and marry her. The woman, who has not been publicly identified, wants to get married, Cutie said.
The priest was removed from his duties last week at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Miami Beach, Florida, and on the Radio Paz and Radio Peace networks.
"I take full responsibility for what I did, and I know it's wrong," he said Monday.
The photos of the Cuban-American priest, also known as "Padre Alberto," appeared on the cover of last week's TV Notas magazine and on eight inside pages. The cover says in Spanish: "Good God! Padre Alberto. First photos of a priest 'in flagrante' with his lover."
Other media outlets throughout Latin America, including the official Notimex news agency in Mexico, picked up the story, and it became an Internet sensation. Cutie has millions of followers in the Spanish-speaking world.
In a message posted on the Miami, Florida, archdiocese Web page last week, Archbishop John C. Favalora apologized to parishioners and radio listeners for what he called a "scandal."
"Father Cutie made a promise of celibacy and all priests are expected to fulfill that promise with the help of God," Favalora said. "Father Cutie's actions cannot be condoned despite the good works he has done as a priest."
Cutie expressed his regret in an online statement last week and again Monday on the CBS program.
"I deeply apologize to the Catholic community and especially to my bishop and to my brother priests who are faithful and who are committed to celibacy," Cutie said.
The priest said he believes in celibacy but thinks it should be optional. He said he had never had a sexual relationship with anyone other than the woman since leaving the seminary 15 years ago. Watch Father Cutie question the celibacy requirement »
"I don't support the breaking of the celibacy promise," Cutie said. "I understand fully that this is wrong.
"I don't want to be the anti-celibacy priest. I think that's unfortunate," he said. "I think it's a debate that's going on in our society, and now I've become kind of a poster boy for it. But I don't want to be that. I believe that celibacy is good, and that it's a good commitment to God. This is something I've struggled with. And something that I never expected to become a public debate."
He also talked about the woman, saying they have been friends for a long time and the attraction was there from early on, but it was not acted on until a couple of years ago. They have "both struggled" with the relationship, he said.
"She's also a woman of faith," Cutie said. "She's also somebody who cares about the priesthood, who cares about these things. So it hasn't been easy. And those who have helped me through this process know it hasn't been easy. Obviously, you know, through the photos, it looked like a frivolous thing on the beach, you know, and that's not what it is. It's something deeper than that."
Cutie was the first Catholic priest to host a daily talk show on a major secular television network, his information on the LinkedIn online professional network says.
In addition to his TV and radio appearances, he has written newspaper advice columns
|
[
"Which diocese was the priest removed from?",
"What did the Rev. Alverto Cutie say?",
"What is the name of the priest?",
"who is removed from duties in miami acrhdiocese?",
"who is in love with the woman?",
"Who was removed from duties?",
"Who says he is in love with the woman?",
"Who was the woman?",
"Who was removed from his duties?",
"Who struggled with relationship?",
"Who says he is in love with the woman, considering his options?",
"In which archdiocese was the priest removed?"
] |
[
"at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Miami Beach, Florida, and on the Radio Paz and Radio Peace networks.",
"and I know it's wrong,\"",
"Alberto Cutie",
"The Rev. Alberto Cutie",
"The Rev. Alberto Cutie",
"Rev. Alberto Cutie",
"Rev. Alberto Cutie",
"has not been publicly identified,",
"Rev. Alberto Cutie",
"They have \"both struggled\"",
"Rev. Alberto Cutie",
"Miami Beach, Florida,"
] |
question: Which diocese was the priest removed from?, answer: at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Miami Beach, Florida, and on the Radio Paz and Radio Peace networks. | question: What did the Rev. Alverto Cutie say?, answer: and I know it's wrong," | question: What is the name of the priest?, answer: Alberto Cutie | question: who is removed from duties in miami acrhdiocese?, answer: The Rev. Alberto Cutie | question: who is in love with the woman?, answer: The Rev. Alberto Cutie | question: Who was removed from duties?, answer: Rev. Alberto Cutie | question: Who says he is in love with the woman?, answer: Rev. Alberto Cutie | question: Who was the woman?, answer: has not been publicly identified, | question: Who was removed from his duties?, answer: Rev. Alberto Cutie | question: Who struggled with relationship?, answer: They have "both struggled" | question: Who says he is in love with the woman, considering his options?, answer: Rev. Alberto Cutie | question: In which archdiocese was the priest removed?, answer: Miami Beach, Florida,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Florida Law enforcement officials said Monday they had launched an investigation into a tragic boating accident near St. Augustine, Florida, that took the lives of five people and seriously injured seven others.
CNN affiliate WJXT shows the scene of the deadly boating accident near Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has taken over as the lead agency involved in the investigation.
The incident took place on Sunday around 7:15 p.m., in the intracoastal waterway in St. Johns County, Florida, about 20 miles north of St. Augustine.
According to FWC investigators, a 22-foot boat with 12 people on board rammed into the rear and right side of a 25-foot tugboat.
"We are still investigating and haven't come to any conclusions yet," said Carol Pratt, spokeswoman for FWC. She said they still do not know who was driving the boat. They also are waiting for victims' next of kin to be notified before releasing any of their names and ages.
The tugboat was at a dock and boat launch under construction on the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Valley, said Jeremy Robshaw, a spokesman for St. Johns County Fire and Rescue.
Robshaw said rescuers couldn't initially reach the end of the unfinished dock, but laid plywood sheets on the structure to get to crash victims.
No one was onboard the tugboat, which is registered to F&A Enterprises in St. Augustine.
The seven injured were taken to Shands Jacksonville Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Two patients remain in critical condition, one is considered serious and three are in fair condition. A hospital spokesman did not have information on the seventh victim.
FWC told CNN that they hope to release more information on the incident and on their investigation.
As in any accident, toxicology studies will be done on the driver of the boat, to determine whether he or she was impaired, spokesman Carol Pratt told CNN.
|
[
"How many people were taken to hospital?",
"What did the researchers use to reach passengers?",
"What did the rescue workers use to reach the passengers?",
"What is being investigated/",
"who is leading the investegation?",
"What did they use to save them?"
] |
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"seven",
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"a tragic boating accident near St. Augustine, Florida,",
"The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has taken over as the lead agency involved in the investigation.",
"plywood sheets"
] |
question: How many people were taken to hospital?, answer: seven | question: What did the researchers use to reach passengers?, answer: plywood sheets | question: What did the rescue workers use to reach the passengers?, answer: plywood sheets | question: What is being investigated/, answer: a tragic boating accident near St. Augustine, Florida, | question: who is leading the investegation?, answer: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has taken over as the lead agency involved in the investigation. | question: What did they use to save them?, answer: plywood sheets
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- He was black and white, the perfect gift for the 6-year-old daughter of Donna and Ronald Gleason. His name was Tommy.
The death and mutilation of Tommy the cat has been linked to a serial pet killer, say police in Miami, Florida.
The black and white tuxedo cat was one of a dozen pets that have been killed and mutilated recently by someone in the Miami area, police said.
On Thursday, the list of confirmed cat deaths and mutiliations grew to 19 pets, police said. They are looking into another 14 feline fatalities.
The Gleasons do not want their daughter's name to be published. Donna Gleason asked the child to leave the room before telling CNN the gruesome details of what happened to their cat.
"Part of his skin was missing underneath ... and part of his legs," Gleason said. "He was partially skinned."
Miami-Dade County police say Tommy's demise is part of a string of sadistic feline fatalities that have occurred recently in the Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay areas of southern Miami-Dade County, south of Miami.
Miami-Dade Police spokesman Bobby Williams said two of the cat carcasses were "posed." He said that anyone capable of such cruelty toward and torture of an animal "is disturbed at some sort of level."
The crimes began May 13. A reward of up to $10,000 has been offered for any information leading to an arrest.
Police have been inundated with dozens of phone calls from people who have discovered dead cats throughout the community. Investigators have determined that most of the cases are not related to the string of cat killings. The number grew from 12 to 15 to 19 in just the past two days.
Ronald Gleason found Tommy lying in their yard May 25. At first, he thought his family's pet had been killed by a dog, but a closer look revealed the cruelty behind his death.
Tommy was a gift for the Gleasons' little girl. She desperately wanted a cat, Donna Gleason said. She searched for a cat that could get along with their dog, but none of the shelter cats they brought home was compatible.
"We prayed that we would find a nice cat that liked our dog, and a few days later, he just showed up at our front door," Donna Gleason said. Tommy was adopting them.
The Gleasons put signs up in the neighborhood, and when no one claimed him, they kept Tommy.
"It's disturbing to know that this happened right in front of your house, while you're sleeping inside," Donna Gleason said. "I'm not terrified, but I'm not sleeping as well as I used to."
Others in south Miami-Dade County are telling similar stories. A woman whose Siamese mix cat, Caesar, was killed and mutilated didn't want her name published.
"This person killed my cat. He doesn't need to know anything else about me," she said. "I don't know if it's a gang initiation thing or a satanic ritual thing, but to do what he's doing, he has to be extremely sick."
The month-long cat-killing spree has police concerned.
"We're telling people to be aware where their cats are at. Keep your pets inside," said Williams, the police spokesman.
"If anyone looks or acts suspicious, call police," he added. "Have us come out there and check them out. This could be the missing link we're looking for."
For the Gleasons and 11 other cat owners, it's too late. All they can do is break the news gently to a little girl who always wanted a kitty.
"She loved him and played with him every morning. ... She just misses him," Donna Gleason said.
"We told her that Tommy was killed by an animal," she said.
Then she added, "Well, an animal did kill him."
|
[
"Where was Tommy mutilated ?",
"Where do the Gleason family live?",
"What age was the owner of the cat?",
"when did this start?",
"Who was found dead?",
"what kinds of animals have been killed?",
"What is the age of daughter of Florida couple?"
] |
[
"Miami, Florida.",
"Miami, Florida.",
"6-year-old",
"May 13.",
"Tommy the cat",
"cat",
"6-year-old"
] |
question: Where was Tommy mutilated ?, answer: Miami, Florida. | question: Where do the Gleason family live?, answer: Miami, Florida. | question: What age was the owner of the cat?, answer: 6-year-old | question: when did this start?, answer: May 13. | question: Who was found dead?, answer: Tommy the cat | question: what kinds of animals have been killed?, answer: cat | question: What is the age of daughter of Florida couple?, answer: 6-year-old
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- It's a nightmarish scenario straight out of the movies: A passenger is forced to land a plane after its pilot becomes incapacitated.
Passanger Doug White landed this Super King two-engine turboprop after the pilot fell unconscious.
"Descend and maintain 5,000. Just take your time, we'll set you up for the airport," an air traffic controller says.
In a calm voice, a passenger responds: "I need to get my throttle set for this descent. I don't know where to set it at."
The reality was playing aboard a plane over Florida on Sunday in what the National Air Traffic Controllers Association called "an Easter miracle."
The incident began about 1:30 p.m. The plane, a Super King Air two-engine turboprop with four passengers on board, was headed to Jackson, Mississippi, from Marco Island, Florida, about 18 miles south of Naples.
The plane entered the jurisdiction of air traffic control at Miami Center, the facility responsible for high-altitude air traffic in southern Florida and the Caribbean, according to a statement issued by the air traffic controllers association.
The pilot notified controllers that the plane was at 9,000 feet and climbing, said Steve Wallace, Miami Center spokesman for the association. However, a controller at the center tried twice to raise the pilot after that and received no response, Wallace said. Hear audiotape of emergency landing »
After a few moments, a different voice came over the radio: Passenger Doug White told air traffic controllers the pilot was unconscious and they needed help. His wife and two teenage daughters were flying home to Louisiana with him, he said. Listen to White describe seeing the pilot's eyes roll back in his head »
He reported the plane's autopilot was on and the plane was continuing to climb from 10,000 feet.
"I told my girls to pray hard," White later told CNN television affiliate WINK.
White later told the Naples Daily News he has a pilot's license and about 130 hours experience flying a single engine Cessna, but had never flown the larger, faster King Air.
The difference, experts said, is not as simple as driving a different model of car. A turboprop multi-engine, Wallace told CNN, "probably lands at a faster speed than he's ever flown a single-engine plane before."
White told air traffic controllers it appeared the pilot had died, according to the statement, and he reported that the plane's autopilot was on and the plane was continuing to climb from 10,000 feet.
Two air traffic controllers worked to help him disengage the autopilot, as other controllers stepped in to lighten their workload. "Keep it coming around when you can ... the turn looks good, very good sir," a controller said.
The controllers then turned the plane over to air traffic controllers at the airport. One of them had called a friend who was certified in the King Air planes for advice.
"They walked him through flipping the switches, turning the knobs," Wallace said.
White, who was composed for the most part, seemed doubtful for a brief moment. "When I touch down ... If I ever touch down, do I just kill the throttle or what?" he asks. The landing was successful.
"I knew we had to do something ... I knew that much," White told WINK.
The Federal Aviation Administration has not given any of the involved air traffic controllers permission to speak about the incident, Wallace said. However, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association lauded all of those involved in landing the plane.
"If you were to ask any one of the controllers who worked this even about what happened over the skies of south Florida, they would tell you that it was just a typical day at the office and that it was merely their job," association President Patrick Forrey said in the statement. "However, the actions they all took to save the passengers aboard the flight were beyond heroic."
Victoria Moreland, spokeswoman for
|
[
"Who commandeers the plane instead?",
"Who commandeered a plan?",
"What did the controllers help him turn off?",
"What family was on board with White?",
"What did White say about touching down?"
] |
[
"Passanger Doug White",
"Passanger Doug White",
"disengage the autopilot,",
"His wife and two teenage daughters",
"do I just kill the throttle or what?\""
] |
question: Who commandeers the plane instead?, answer: Passanger Doug White | question: Who commandeered a plan?, answer: Passanger Doug White | question: What did the controllers help him turn off?, answer: disengage the autopilot, | question: What family was on board with White?, answer: His wife and two teenage daughters | question: What did White say about touching down?, answer: do I just kill the throttle or what?"
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Miami rapper Brisco lost $40,000 in jewelry and his luxury SUV when armed robbers stormed the barber shop where he was getting a trim, but the artist says the hold up may help his creativity.
Security camera video showed Brisco, whose real name is British Mitchell, sitting in a barber chair when four armed men rush into the Miami, Florida, business, fire a few shots and order everyone, including the rapper, to the floor.
"He went to a barber shop to get his hair cut," Miami Police Officer Jeffery Giordano told Miami TV station WSVN. "They took a little bit more off the top than expected."
Brisco's gold watch, bracelet, chain and pendant were taken from him, along with the keys to his Range Rover. The vehicle was later recovered, Giordano said.
"For a rapper to have his bling stolen, they might as well stolen that man's heart," Giordano said.
Brisco, known for his songs about ghetto street life, said he was still alive and looking at the bright side.
"I'll get bigger jewelry and still go hard," Brisco said. "It's great material for my next album."
Music fans also know Brisco by his other nickname, the Opa Locka Goon, a reference to his south Florida hometown.
The armed robbery took place July 29 in Miami's Model City neighborhood.
|
[
"What all was stolen?",
"What was Brisco getting?",
"What does security video show?",
"What were stolen?",
"Who is Brisco?",
"What is great material for my next album?",
"What was stolen?"
] |
[
"$40,000 in jewelry and his luxury SUV",
"a trim,",
"Brisco,",
"gold watch, bracelet, chain",
"Miami rapper",
"\"I'll get bigger jewelry and still go hard,\"",
"gold watch, bracelet, chain and pendant were taken from him, along with the keys to his Range Rover."
] |
question: What all was stolen?, answer: $40,000 in jewelry and his luxury SUV | question: What was Brisco getting?, answer: a trim, | question: What does security video show?, answer: Brisco, | question: What were stolen?, answer: gold watch, bracelet, chain | question: Who is Brisco?, answer: Miami rapper | question: What is great material for my next album?, answer: "I'll get bigger jewelry and still go hard," | question: What was stolen?, answer: gold watch, bracelet, chain and pendant were taken from him, along with the keys to his Range Rover.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Prosecutors in Florida are taking a new look at the 2007 death of Anna Nicole Smith to see if recent evidence that California investigators gathered might cause them to open an inquiry.
Prosecutors in Florida are reviewing evidence gathered in California for a probe into Anna Nicole Smith's death.
Howard K. Stern -- Smith's longtime partner and attorney -- and two doctors were charged this month in California with conspiring to furnish drugs to Smith before her fatal overdose.
"Our prosecutors have met with representatives of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the California Department of Justice and discussed the evidence they have turned up in their investigation," said Ron Ishoy, a spokesman for Broward County State Attorney Michael Satz.
"We are now examining that evidence to see where it might lead in relation to Ms. Smith's death here in Broward County in 2007."
The Broward County state attorney's office never opened a probe into Smith's death but assisted the Seminole police in its investigation in the days afterward.
Smith, 39, was pronounced dead February 8, 2007, after being discovered unconscious in her hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood, Florida. A coroner said she died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Officials said both prescription and over-the-counter drugs were found in Smith's system, including three anti-depressant or anti-anxiety drugs. Human growth hormone and chloral hydrate, a sleep medication, also were found in toxicology tests, officials said.
Stern and Drs. Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor were charged in California with several felonies, including conspiring to furnish controlled substances, unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and obtaining fraudulent prescriptions from June 2004 through January 2007 -- only weeks before Smith's death.
Kapoor and Eroshevich also were charged with obtaining a prescription for opiates by "fraud, deceit or misrepresentation." And each was charged with one count of obtaining a prescription for opiates by giving a false name or address, prosecutors said.
"Anna was the center of a cruel tabloid feeding frenzy," Eroshevich's attorney, Adam Braun, told CNN in a statement after his client was charged. "In the face of this, Dr. Eroshevich did her best to help the patient while protecting what little privacy Anna had left. Any actions were done with the patient's well-being in mind and were certainly not criminal." Watch allegations over photos and the doctor »
California Attorney General Jerry Brown said the doctors and Stern devised a plan to use fake names so Smith could be prescribed "thousands of pills." The former Playboy playmate and reality TV star was drugged "almost to the point of stupefaction," Brown said.
"The quantity of the drugs, the variety of the drugs, the combination at any given point, and her continuing to use that -- that, to a professional, is clear evidence of addiction," Brown said Friday. "These cocktails of methadone and anti-depressants and sleeping pills and Xanax, you put all that into a cocktail, it explodes and can cause death, injury and permanent morbidity and disability."
|
[
"Which Ex-Playboy playmate was found dead in a Florida hotel room in February 2007?",
"Where was the ex-Playboy playmate found?",
"What did the coroner say was the cause of death?",
"what makes them think it wasnt a suicide?",
"What caused Anna Nicole Smith to die?",
"When did Anna Nicole Smith die?"
] |
[
"Anna Nicole",
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"accidental overdose of prescription drugs.",
"two doctors were charged this month in California with conspiring to furnish drugs to Smith before her fatal overdose.",
"overdose of prescription drugs.",
"February 8, 2007,"
] |
question: Which Ex-Playboy playmate was found dead in a Florida hotel room in February 2007?, answer: Anna Nicole | question: Where was the ex-Playboy playmate found?, answer: discovered unconscious in her hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino | question: What did the coroner say was the cause of death?, answer: accidental overdose of prescription drugs. | question: what makes them think it wasnt a suicide?, answer: two doctors were charged this month in California with conspiring to furnish drugs to Smith before her fatal overdose. | question: What caused Anna Nicole Smith to die?, answer: overdose of prescription drugs. | question: When did Anna Nicole Smith die?, answer: February 8, 2007,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Searchers looking for a woman believed to have fallen from a cruise ship off the Yucatan coast of Mexico have seen no sign of her, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said Friday afternoon.
The Norwegian Pearl is on a seven-day Caribbean cruise.
Lt. Matt Moorlag, based in Miami, said crews would work into the night to find 33-year-old Jennifer Feitz, whose husband reported her missing aboard the Norwegian Pearl about 3:40 a.m. Friday.
Ship personnel called the Coast Guard for help when they couldn't locate Feitz.
Moorlag said he had not spoken with the woman's husband.
The search was centered about 15 miles east of Cancun, Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen, a Coast Guard spokesman.
"Initial reports indicate the guest may have gone overboard while the ship was at sea, east of Cancun," a spokeswoman for the Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement.
AnneMarie Mathews said the ship left Miami on Sunday on a seven-day western Caribbean cruise.
The Coast Guard dispatched an Air Station Miami HU-25 Falcon jet crew, and a C-130 fixed-wing aircraft crew from the Air Station in Clearwater, Florida, also was headed to the site, Ameen said.
The Mexican government was aiding the search with a helicopter crew and three water- and ground-surface crews.
|
[
"where they seek the missing woman?",
"What is the Mexico government doing to help?",
"how many years old is the missing passenger?",
"Who is missing fro, this ship?",
"is the Mexican government helping?",
"Where is the US searching?"
] |
[
"15 miles east of Cancun, Mexico, in the Caribbean",
"aiding the search with a helicopter crew and three water- and ground-surface crews.",
"33-year-old",
"33-year-old Jennifer Feitz,",
"was aiding the search",
"15 miles east of Cancun,"
] |
question: where they seek the missing woman?, answer: 15 miles east of Cancun, Mexico, in the Caribbean | question: What is the Mexico government doing to help?, answer: aiding the search with a helicopter crew and three water- and ground-surface crews. | question: how many years old is the missing passenger?, answer: 33-year-old | question: Who is missing fro, this ship?, answer: 33-year-old Jennifer Feitz, | question: is the Mexican government helping?, answer: was aiding the search | question: Where is the US searching?, answer: 15 miles east of Cancun,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- They could probably smell him coming for miles.
Circus performers Andrea and Daniel Raffo with their son, Davian.
"Breakfast, boys," Daniel Raffo proclaimed as his cats jumped with excitement in their cages. Raffo set down his wheelbarrow, filled with Grade A beef. Using a pitchfork, he fed his Bengal tigers.
It's the morning ritual at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Raffo is the show's tiger trainer. He's a fifth-generation circus performer from Argentina. On this morning, the show awakes in Miami, Florida.
"You get up in the morning; you wash the animal, clean it up; you feed them, then you play with them a bit," Raffo said. "And then during the day, you spend some time with your family."
He lives in a trailer with his family so he can stay close to the tigers. He, wife Andrea and son Davian are all on a two-year tour with Ringling Bros.
But why would anyone live on the road like this, with a 4-year-old?
Andrea is also part of the circus, performing an aerial ballet, hanging by her hair high above the crowds, just like her mother and grandmother, who taught her the act.
"I can finish my act and then go up and see my son, so it's good, 'cause we're always together," Andrea Ayala Raffo said.
The Raffos keep a home in Florida but are rarely there.
"Home is actually my trailer, when we travel, and have dinner every night and watch TV. That's really my home," Andrea Raffo said.
And these lives on wheels come with real family needs.
Just outside Section 405 at Miami's American Airlines arena, across from the Mexi-go Taqueria and Nacho Time food stands, school is in session.
Jonathan Leiss is a licensed teacher with the circus. He uses a nationally recognized home-schooling curriculum. He pitches a one-room schoolhouse in every city where the show pitches its tent, for all of the school-age children of the circus.
School is open five days a week. He teaches all the subjects, and every one of his students gets personal attention.
"I would describe it as a rigorous curriculum," he said. "We don't want to allow anything to slip through the cracks because we're traveling. This is a real school."
Leiss added, "If I was teaching in a public high school, I could have 120 students. That's a lot less opportunity to really address what each student needs."
Katherine Stuart is one of the students. The 8-year-old is growing up quickly, surrounded by circus people from 32 countries. One of the performers is teaching her Spanish. She says she likes to wash the elephants, and she loves the travel.
"You can see all these different places and what it looks like, and I also wanted to know what each state looked like, so I get to do it," she said.
Katherine's dad is Mike Stuart, the general manager. With his wife, Mary, and son Tylar, 3, he hits about 36 cities a year. When CNN arrived at his temporary office at the Miami arena, Katherine was reading with Mike. Tylar was with Mom, playing a "Blues Clues" game on the computer.
"This is a 24/7 job, so I make time pretty much every day to sit with my kids, go out with my kids," Mike Stuart said.
The Stuarts, like most of the 350 circus members, live on a train, with all of a home's amenities. But finding a park or a playground is a must for them.
"I have a house in Massachusetts. I probably see it once a year, maybe for a week or two," Stuart said. "But, more or less, we travel on the train. It's year-
|
[
"How many cities does he circus see each year?",
"How many cities to the family visit each year?",
"What does Dad do?"
] |
[
"36",
"36",
"Circus performers"
] |
question: How many cities does he circus see each year?, answer: 36 | question: How many cities to the family visit each year?, answer: 36 | question: What does Dad do?, answer: Circus performers
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- You don't expect to hear an electric saw in church, but Kevin Cross uses the tool along with a frying pan, blender and toaster oven to help free people from debt.
Kevin Cross holds the boards steady as a woman uses a reciprocating saw to cut up her credit cards.
This money missionary helps people destroy those little plastic shovels, otherwise known as credit cards, that so many people have used to dig their way to financial ruin.
"It's such an easy message. It really is," says Cross, an ex-con who credits religion for his conversion from thief to money coach. "That's why it doesn't take a rocket scientist, it doesn't take a CPA to do it. A first-year bookkeeper can figure out that you can't spend more than you make," he said.
Earlier this month, Cross spoke to about 150 people at the Miami Vineyard Community Church where Kevin Fischer is the pastor.
"You've got to plan your spending; you've got to give back a part to God. You've got to save for the future, and you've got to learn to be content," said Fischer.
Fischer says the pressure of money and debt is enormous on people, especially more recently.
"We should change the marriage vows from 'till death do us part' to 'debt do us part' because that's what's going on, and it's so true," he said.
Cross is breathless. As he speaks to the crowd, he's a non-stop, doesn't-come-up-for-air, high-octane money missionary.
He uses Christian principles, prayer, common sense, and a few good one-liners to get his message across.
"I had a 401k, it went to a 201k, went to 101k, now it's just K," he said as the crowd laughs. "I'm thinking I got a thousand bucks left, and I can retire for about a week."
Cross presides over a day-long sermon on how people can make their lives better by taking control of their spending. He says he tries to demonstrate the long-term effects of irresponsible borrowing. Simple stuff, he says, will make people more content and give them the cushion necessary to give back.
His new book is "Building Your Financial Fortress in 52 Days."
"I want to get people to have more margin, so instead of investing in stuff, and stuff that doesn't last, they can invest in people's lives," he said.
The tools he uses to hammer home his message go beyond his overhead TV screens, charts and calculators. Cross invites his guests, who pay $25 a head to hear his message, to come up to the front of the room for what he calls the beginning of "freedom."
On a table, sit a frying pan, a toaster oven, a blender and a wooden sawhorse and an electric saw. About six people cut up their credit cards and bake them in the toaster oven as if they were TV dinners.
Others sliced and diced their Visa, MasterCard and Amex, before mixing the pieces with Spam in the blender.
At one point, Cross called for some cooking oil as one lady stood over her credit card-saute with a spatula.
Holding a plate full of the little pieces of credit card, Cross said, "This looks like a melted credit card, but this really represents freedom in these people's lives, because it's the first step."
Cellie Mayol says she used to have 10 or 11 credit cards. She put on protective goggles, taped her cards to a two-by-four and shredded them with a reciprocating saw.
"It just felt like the right thing to do to get me started on the right path," she said. "The Sawzall [reciprocating saw] was exhilarating. I love that feeling."
Kevin Cross
|
[
"What were the tools he used to free clients?",
"what does Kevin Cross teach",
"Who teaches about the evil of credit cards",
"Who turned to religion while working as a valet",
"What does Kevin Cross use to free clients",
"What do Kevin Cross teach churchgoers?"
] |
[
"toaster oven",
"help free people from debt.",
"Kevin Cross",
"Kevin Cross",
"frying pan, a toaster oven, a blender and a wooden sawhorse and an electric saw.",
"This money missionary helps people destroy those little plastic shovels, otherwise known as credit cards, that so many people have used to dig their way to financial ruin."
] |
question: What were the tools he used to free clients?, answer: toaster oven | question: what does Kevin Cross teach, answer: help free people from debt. | question: Who teaches about the evil of credit cards, answer: Kevin Cross | question: Who turned to religion while working as a valet, answer: Kevin Cross | question: What does Kevin Cross use to free clients, answer: frying pan, a toaster oven, a blender and a wooden sawhorse and an electric saw. | question: What do Kevin Cross teach churchgoers?, answer: This money missionary helps people destroy those little plastic shovels, otherwise known as credit cards, that so many people have used to dig their way to financial ruin.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida boy remains in stable condition just days after he found his parents' long-forgotten handgun in a closet and accidentally shot himself in the head.
Police are deciding whether or not to charge parents after their son found a forgotten gun and shot himself.
Sheriff's detectives in Pinellas County, Florida, near St. Petersburg, say the boy found the .25-caliber European semi-automatic handgun in a box in a closet in their home.
"They are dealing with this very tragic situation, and at this point, no charges have been filed," said Cecilia Barreda of the Pinellas County sheriff's office.
His stepfather found Jacob Larson, 12, with a gunshot wound to the head Friday. The stepfather called 911.
Police say the shooting took place between 7:40 a.m., when his mother, Tracy Newman, leaves for work, and about 11 a.m., when his stepfather, Joseph Newton, returns home. The boy normally goes to school about 8:30 a.m.
"A few years ago, they moved, and [the gun] was stored in the closet. The mother never checked it, never fired it," Barreda said.
"They told detectives that they forgot they had stored it in a box inside a closet. Both her and her husband forgot about it," she said.
Newman told detectives that she received the gun six years ago from a former employer. Police say that both she and her husband are cooperating in the investigation into the incident.
The sheriff's office says it's unlikely that they will face charges.
Florida law prohibits a person from leaving a loaded firearm where a minor might have access to it. Prosecutors do have some discretion, and depending on what happens with the gun, charges ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony can be filed in the event of death or serious injury.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that 17 states have child firearm access protection and safe-storage laws.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett says that although laws are needed, an accident with a firearm can be a greater penalty than any judge could ever hand down.
"Sometimes, the injury of a child is more severe from a punishment standpoint than any kind of criminal charge," he said.
The CDC says one child, on average, every three days died in accidental incidents in the United States from 2000 to 2005, the last year data are available.
Bartlett said his office has filed charges in previous cases when there was culpable negligence on the part of a gun owner. But, he says, there are cases where accidents happen, not crimes.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says that 34 percent of children in the United States live in homes with at least one firearm, so people have to be aware.
"It's a horrible thing, and those parents will blame themselves from here out, and you have to look at things real close to see if it warrants any enforcement from our end," Bartlett said.
|
[
"What did the boy find?",
"was the child harmed?",
"What does Florida law prohibit?",
"What caliber gun did the boy have?",
"What does this Florida law prohibit?",
"what was the charge?",
"What is more severe?",
"What was the age of the boy?"
] |
[
"long-forgotten handgun",
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".25-caliber",
"a person from leaving a loaded firearm where a minor might have access to it.",
"have been filed,\"",
"the injury of a child",
"12,"
] |
question: What did the boy find?, answer: long-forgotten handgun | question: was the child harmed?, answer: gunshot wound to the head | question: What does Florida law prohibit?, answer: a person from leaving a loaded firearm where a minor might have access to it. | question: What caliber gun did the boy have?, answer: .25-caliber | question: What does this Florida law prohibit?, answer: a person from leaving a loaded firearm where a minor might have access to it. | question: what was the charge?, answer: have been filed," | question: What is more severe?, answer: the injury of a child | question: What was the age of the boy?, answer: 12,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida boy remains in stable condition just days after he found his parents' long-forgotten handgun in a closet and accidentally shot himself in the head.
Police are deciding whether or not to charge parents after their son found a forgotten gun and shot himself.
Sheriff's detectives in Pinellas County, Florida, near St. Petersburg, say the boy found the .25-caliber European semi-automatic handgun in a box in a closet in their home.
"They are dealing with this very tragic situation, and at this point, no charges have been filed," said Cecilia Barreda of the Pinellas County sheriff's office.
His stepfather found Jacob Larson, 12, with a gunshot wound to the head Friday. The stepfather called 911.
Police say the shooting took place between 7:40 a.m., when his mother, Tracy Newman, leaves for work, and about 11 a.m., when his stepfather, Joseph Newton, returns home. The boy normally goes to school about 8:30 a.m.
"A few years ago, they moved, and [the gun] was stored in the closet. The mother never checked it, never fired it," Barreda said.
"They told detectives that they forgot they had stored it in a box inside a closet. Both her and her husband forgot about it," she said.
Newman told detectives that she received the gun six years ago from a former employer. Police say that both she and her husband are cooperating in the investigation into the incident.
The sheriff's office says it's unlikely that they will face charges.
Florida law prohibits a person from leaving a loaded firearm where a minor might have access to it. Prosecutors do have some discretion, and depending on what happens with the gun, charges ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony can be filed in the event of death or serious injury.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that 17 states have child firearm access protection and safe-storage laws.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett says that although laws are needed, an accident with a firearm can be a greater penalty than any judge could ever hand down.
"Sometimes, the injury of a child is more severe from a punishment standpoint than any kind of criminal charge," he said.
The CDC says three children per day, on average, died in accidental incidents in the United States from 2000 to 2005, the last year data are available.
Bartlett said his office has filed charges in previous cases when there was culpable negligence on the part of a gun owner. But, he says, there are cases where accidents happen, not crimes.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says that 34 percent of children in the United States live in homes with at least one firearm, so people have to be aware.
"It's a horrible thing, and those parents will blame themselves from here out, and you have to look at things real close to see if it warrants any enforcement from our end," Bartlett said.
|
[
"Who said \"Sometimes, the injury of a child is more severe\" punishment?",
"Which states law prohibits leaving a loaded firearm where minor can access it?",
"Have the police laid any charges?",
"What did the boy find in a closet?",
"What is the age of the boy?",
"In what US state did the boy live?",
"What type of gun did he find?",
"What was the age of the boy?",
"The boy who found the .25-caliber gun in box in closet was how old?"
] |
[
"Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett",
"Florida",
"no",
"long-forgotten handgun",
"12,",
"Florida",
".25-caliber European semi-automatic handgun",
"12,",
"12,"
] |
question: Who said "Sometimes, the injury of a child is more severe" punishment?, answer: Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett | question: Which states law prohibits leaving a loaded firearm where minor can access it?, answer: Florida | question: Have the police laid any charges?, answer: no | question: What did the boy find in a closet?, answer: long-forgotten handgun | question: What is the age of the boy?, answer: 12, | question: In what US state did the boy live?, answer: Florida | question: What type of gun did he find?, answer: .25-caliber European semi-automatic handgun | question: What was the age of the boy?, answer: 12, | question: The boy who found the .25-caliber gun in box in closet was how old?, answer: 12,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A federal judge on Tuesday approved the extradition of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to France, where he faces a 10-year sentence on a conviction in absentia on money-laundering charges.
Manuel Noriega, in a 1989 file photo, leaves his headquarters in Panama City, Panama.
Magistrate William Turnoff agreed with the government's case for extraditing Noriega to France and issued a "certificate of extradability."
Noriega's lawyer, Frank Rubino, said he would continue to fight the extradition. He had said Noriega hoped to return to Panama to be closer to his family.
The issue has emerged because Noriega is scheduled to complete his Florida prison term on September 9.
The former Panamanian strongman was captured in the 1989 U.S. military invasion of Panama and was convicted in 1992 of racketeering for accepting bribes to allow drugs to be shipped through Panama destined for the United States.
His attorneys had argued that his status as a prisoner of war meant he should be returned to Panama, but a separate court ruling last Friday rejected that argument.
"This court never intended for the proclamation of defendant as a POW to shield him from all future prosecutions for serious crimes he is alleged to have committed," Senior U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler wrote in Friday's 12-page opinion. "It appears that the extradition proceedings should proceed uninterrupted."
Hoeveler noted that Noriega "has not always sought repatriation," and had, at one time, asked to be allowed to go to a third country.
Noriega also faces possible prison time in Panama, where he is accused of kidnapping, extortion and the murder of political opponents.
Though the charges are more serious, if the 69-year-old Noriega is convicted of murder, he would likely serve much of his sentence under home detention in Panama.
Panamanian law provides home detention for anyone 74 years old or older.
The Panamanian constitution would also forbid his extradition to France.
Next month, Noriega will have served nearly 17½ years of an original 40-year sentence in the United States. The sentence was later reduced to 30 years, and further shortened for good behavior. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Patrick Oppmann in Miami and Jim Bittermann in Paris contributed to this report.
|
[
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"what are the lawyers arguments?",
"who issued a certificate?",
"when is he set to get out of prison?",
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"What have his lawyers argued?",
"Where do lawyers argue he should be sent?",
"When is the ex-Panamanian dictator due to be released?",
"Who does France want to extradite?"
] |
[
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"Manuel Noriega"
] |
question: What does his lawyer vow?, answer: he would continue to fight the extradition. | question: what are the lawyers arguments?, answer: that his | question: who issued a certificate?, answer: Magistrate William Turnoff | question: when is he set to get out of prison?, answer: September 9. | question: What did the judge issue?, answer: extradition | question: What have his lawyers argued?, answer: status as a prisoner of war meant he should be returned to Panama, | question: Where do lawyers argue he should be sent?, answer: Panama, | question: When is the ex-Panamanian dictator due to be released?, answer: September 9. | question: Who does France want to extradite?, answer: Manuel Noriega
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A grand jury Tuesday indicted four suspects on charges of first degree felony murder and armed burglary in the slaying of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor.
A grand jury identified Eric Rivera Jr. as the shooter in the death of NFL star Sean Taylor.
Court documents say the youngest is alleged to have fired the fatal shot.
The three adult suspects -- Venjah K. Hunte, 20, Jason Scott Mitchell, 19, and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18 -- appeared in court Tuesday via videoconference wearing thick green vests, which defense attorneys said were suicide safety smocks.
They were ordered held without bail at the Pre-Trial Detention Center in Miami, Florida, where Corrections Officer Janelle Hall said they are under suicide watch.
The fourth suspect -- Eric Rivera Jr., 17 -- remained in custody in Fort Myers, Florida.
His attorney, Wilbur Smith, told CNN he expected his client to be moved to a Miami-Dade juvenile detention facility Wednesday. Watch CNN's Rick Sanchez speak to attorneys for two of the suspects »
Rivera was armed during the alleged burglary, and "during the course of the commission of the offense ... discharged a firearm and as a result of the discharge, death or great bodily harm was inflicted upon Sean Maurice Taylor, a human being," the indictment says.
The four men were arrested Friday, officials said.
Taylor, 24, died a day after he was shot during an apparent burglary at his home. Miami-Dade police investigators said they believe the burglars thought the house was empty.
Thousands of mourners attended Taylor's funeral Monday at Florida International University's arena. See photos from the funeral »
Police said Taylor and his girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, were awakened by noise coming from the living room early November 26. Taylor got up and locked the bedroom door, but the door was kicked in and two shots were fired, police said. One struck Taylor in the leg.
Garcia and the couple's 18-month-old daughter were not hurt.
Authorities have said Garcia told police she was hiding under the bedding during the attack, did not see what happened and could not provide a suspect description.
A break-in had been reported at Taylor's residence eight days earlier. A police report from that incident said someone forced a window open and left a kitchen knife on a bed. Several drawers and a bedroom safe were searched during the break-in, according to the report.
Taylor spent four years with the Redskins, earning his first Pro Bowl selection in 2006. He suffered a sprained right knee in a November 11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and had not played since.
The 2004 first-round draft pick played at the University of Miami, where he was an All-American in 2003. He was regarded as one of the hardest-hitting players in the NFL. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Kim Segal and John Couwels contributed to this report.
|
[
"What number of suspects are there?",
"Who will be moved on Wednesday?",
"Where will Eric Rivera Jr. be moved to?",
"Where will Eric Rivera Jr. be moved?",
"Who fired the fatal shot?",
"Who died after being shot?",
"Who was shot during a home invasion?",
"Who is alleged to have fired the fatal shot>"
] |
[
"four",
"Eric Rivera Jr.,",
"a Miami-Dade juvenile detention facility",
"a Miami-Dade juvenile detention facility",
"Eric Rivera Jr.",
"Sean Taylor.",
"Sean Taylor.",
"Eric Rivera Jr."
] |
question: What number of suspects are there?, answer: four | question: Who will be moved on Wednesday?, answer: Eric Rivera Jr., | question: Where will Eric Rivera Jr. be moved to?, answer: a Miami-Dade juvenile detention facility | question: Where will Eric Rivera Jr. be moved?, answer: a Miami-Dade juvenile detention facility | question: Who fired the fatal shot?, answer: Eric Rivera Jr. | question: Who died after being shot?, answer: Sean Taylor. | question: Who was shot during a home invasion?, answer: Sean Taylor. | question: Who is alleged to have fired the fatal shot>, answer: Eric Rivera Jr.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A judge has declared a mistrial in the retrial of six men accused of plotting terrorist acts with al Qaeda.
Narseal Batiste, the group's alleged ringleader, testified he wasn't serious about the terrorism threats he made.
The decision comes after 13 days of deliberation and marks the second time government prosecutors have failed to convince a jury that the six defendants were guilty of terror-related charges.
It is unclear whether the government will pursue a third trial against the defendants.
The first trial ended in a mistrial last December after nine days of deliberations left a jury hopelessly deadlocked on the six defendants. A seventh was acquitted.
The defendants are known as the "Liberty City 7" because authorities say the men operated out of a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City housing project.
After their arrests in June 2006, federal officials said the homegrown terror plot may have included as its possible targets the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago -- the tallest building in North America -- as well as the FBI's Miami offices and other sites. E-mail to a friend
CNN's John Couwels contributed to this report.
|
[
"what did the judge declare",
"what are men accused of?",
"what are the men accused of",
"when is the first trial",
"what judge declares?",
"what defendants faced?"
] |
[
"mistrial in the retrial of six men accused of plotting",
"plotting",
"plotting",
"last December",
"a mistrial in the retrial of six men",
"terror-related charges."
] |
question: what did the judge declare, answer: mistrial in the retrial of six men accused of plotting | question: what are men accused of?, answer: plotting | question: what are the men accused of, answer: plotting | question: when is the first trial, answer: last December | question: what judge declares?, answer: a mistrial in the retrial of six men | question: what defendants faced?, answer: terror-related charges.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A mother and her teenage son are kidnapped. The kidnappers place a cell phone in the car of the boy's father so they can communicate their ransom demands. The son is burned with a blowtorch. The mother implores the father to pay the ransom.
A terrifying scenario, but one that the FBI and police say was all orchestrated by the mother to get some fast cash from her ex-husband.
The mother, Alejandra Arriaza, her boyfriend, Angel Ponce, and his nephew, Joel Boza, were charged Tuesday with federal kidnapping counts. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison.
According to an FBI affidavit, all three have admitted their roles in the phony kidnapping.
"We took it very seriously and believed a couple of lives were at risk," said Jim Leljedal of the Broward County, Florida, sheriff's office. "And then to find out that one of the victims was involved in the plot was pretty surprising."
The three suspects will have a detention hearing Wednesday in a federal court in Miami, Florida. The U.S. attorney's office would not comment on the case.
According to the FBI affidavit, written by special agent Scott Wilson, the plot was Arriaza's idea. It began, court papers say, when she and her boyfriend found out her ex-husband had recently come into some money from the sale of a business, and that he kept a large amount of cash in his home.
The father and son are not named in the affidavit, which refers to the father as "H.P." and to his 17-year-old son as "N.P."
The affidavit says that the plot began Thursday when Arriaza told her son she wanted to take him to Wal-Mart to purchase an Apple iPhone.
When they got back to their car, a masked intruder appeared from the back seat, pointed a gun at the son's back and told him and his mother that they were being kidnapped, according to the affidavit. The kidnapper placed thick tape over the son's eyes and instructed his mother to drive to a mobile home in southwest Miami, where a second person, who introduced himself as "El Negro," was waiting.
The affidavit says the men forced N.P. to sit in a chair, where they bound his hands. His torso was bound to the back of the chair with shrink wrap, and his legs were bound with tape. The boy's head was wrapped in thick tape from the top to the tip of his nose, and he was put in a closet, where he spent the night.
The next day, according to the FBI affidavit, the kidnappers called the boy's father on a cell phone they had placed in his car. The father then called authorities, who began to record the phone calls.
At one point during the abduction, the son told the kidnappers that his father had about $50,000 in a bank, the affidavit says.
When the kidnappers felt that the father was not complying with their demands, they threatened to burn his son, and at one point, according to the affidavit, "the kidnappers put a lit blowtorch close to the phone, so he could hear it."
During another phone call, Arriaza, who is the father's ex-wife, told him that kidnappers were burning their son's feet. She implored him to pay the kidnappers their ransom, the affidavit says.
At one point, Wilson wrote, the kidnappers held the blowtorch so close to N.P. "that it burnt the hair off his leg."
"I think they wanted to impress him with the seriousness so that he would relay ... to his father to come up with some money," Leljedal said.
Under the FBI's guidance, the father arranged to pay the ransom. But late in the evening of April 10, before the ransom was paid, law enforcement located the mobile home and rescued the son, who immediately identified his mother's boyfriend, Angel Ponce, as one of the men inside the unit where he was
|
[
"who was kidnapped?",
"When is the detention hearing scheduled?",
"What was the woman charged with?",
"What was the teenager bound with?",
"How much was the ransom?",
"What did the kidnappers burn the teen with?",
"Did they catch them?"
] |
[
"A mother and her teenage son",
"Wednesday",
"federal kidnapping counts.",
"shrink wrap,",
"$50,000",
"a blowtorch.",
"charged Tuesday"
] |
question: who was kidnapped?, answer: A mother and her teenage son | question: When is the detention hearing scheduled?, answer: Wednesday | question: What was the woman charged with?, answer: federal kidnapping counts. | question: What was the teenager bound with?, answer: shrink wrap, | question: How much was the ransom?, answer: $50,000 | question: What did the kidnappers burn the teen with?, answer: a blowtorch. | question: Did they catch them?, answer: charged Tuesday
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A tropical storm watch was issued Friday for Bermuda as Hurricane Bertha moved closer to the Atlantic island, causing swells and high turf on its beaches.
A satellite picture from 5:45 a.m. ET Friday shows Hurricane Bertha over the Atlantic.
As of 8 p.m. ET Friday, the center of Bertha was about 250 miles (402 km) southeast of Bermuda. The Category 1 storm was moving north-northwest at near 5 mph (8 km/h).
The National Hurricane Center said a gradual turn toward the north is expected Friday night and Saturday, followed by a continued slow motion toward the north or north-northeast on Sunday.
"On this track, the center of Bertha is expected to slowly pass to the southeast and east of Bermuda during the next couple of days," the agency said in an advisory.
Bertha's maximum sustained winds are at near 90 mph (145 km/hr), with higher gusts, the hurricane center said. See Bertha's path »
The Bermuda Weather Service issued a tropical storm watch for the island around midday, meaning tropical storm conditions are possible in the area, the hurricane center said.
The center advised those on the island, a self-governing British colony, to monitor Bertha's progress closely.
Bertha's intensity has fluctuated. At its peak Monday, it was a major Category 3 hurricane with top winds of 120 mph (193 km/h).
Its wind speed dropped to 75 mph (121 km/h), barely hurricane strength, before picking up once again and reaching Category 2 intensity late Wednesday, with top sustained winds of 105 mph (169 km/h). See how hurricanes are classified »
The storm formed July 3 off Africa near the southern Cape Verde Islands. It strengthened into a hurricane Monday.
The first tropical storm of the season, Arthur, formed May 31 near the coast of Belize and dumped heavy rain on Central America and southern Mexico.
|
[
"when did this happen?",
"what about the watch"
] |
[
"Friday",
"was issued Friday for Bermuda"
] |
question: when did this happen?, answer: Friday | question: what about the watch, answer: was issued Friday for Bermuda
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- An illegal immigrant dishwasher who lost $49,000 to the U.S. government as he tried to take it home to Guatemala will get some of the money back, his attorney said Wednesday.
Pedro Zapeta, an illegal immigrant, managed to save $59,000 while working as a dishwasher for 11 years.
Pedro Zapeta was "very, very happy" when he learned about a federal appeals court ruling that says he is entitled to recover some of the money, said attorney Robert Gershman, who handled the financial end of Zapeta's case.
Zapeta was carrying $59,000 in cash when he was stopped at a security checkpoint at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in 2005. He told authorities he was returning home to Guatemala with the money he had saved working illegally as a dishwasher over 11 years.
But federal law requires that anyone leaving or entering the country with $10,000 or more must declare it. Because Zapeta had not done so, he was detained, and his money was seized.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the judge who fined Zapeta applied an incorrect standard in determining the amount to be forfeited. The appeals court ordered a hearing to set a new fine.
"I am extremely happy," Gershman said. "Even though he is not a citizen, it shows he has equal rights."
Gershman has said Zapeta, who does not speak English, was not trying to conceal the money but did not know the law. Zapeta had paid taxes on the earnings, he said, and under legal guidelines should be fined at most $5,000 for failing to report that he was traveling with the cash.
Circuit Court Judge James Cohn instead fined Zapeta $49,000, all the money he was carrying over the $10,000 limit.
"The government always acted as if the money was their own," Gershman said. "They acted almost entitled to it. But it's not their money. It was Pedro's, and the [appeals] court affirmed that."
Zapeta said last year that he had saved the money to build a house for himself and his family in his home village in the Guatemalan mountains. He returned to Guatemala this year under the threat of deportation, but his lawyers continued to argue that his fine was excessive.
Federal prosecutors in Miami did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision or on whether they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
As Zapeta's case was publicized, U.S. residents donated money to him, and Gershman set up a trust. It has received about $15,000 in donations, he said.
|
[
"how much was the fine?",
"who left the us?",
"How much was he trying to take home?",
"What was Pedro Zapeta trying to do when he was stopped?",
"When was Pedro Zapeta stopped?",
"when was he stopped?",
"What was wrong with the Judge's ruling?"
] |
[
"$49,000,",
"Pedro Zapeta,",
"$59,000",
"returning home",
"2005.",
"2005.",
"who fined Zapeta applied an incorrect standard in determining the amount to be forfeited."
] |
question: how much was the fine?, answer: $49,000, | question: who left the us?, answer: Pedro Zapeta, | question: How much was he trying to take home?, answer: $59,000 | question: What was Pedro Zapeta trying to do when he was stopped?, answer: returning home | question: When was Pedro Zapeta stopped?, answer: 2005. | question: when was he stopped?, answer: 2005. | question: What was wrong with the Judge's ruling?, answer: who fined Zapeta applied an incorrect standard in determining the amount to be forfeited.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- An internationally known Catholic priest sometimes called "Father Oprah" has been removed from his posts in Florida after published photos showed him lying down bare-chested in an embrace with a woman on a beach.
The photos of the Cuban-American priest appeared on the cover of this week's TV Notas magazine.
The Rev. Alberto Cutie (pronounced koo-tee-AYE) -- who got the nickname "Father Oprah" because of the advice he gives on Spanish-language media -- remains a priest. But he was relieved Tuesday of his duties at St. Francis De Sales Church in Miami Beach, Florida, and at the Radio Paz and Radio Peace networks, said a "deeply saddened" Miami, Florida, Archbishop John C. Favalora.
The photos of the Cuban-American priest appeared on the cover and on eight inside pages of this week's TV Notas magazine. The cover says in Spanish: "Good God. Padre Alberto. First photos of a priest 'in flagrante' with his lover."
In a message posted on the Miami archdiocese Web page, the archbishop apologized to parishioners and radio listeners for what he called a "scandal."
"Father Cutie made a promise of celibacy and all priests are expected to fulfill that promise with the help of God," Favalora said. "Father Cutie's actions cannot be condoned despite the good works he has done as a priest."
Cutie apologized in an online statement Tuesday, saying he "wants to ask for forgiveness if my actions have caused pain and sadness. ... I assure you that my service and dedication to God remain intact." Watch pictures that led to priest's dismissal. »
Other media outlets throughout Latin America, including the official Notimex news agency in Mexico, picked up the story on Tuesday, and it became an Internet sensation. Cutie has millions of followers in the Spanish-speaking world.
"We got a bunch of calls from sobbing women," said Miami archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta.
Archdiocese officials declined to say where Cutie was Tuesday or what his new assignment might be.
A woman who answered the telephone Wednesday at St. Francis De Sales said, "He is no longer here."
The identity of the woman in the photos remained publicly unknown Wednesday.
Cutie was ordained in May 1995 and was the first Catholic priest to host a daily talk show on a major secular television network, his information on the LinkedIn online professional network says.
In addition to his TV and radio appearances, he has written newspaper advice columns and a self-help book, "Real Life, Real Love."
He was president and general director of Pax Catholic Communications, home of Radio Paz and Radio Peace in Miami.
CNN's John Zarrella and Arthur Brice contributed to this report.
|
[
"What says Rev. Alberto Cutie?",
"What self-help book did the priest write?",
"What did the Rev. Alberto Cutie say?",
"What did the Miami archbishop apologize for?",
"what was called?",
"who apologized",
"who wrote self-help book?",
"what did priest write"
] |
[
"apologized in an online statement Tuesday, saying he \"wants to ask for forgiveness if my actions have caused pain and sadness. ... I assure you that my service and dedication to God remain intact.\"",
"\"Real Life, Real Love.\"",
"\"wants to ask for forgiveness if my actions have caused pain and sadness. ... I assure you that my service and dedication to God remain intact.\"",
"\"scandal.\"",
"\"Father Oprah\"",
"the archbishop",
"The Rev. Alberto Cutie",
"\"wants to ask for forgiveness if my actions have caused pain and sadness."
] |
question: What says Rev. Alberto Cutie?, answer: apologized in an online statement Tuesday, saying he "wants to ask for forgiveness if my actions have caused pain and sadness. ... I assure you that my service and dedication to God remain intact." | question: What self-help book did the priest write?, answer: "Real Life, Real Love." | question: What did the Rev. Alberto Cutie say?, answer: "wants to ask for forgiveness if my actions have caused pain and sadness. ... I assure you that my service and dedication to God remain intact." | question: What did the Miami archbishop apologize for?, answer: "scandal." | question: what was called?, answer: "Father Oprah" | question: who apologized, answer: the archbishop | question: who wrote self-help book?, answer: The Rev. Alberto Cutie | question: what did priest write, answer: "wants to ask for forgiveness if my actions have caused pain and sadness.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Described as "an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane," Hurricane Bill was churning closer to the Atlantic island of Bermuda on Wednesday, forecasters said.
Most forecast maps show Hurricane Bill passing to the west of Bermuda.
Although Bill is not expected to make a direct hit on the island, forecasters cautioned that the storm is large and will generate large swells on Bermuda as well as the islands of the northeast Caribbean Sea over the next day or two.
Swells may also affect the eastern United States on Friday and Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said. CNN meteorologists said Bill could cause cause dangerous rip tides and some coastal flooding in the northeast United States and could move very close to or make landfall in Newfoundland, Canada, early next week.
In addition, Bill may strengthen further over the next couple of days, forecasters said.
As of 5 p.m. ET, Bill's center was about 335 miles northeast of the Leeward Islands and about 970 miles south-southeast of Bermuda, the hurricane center said.
"It's a little too early to evaluate what kind of direct impact Bill may have," said Jack Bevin, a senior hurricane specialist. "Most of the computer guidance has the storm passing between Bermuda and the U.S. coastline, then turning northeastward."
Other models show Bill turning more sharply out to sea and not affecting any areas, he said.
Bill's maximum sustained winds were at 135 mph Wednesday afternoon. It was moving northwest at near 20 mph and was expected to continue that motion over the next day or so, turning north-northwest by late Friday.
Five-day forecast maps show Bill passing to the west of Bermuda before turning to the northwest.
"Bill is a large tropical cyclone," the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 85 miles from its center, with tropical storm-force winds extending up to 230 miles out.
CNN Radio's Andrew Spencer and Lee Garen contributed to this report.
|
[
"The storm is not expected to make a direct hit where?",
"where is the storm to hit",
"what could see swells?",
"Who could see large swells?",
"What category is the hurricane?",
"What speed is the wind",
"What looked on the island of USA?",
"What is expected from the storm?",
"What was the hurricane category?",
"what is the hurricane's category?",
"what are the maximum speeds of a category 4 hurricane?",
"is the storm expected to hit Bermuda?"
] |
[
"Bermuda.",
"Bermuda.",
"Bermuda",
"forecasters",
"4",
"135 mph",
"Hurricane Bill",
"generate large swells on Bermuda",
"4 hurricane,\"",
"4",
"135 mph",
"Bill is not"
] |
question: The storm is not expected to make a direct hit where?, answer: Bermuda. | question: where is the storm to hit, answer: Bermuda. | question: what could see swells?, answer: Bermuda | question: Who could see large swells?, answer: forecasters | question: What category is the hurricane?, answer: 4 | question: What speed is the wind, answer: 135 mph | question: What looked on the island of USA?, answer: Hurricane Bill | question: What is expected from the storm?, answer: generate large swells on Bermuda | question: What was the hurricane category?, answer: 4 hurricane," | question: what is the hurricane's category?, answer: 4 | question: what are the maximum speeds of a category 4 hurricane?, answer: 135 mph | question: is the storm expected to hit Bermuda?, answer: Bill is not
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Father Alberto Cutie, an internationally known Catholic priest who admitted having a romantic affair and breaking his vow of celibacy, was married this week in Miami, Florida.
Father Alberto Cutie was married in Coral Gables, Florida, on Tuesday, according to court documents.
Cutie, 40, announced last month that he was leaving the Catholic Church and joining the Episcopal Church.
A judge performed the marriage ceremony Tuesday in Coral Gables, Florida, for Cutie and Ruhama B. Canellis, 35, according to Miami-Dade County court documents.
Cutie, whose name is pronounced koo-tee-AY, is a native of Puerto Rico, and Canellis was born in Guatemala.
He was received into the Episcopal Church on May 28 at Trinity Cathedral in Miami. He will pursue the priesthood in the Episcopalian faith, the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida said in a written statement. It was not immediately clear how long the process would take.
Cutie -- sometimes called "Father Oprah" because of the advice he's given on Spanish-language media -- shocked some in the Catholic community when photographs of him embracing a bathing-suit-clad woman emerged last month in TV Notas magazine.
He acknowledged having carried on a two-year relationship with the woman, who at that time had not been publicly identified.
"This is something I've struggled with," he told CNN in May. "I don't support the breaking of the celibacy promise."
Referring to his relationship with the woman, he said, "It looked like a frivolous thing on the beach, you know, and that's not what it is. It's something deeper than that."
After the photographs surfaced, Cutie was removed from his duties at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Miami Beach and on the Radio Paz and Radio Peace Networks.
Cutie had been president and general director of Pax Catholic Communications, home of Radio Paz and Radio Peace. He has also written newspaper advice columns and a self-help book, "Real Life, Real Love."
John C. Favalora, archbishop of the Catholic Church's Miami archdiocese, said last month that Cutie's actions have "caused a grave scandal within the Catholic Church."
Favalora also had harsh words for the Episcopal Church's decision to accept Cutie.
"This truly is a serious setback for ecumenical relations and cooperation between us," he said.
|
[
"Alberto married whom?",
"What Cutie admitted?",
"Who did Alberto Cutie marry on Tuesday?"
] |
[
"Ruhama B. Canellis,",
"having a romantic affair and breaking his vow of celibacy,",
"Coral Gables,"
] |
question: Alberto married whom?, answer: Ruhama B. Canellis, | question: What Cutie admitted?, answer: having a romantic affair and breaking his vow of celibacy, | question: Who did Alberto Cutie marry on Tuesday?, answer: Coral Gables,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors on Wednesday filed murder charges against two men suspected in the deaths of a charter boat crew, authorities said.
The Joe Cool charter boat was found abandoned last month in the Florida Straits.
Kirby Archer, 34, and Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, are scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon.
The men are being held without bail on suspicion of killing the four-member crew of the Joe Cool fishing boat last month.
"Four individuals were killed in this case," Alex Acosta, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, told reporters Wednesday in announcing the charges. "Four families have been torn apart." Watch what led to the charges »
Archer and Zarabozo paid $4,000 in cash for a one-way trip to the Bahamas on the pleasure boat.
The U.S. Coast Guard found the abandoned vessel about 160 miles south of the island of Bimini on September 23. It was unmanned, and its contents were in disarray. Zarabozo and Archer were found a few hours later on a life raft 10 miles from the boat.
Missing are the boat's captain, Jake Branam; his wife, Kelly; and crew members Scott Gamble and Samuel Kairy.
Zarabozo reportedly told a Coast Guard agent that three armed Cuban men hijacked the boat as it headed toward Bimini.
Zarabozo, a licensed security guard, said the hijackers shot the crew members and forced him to throw their bodies overboard.
But, according to court documents filed in the case, Zarabozo and Archer gave inconsistent stories during interviews with authorities regarding what occurred.
Statements given by the pair were not consistent with physical evidence, according to an affidavit supporting the murder charges.
Zarabozo, for instance, told federal authorities he did not own a gun, but an investigation showed he had bought a lock box for a gun he kept at his home. That lock box contained various documents, including a receipt for a February 2007 purchase of a Glock 9 mm magazine and four boxes of bullets.
"Little of the defendants' story rings true," Acosta said.
At a bond hearing last week, the Coast Guard agent said two bullet casings and suspected blood were discovered inside the Joe Cool's cabin. A third bullet casing was found outside the cabin, he said. All three casings were 9 mm.
A fourth 9 mm casing was found on the boat later by family members, who turned it over to the FBI, a relative said.
"Now you have four casings and four people [presumed] dead," said Jeffrey Branam, the uncle of the boat's captain.
Archer is charged with unlawful flight on an Arkansas warrant, accused of stealing more than $90,000 in cash from a Wal-Mart where he once worked.
Last week, a judge said he believes circumstantial evidence shows four homicides took place.
"Your theory is [Archer and Zarabozo] killed the four?" the judge asked the assistant U.S. attorney at the bond hearing. "Yes, your honor," the prosecutor replied.
The Coast Guard spent five days searching for the crew before giving up.
Acosta said it is unlikely their bodies will ever be found. Jake Branam and his wife leave behind two small children, he said.
"It's difficult," Jeffrey Branam said last week. "Some relatives still think the four are alive and are still searching for them."
He said the name of the boat has been removed from the stern, and the name will be retired from the charter fishing business. The boat probably will be retired, too.
Referring to Archer and Zarabozo, Branam said: "I'd like to use them as shark bait." E-mail to a friend
|
[
"when do the defendants make their initial appearance?",
"Who is missing and presumed dead?",
"Who hired the boat?",
"What was the name of the boat?",
"who hired boat",
"Who will appear in court?"
] |
[
"Thursday afternoon.",
"Samuel Kairy.",
"Archer and Zarabozo",
"Joe Cool",
"Guillermo Zarabozo,",
"Guillermo Zarabozo,"
] |
question: when do the defendants make their initial appearance?, answer: Thursday afternoon. | question: Who is missing and presumed dead?, answer: Samuel Kairy. | question: Who hired the boat?, answer: Archer and Zarabozo | question: What was the name of the boat?, answer: Joe Cool | question: who hired boat, answer: Guillermo Zarabozo, | question: Who will appear in court?, answer: Guillermo Zarabozo,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Fifty-six government employees -- including a police officer, a felony court clerk, two corrections officers and 27 school bus drivers and attendants -- were arrested in a scam that used health insurance information to fraudulently obtain prescriptions for the painkiller OxyContin, authorities said Wednesday.
Arrested as "recruiters" in the alleged OxyContin scam, are, clockwise: Janice Currington; Dwonvalyn Johnson; Barbara Miller Benaby; Guyton Wynell; Marcella Pierce; and Wanda McNeal.
Sixty-two people were arrested in total and all face charges including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and grand theft, according to the Miami-Dade state attorney's office.
Authorities estimate 130 medically unnecessary prescriptions for OxyContin -- more than 12,000 tablets -- were presented to pharmacies. The drugs have an estimated street value of $400,000, prosecutors said.
OxyContin is a popular painkiller, delivering an instant "high" when it is crushed or dissolved and ingested.
The scam began in January 2003, when six "recruiters" enlisted a group of people, most of them employees of local government, to participate in the ring, according to prosecutors.
Those employees provided their health insurance identification information, and with that information they obtained unnecessary prescriptions for OxyContin from another codefendant, who was a physician, authorities said.
The defendants filled those prescriptions at pharmacies and sold the pills for cash to another codefendant, authorities said.
In addition, prosecutors said, the defendants submitted claims to their insurance companies for reimbursement for the OxyContin prescriptions.
"There can never be an excuse for helping put dangerous drugs onto our streets," said Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade state attorney. "When public employees are a part of the problem and when public medical benefits are used to make the scheme work, these are shameful events. They are also crimes."
Among those arrested, according to authorities, were:
• 17 Miami-Dade County Public Schools bus drivers
• 10 Miami-Dade County Public Schools bus attendants
• Six city of Miami Department of Solid Waste employees
• Five Miami-Dade County Public Schools security officers
• Three Miami-Dade County Public Schools custodians
• Two Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation corrections officers
• Two Miami-Dade County Public Schools teacher assistants
• Two Miami-Dade County Transit bus drivers
• One city of Hialeah police officer
• One city of Miami crane operator
• One Miami-Dade County Circuit Court felony clerk
• One Helen B. Bentley Family Health Center driver
• One Miami-Dade County Human Services data entry specialist
• One Miami-Dade County Human Services employee (other)
• One Miami-Dade County General Services Administration employee
• One Department of Children and Families employee
• One former employee of Family Christian Services
|
[
"How many tablets were obtained/",
"How many people were arrested?",
"What were they arrested for?",
"Who did recruiters enlist?",
"What was the street value of the tablets?",
"How many were arrested?",
"What was the street value for the tablets obtained?"
] |
[
"12,000",
"Fifty-six government employees",
"a scam that used health insurance information to fraudulently obtain prescriptions",
"a group of people, most of them employees of local government,",
"$400,000,",
"Sixty-two people",
"$400,000,"
] |
question: How many tablets were obtained/, answer: 12,000 | question: How many people were arrested?, answer: Fifty-six government employees | question: What were they arrested for?, answer: a scam that used health insurance information to fraudulently obtain prescriptions | question: Who did recruiters enlist?, answer: a group of people, most of them employees of local government, | question: What was the street value of the tablets?, answer: $400,000, | question: How many were arrested?, answer: Sixty-two people | question: What was the street value for the tablets obtained?, answer: $400,000,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Forecasters issued a tropical storm warning Thursday for the Atlantic island of Bermuda as Category 3 Hurricane Bill neared.
Hurricane Bill's projected path shows it moving north toward New England and then Canada.
The warning from the National Hurricane Center means tropical storm conditions, including winds of at least 39 mph (63 kph), are expected on the island within 24 hours. A hurricane watch was also in effect, meaning hurricane conditions, including winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph), are possible within 36 hours.
As of 11 p.m. ET Thursday, Bill's center was about 510 miles (825 kilometers) south of Bermuda, and about 975 miles (1,570 kilometers) southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the hurricane center said. The storm was moving northwest at near 18 mph (30 kph), and is expected to continue that motion overnight, with a gradual turn to the north-northwest on Friday followed by a turn toward the north on Saturday.
"The core of the hurricane is expected to pass between Bermuda and the east coast of the United States on Saturday," forecasters said. See Bill's projected path »
However, Bill is considered a large hurricane, with hurricane-force winds extending out 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extending out 260 miles (418 kilometers), so Bermuda is likely to feel its effects as it brushes by.
Bill's maximum sustained winds had increased slightly to 125 mph (205 kph), with higher gusts, the hurricane center said. It was downgraded to a Category 3 storm from Category 4 status early Thursday, after its top sustained winds slipped below 131 mph (211 kph).
Fluctuations in intensity are likely over the next 12 to 24 hours, however, and Bill could regain Category 4 strength Friday, forecasters said.
Large swells generated by Bill were affecting the northern Leeward Islands on Thursday, along with Puerto Rico and the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The East Coast of the United States should start seeing large swells during the next few days, along with the Bahamas, Bermuda and the eastern coast of Canada, the hurricane center said. "These swells will cause extremely dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents."
Bill is forecast to diminish into a Category 1 hurricane by Sunday evening, when it could make landfall near Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, Canada.
|
[
"what happend to hurricane bill",
"When is Hurricane Bill expected to make landfall in Canada?",
"what is going to happen to the us east coast",
"what has caused bermuda to be on alert",
"What category is Hurricane Bill downgraded to?",
"What has been downgraded to Category 3 storm?",
"Where is Bill expected to make landfall?"
] |
[
"diminish into a Category 1",
"Sunday evening,",
"should start seeing large swells",
"Hurricane Bill",
"3 storm",
"Hurricane Bill",
"near Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, Canada."
] |
question: what happend to hurricane bill, answer: diminish into a Category 1 | question: When is Hurricane Bill expected to make landfall in Canada?, answer: Sunday evening, | question: what is going to happen to the us east coast, answer: should start seeing large swells | question: what has caused bermuda to be on alert, answer: Hurricane Bill | question: What category is Hurricane Bill downgraded to?, answer: 3 storm | question: What has been downgraded to Category 3 storm?, answer: Hurricane Bill | question: Where is Bill expected to make landfall?, answer: near Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, Canada.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Four men have been arrested in connection with the shooting death of NFL player Sean Taylor, authorities announced Friday evening.
Police have more than one confession in the case and the individuals will be charged with murder, said Robert Parker, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department.
The suspects were identified as Venjah K. Hunte, 20; Eric Rivera Jr., 17; Jason Scott Mitchell, 17; and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18.
Additional arrests are possible, Parker said.
"The key to solving this case was citizen's tips," he said.
Taylor, 24, died Tuesday, a day after he was shot during an apparent burglary at his Miami home.
The police investigation revealed the suspects thought the house was empty, Parker said.
"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone," he said. "They were expecting a residence that was not occupied, so murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive. ... Their obvious motive was to go there and steal the contents of the house."
The men knew Taylor lived at the house, Parker said.
At 1:45 a.m. Monday, Taylor's girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, called 911 and said someone had been shot.
Authorities have said she told police she was hiding under the bedding during the attack.
Garcia did not see what happened and could not provide a suspect description, Parker told reporters on Wednesday.
Police said Garcia and Taylor were awakened by noise in the living room, and that Taylor got up and locked the bedroom door, but the door was kicked in and two shots were fired, one striking him in the leg.
Garcia tried to call 911 but was unable to, and used her cell phone instead, police said. There was no evidence the line had been cut, Parker said Wednesday.
A break-in was also reported eight days earlier, Miami-Dade police said.
A police report said someone forced a window open and left a kitchen knife on a bed. Several drawers and a bedroom safe were searched during the break-in, according to the report.
Taylor was home unexpectedly because of an injury, his former attorney, Richard Sharpstein, told reporters Tuesday. "I think he was surprised or they were surprised to find him there," he said.
Taylor spent four years with the Washington Redskins, but had been out with a sprained right knee. He did not play in Sunday's game against Tampa Bay.
Taylor was a first-round pick in the 2004 draft, according to his team's web site.
He played at the University of Miami, where he was an All-American in 2003, and was also a high school standout in the city. Dubbing him "the prototype NFL free safety," the Redskins credited Taylor's team-leading tackling prowess for sending him to his first Pro Bowl after 2006.
He was regarded as one of the hardest hitting players in the league. Taylor recorded 257 tackles (206 solo) during his brief career, two sacks and seven interceptions. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report.
|
[
"What team did Sean Taylor play for?",
"What did police say?",
"What did the investigation reveal?",
"Police say they have how many confessions?",
"Who died Tuesday?",
"Who died on Tuesday?",
"Where was he shot?"
] |
[
"Washington Redskins,",
"have more than one confession in the case and the individuals will be charged with murder,",
"the suspects thought the house was empty,",
"more than one",
"Sean Taylor,",
"Taylor,",
"at his Miami home."
] |
question: What team did Sean Taylor play for?, answer: Washington Redskins, | question: What did police say?, answer: have more than one confession in the case and the individuals will be charged with murder, | question: What did the investigation reveal?, answer: the suspects thought the house was empty, | question: Police say they have how many confessions?, answer: more than one | question: Who died Tuesday?, answer: Sean Taylor, | question: Who died on Tuesday?, answer: Taylor, | question: Where was he shot?, answer: at his Miami home.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Four suspects indicted on murder and burglary charges in the slaying of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor begin their journey through the courts on Wednesday.
A grand jury identified Eric Rivera Jr. as the shooter in the death of NFL star Sean Taylor.
Court documents say the youngest is alleged to have fired the fatal shot.
He is identified as Eric Rivera Jr., 17. He appeared briefly on Wednesday morning before a judge in Miami, Florida.
Rivera has been indicted as an adult and Judge John Thornton found probable cause to support charges of first degree felony murder and burglary with assault or battery with a firearm.
Three other suspects -- Venjah K. Hunte, 20, Jason Scott Mitchell, 19, and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18 -- appeared Tuesday in court via videoconference.
They wore thick green vests, which defense attorneys said were suicide safety smocks. They were ordered held without bail at the Pre-Trial Detention Center in Miami, Florida, where Corrections Officer Janelle Hall said they are under suicide watch.
All four suspects are expected to make initial appearances later this morning before Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy. Watch CNN's Rick Sanchez speak to attorneys for two of the suspects »
Rivera was armed during the alleged burglary, and "during the course of the commission of the offense ... discharged a firearm and as a result of the discharge, death or great bodily harm was inflicted upon Sean Maurice Taylor, a human being," the indictment says.
The four men were arrested Friday, officials said.
Taylor, 24, died a day after he was shot during an apparent burglary at his home. Miami-Dade police investigators said they believe the burglars thought the house was empty.
Thousands of mourners attended Taylor's funeral Monday at Florida International University's arena. See photos from the funeral »
Police said Taylor and his girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, were awakened by noise coming from the living room early November 26. Taylor got up and locked the bedroom door, but the door was kicked in and two shots were fired, police said. One struck Taylor in the leg.
Garcia and the couple's 18-month-old daughter were not hurt.
Authorities have said Garcia told police she was hiding under the bedding during the attack, did not see what happened and could not provide a suspect description.
A break-in had been reported at Taylor's residence eight days earlier. A police report from that incident said someone forced a window open and left a kitchen knife on a bed. Several drawers and a bedroom safe were searched during the break-in, according to the report.
Taylor spent four years with the Redskins, earning his first Pro Bowl selection in 2006. He suffered a sprained right knee in a November 11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and had not played since.
The 2004 first-round draft pick played at the University of Miami, where he was an All-American in 2003. He was regarded as one of the hardest-hitting players in the NFL. E-mail to a friend
CNN's John Couwels, Kim Segal, and Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who died after being shot in a home invasion last week?",
"What is the number of adult suspects in Sean Taylor slaying on a suicide watch?",
"Who died after being shot in home invasion last week?",
"what did this guy do?",
"Who was the alleged shooter?",
"Who will be tried as an adult?",
"what means were taken for him to appear in the court room?",
"What has happened to Taylor's family?",
"Who appears in a Miami courtroom?"
] |
[
"Sean Taylor",
"Four",
"Sean Maurice Taylor,",
"murder and burglary",
"Eric Rivera Jr.",
"Eric Rivera Jr.,",
"suicide safety smocks.",
"Garcia and the couple's 18-month-old daughter were not hurt.",
"Four suspects indicted on murder and burglary charges"
] |
question: Who died after being shot in a home invasion last week?, answer: Sean Taylor | question: What is the number of adult suspects in Sean Taylor slaying on a suicide watch?, answer: Four | question: Who died after being shot in home invasion last week?, answer: Sean Maurice Taylor, | question: what did this guy do?, answer: murder and burglary | question: Who was the alleged shooter?, answer: Eric Rivera Jr. | question: Who will be tried as an adult?, answer: Eric Rivera Jr., | question: what means were taken for him to appear in the court room?, answer: suicide safety smocks. | question: What has happened to Taylor's family?, answer: Garcia and the couple's 18-month-old daughter were not hurt. | question: Who appears in a Miami courtroom?, answer: Four suspects indicted on murder and burglary charges
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- He's a TV salesman offering an unbelievable deal -- and police say you don't want to do business with him.
Police in Largo, Florida, say "Plasma Pat" is really 60-year-old Joseph Wesley Torma.
Dubbing himself "Plasma Pat, the TV Discount Guy," he allegedly took cash from Wal-Mart shoppers, promising to use his employee discount to get them a good deal on a TV set, police said.
Then, he called the police to taunt them.
Police in Largo, Florida, a city near Tampa on the state's gulf coast, circulated security pictures of "Plasma Pat," and now can put a name to the alliterative nickname.
Investigators say their suspect is 60-year-old Joseph Wesley Torma, and they've just released a mug shot from a recent arrest in Polk County, Florida.
"He made at least two or three phone calls, and he even talked about surrendering, but he never showed up, obviously," said Lt. Michael Loux of the Largo Police department.
Police believe "Plasma Pat" has conned victims in about a dozen different places in Florida.
He allegedly befriended people outside Wal-Mart stores, telling his victims that he worked at the store, and that he could use his employee discount to get them a good deal on a major purchase.
Then, police said, he took their cash, walked into the store through one door -- and out another, leaving his victims in the parking lot.
One victim found himself out $300 while waiting outside for a television.
Largo Police say that Torma also called them several times. asking to speak with Det. Brendan Arlington. Each time he called, police say, Torma identified himself as "Plasma Pat," and bragged that he had cheated about 30,000 people who will never file a police report.
"Because the victims feel embarrassed, he feels that nobody is going to report the crime," said Lt. Michael Loux. "And I think he's probably right."
Police say they believe that Torma has left the area, and may be headed to Texas, but they have not explained why.
|
[
"What is his nickname?",
"Who did police identify?"
] |
[
"\"Plasma Pat\"",
"\"Plasma Pat\""
] |
question: What is his nickname?, answer: "Plasma Pat" | question: Who did police identify?, answer: "Plasma Pat"
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Bertha -- the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic season -- increased in strength Monday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center.
A satellite picture from 5:45 a.m. ET Monday shows Hurricane Bertha over the Atlantic.
While Bertha's power may fluctuate over the next day, it is expected to begin gradually weakening by Wednesday, the center's 11 p.m. ET advisory said.
Bertha's became a major -- or Category 3 -- hurricane Monday afternoon. A Category 3 has wind speeds of 111 to 130 mph.
As of 11 p.m. ET, Bertha was 695 miles (1,115 km) east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and about 1,085 miles (1,745 km) southeast of Bermuda. The eye was moving toward the west-northwest at about 12 mph. Its maximum sustained winds were clocked at 120 mph (195 km/hr), up from the 115 mph mentioned in a 5 p.m. advisory.
The hurricane is expected to turn to the northwest and decrease its forward speed in the next 24 to 48 hours, the center said.
There is a very small chance Bertha will make landfall in the United States. Bermuda could be affected by the hurricane this weekend. See Bertha's projected path »
"It is still way too soon to determine whether or not Bertha will affect Bermuda," the center said.
The storm formed Thursday in the far eastern Atlantic, off the coast of Africa, near the southern Cape Verde Islands. It strengthened into a hurricane early Monday. Learn more about hurricanes »
The first tropical storm of the season, Arthur, formed May 31 near the coast of Belize and dumped heavy rain on Central America and southern Mexico.
|
[
"what will be affected by the hurricane?",
"Which country could be affected by the hurricane this weekend?",
"What season is Bertha the first hurricane of?",
"what is bertha",
"what is the increase in wind?",
"What speed did Bertha's winds increase to?",
"To what the Bertha's winds increase?",
"What is the likelihood of storm making landfall in U.S.?",
"what is likelihood of storm making landfall",
"what is speed of wind",
"What place could be affected by the hurricane this weekend?"
] |
[
"Bermuda could",
"Bermuda",
"2008 Atlantic",
"Hurricane",
"120 mph",
"120 mph",
"120 mph",
"a very small chance",
"a very small chance",
"111 to 130 mph.",
"Bermuda"
] |
question: what will be affected by the hurricane?, answer: Bermuda could | question: Which country could be affected by the hurricane this weekend?, answer: Bermuda | question: What season is Bertha the first hurricane of?, answer: 2008 Atlantic | question: what is bertha, answer: Hurricane | question: what is the increase in wind?, answer: 120 mph | question: What speed did Bertha's winds increase to?, answer: 120 mph | question: To what the Bertha's winds increase?, answer: 120 mph | question: What is the likelihood of storm making landfall in U.S.?, answer: a very small chance | question: what is likelihood of storm making landfall, answer: a very small chance | question: what is speed of wind, answer: 111 to 130 mph. | question: What place could be affected by the hurricane this weekend?, answer: Bermuda
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Bill weakened Friday afternoon to a Category 2 hurricane, with its maximum sustained winds at 105 mph, forecasters said.
Hurricane Bill is expected to pass between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast over the weekend.
As of 11 p.m. Friday, Bill's center was about 180 miles west-southwest of Bermuda, and about 545 miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
Its forward speed had increased to about 20 mph as it continued moving north-northwest, forecasters said. The storm was expected to gradually turn toward the north late Friday and into Saturday. See Bill's projected path »
If the storm follows its current track, it should pass over the open water between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast on Saturday, forecasters said.
Earlier Friday, Bill's outer bands began producing rain in Bermuda as the storm neared the British territory, the hurricane center said. Forecasters expect Bill to pelt Bermuda with 1 to 3 inches of rain, although up to 5 inches is possible. iReport.com: Bermuda's preparations
The storm also was beginning to affect the U.S. East Coast, where dangerous rip currents and battering waves were developing, said CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.
Rip currents form as wind and waves push water against the shore, where it is caught behind an obstacle such as a sandbar until it breaks free, sending a strong channel of water flowing away from the shoreline.
The large swells are expected to affect most of the U.S. East Coast within the next couple of days, the hurricane center said.
There were reports of waves at the center of the storm as high as 54 feet, Jeras said.
With Bill advancing, the Bermuda Weather Service forecasts the storm tide will raise water levels by as much as 3 feet along the coast and produce large, battering waves. Large swells were affecting Puerto Rico, the island of Hispaniola and the Bahamas to the south, the agency said.
Bermuda remained under a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch. The warning means winds of at least 39 mph are expected within 24 hours, while the watch indicates winds of at least 74 mph are possible within 36 hours.
Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 85 miles from the center and storm-force winds outward as much as 275 miles, the hurricane center said.
Forecasters advised people along the New England coast and in the Canadian Maritime provinces to monitor Bill's progress.
|
[
"How much rain is Bermuda expected to receive?",
"What category was Hurricane bill when it was downgraded?",
"Where is Bill expected to pass?",
"What part of the U.S. coast are battering waves developing?",
"What happened in the US east coast?",
"What was Hurricane Bill downgraded to?"
] |
[
"1",
"2",
"between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast over the weekend.",
"East",
"Hurricane Bill",
"Category 2"
] |
question: How much rain is Bermuda expected to receive?, answer: 1 | question: What category was Hurricane bill when it was downgraded?, answer: 2 | question: Where is Bill expected to pass?, answer: between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast over the weekend. | question: What part of the U.S. coast are battering waves developing?, answer: East | question: What happened in the US east coast?, answer: Hurricane Bill | question: What was Hurricane Bill downgraded to?, answer: Category 2
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Ike grew from a Category 1 into a menacing Category 4 storm in about six hours Wednesday as it fed on the warm waters of Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said.
An infrared image from a NOAA satellite shows Ike swirling in the Atlantic on Wednesday night.
"Ike is an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane" with 135-mph sustained winds, the center said in its 11 p.m. ET advisory.
Although it is likely to lose some strength during the next few days, Ike is forecast to regain Category 4 status by Monday, the center said.
"It is too early to determine what, if any, land areas might be affected by Ike," the hurricane center said.
But the center's potential four- to five-day track for Ike puts it anywhere from north of Jamaica to the coast of South Florida on Monday. iReport.com: Are you in Ike's path?
At 11 p.m. ET Monday, Ike was moving west-northwest through the Atlantic Ocean. The storm will be over open water for two days, forecasters said.
Earlier Wednesday, Ike intensified into the fifth hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic season when its winds reached 80 mph.
But before Ike can reach into the Caribbean or threaten Florida, Tropical Storm Hanna was getting more organized in the Bahamas, according to the hurricane center.
At 2 a.m., Hanna was about 325 miles east-southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas, with winds of 65 mph.
Hanna was drenching the Bahamas and Haiti with torrential rains.
Haitian officials put the nation's death toll in the wake of Hanna and Hurricane Gustav at 61, said Abel Nabaire, the deputy coordinator of the civil protection service.
Eight of the country's 10 departments underwater, he said.
More rainfall, up to 15 inches in some places, was possible in the Caribbean, the hurricane center said.
Hanna was forecast to return to hurricane strength by Friday as it shot up the east coast of the southern U.S., with landfall predicted on the South Carolina or North Carolina coast late Friday or early Saturday.
"A hurricane watch may be required for a portion of the southeastern United States coast early Thursday and interests in this area should monitor the progress of Hanna," the hurricane center said.
Florida could begin seeing rainfall from Hanna on Friday, forecasters said. Watch as Florida also keeps an eye on Hanna »
Swells from Hanna are expected to bolster the number of rip tides along the southeastern U.S. coast this week, the hurricane center said. iReport.com: Hanna makes waves in Bahamas
Hanna passed over the northern Haitian city of Gonaives on Tuesday night, leaving water more than 12 feet deep in some places, an official said. See Hanna's impact on Haiti »
Many people were still cut off amid floodwater.
"It's a very grim picture," Dr. Jean Pierre Guiteau of the Red Cross said Wednesday. "We can't reach those people; they are standing on rooftops, waiting for help."
In line behind Ike in the Atlantic is Tropical Storm Josephine, with top winds near 50 mph, the hurricane center said. Josephine was about 425 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands off western Africa.
|
[
"When will Hanna occur?",
"When will Hanna reach U.S?",
"What was the predicted speed of Ike?",
"Who is pounding Bahamas?",
"Where is the storm right now?",
"When is the storm coming?",
"Wherein the US will it land?"
] |
[
"late Friday or early Saturday.",
"late Friday or early Saturday.",
"135-mph",
"Tropical Storm Hanna",
"Atlantic,",
"early Thursday",
"Florida,"
] |
question: When will Hanna occur?, answer: late Friday or early Saturday. | question: When will Hanna reach U.S?, answer: late Friday or early Saturday. | question: What was the predicted speed of Ike?, answer: 135-mph | question: Who is pounding Bahamas?, answer: Tropical Storm Hanna | question: Where is the storm right now?, answer: Atlantic, | question: When is the storm coming?, answer: early Thursday | question: Wherein the US will it land?, answer: Florida,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Omar became a major Category 3 storm Wednesday night as it barreled toward the Virgin and Leeward Islands in the West Indies, the National Hurricane Center said.
A man watches waves crash into the shore Tuesday at Club Nautico in Falcon state, Venezuela.
Omar is expected to continue gathering strength as it passes east of the Virgin Islands in the next few hours and makes its way to the northern Leeward Islands Thursday morning, the hurricane center said.
At 11 p.m., Omar was moving northeast at about 20 mph with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph. The hurricane's center was about 30 miles (45 km) southwest of St. Croix and about 105 miles (165 km) southwest of St. Martin.
A hurricane warning --meaning winds of 74 mph and higher are expected within a day -- is in effect for the U.S. Virgin Islands, the islands of Vieques, Culebra, St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthelemy, the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla. See where Omar is headed »
Puerto Rico is under a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch, as are St. Kitts and Nevis, the hurricane center said.
As Omar approached, Hovensa, a 500,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery on St. Croix, began shutting down all processing and auxiliary equipment "except those necessary to maintain power supply in the complex," refinery spokesman Alex Moorhead said in a statement. Watch Venezuelans try to save homes, dogs »
The move was to ensure the safety of employees and the operation of the refinery, which is jointly owned by Hess Corp. and Venezuela's state oil company.
The U.S. Coast Guard closed the Christiansted Harbor, where the refinery is located, on Tuesday, and it will remain closed until the order is lifted, Moorhead said.
"Once Hurricane Omar has passed, we will conduct an inspection of our facilities as soon as it is safe to do so. If no damage is found that would impact safe operation of the refinery, the start-up of processing units will begin in sequential order," Moorhead said.
Puerto Rico and some portions of the northern Leeward Islands, which includes the Virgin Islands, could get up to 20 inches of rain, according to the forecast.
"These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the hurricane center warned.
Also, the storm could produce large swells affecting the western and southern coasts of the Lesser Antilles, the Caribbean islands that stretch from the Virgin Islands southward to the islands off Venezuela's coast.
The swells could cause beach erosion and damage coastal structures, the hurricane center said.
Antigua, Barbuda and Montserrat are under a tropical storm warning, meaning they could experience tropical storm conditions over the coming 24 hours. A tropical storm watch is in effect for Guadeloupe.
The storm's forecast track shows it heading into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean after crossing over the Virgin Islands and sweeping past Puerto Rico, but hurricane tracks are subject to variation, and such long-range predictions can change.
Omar formed Tuesday in the eastern Caribbean. It is the 15th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends November 30.
|
[
"What could see 20 inches of rain?",
"At what speed do winds have to blow to be considered a hurricane?",
"What does Omar become?",
"How many miles per hour is a Category 3 hurricane?",
"who shuts down Christiansted Harbor, where refinery is?",
"What does the coast gurad shut down?"
] |
[
"Puerto Rico and some portions of the northern Leeward Islands, which includes the Virgin Islands,",
"74 mph",
"a major Category 3 storm",
"115",
"U.S. Coast Guard",
"Christiansted Harbor,"
] |
question: What could see 20 inches of rain?, answer: Puerto Rico and some portions of the northern Leeward Islands, which includes the Virgin Islands, | question: At what speed do winds have to blow to be considered a hurricane?, answer: 74 mph | question: What does Omar become?, answer: a major Category 3 storm | question: How many miles per hour is a Category 3 hurricane?, answer: 115 | question: who shuts down Christiansted Harbor, where refinery is?, answer: U.S. Coast Guard | question: What does the coast gurad shut down?, answer: Christiansted Harbor,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Miami Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks was arrested early Sunday after police said he struck an officer with a slow-moving Freightliner truck, according to a police report.
Miami Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks was arrested early Sunday, according to police.
Starks, 25, faces a charge of aggravated battery, according to the report.
The arrest took place about 12:20 a.m. in Miami's South Beach area. Officers said they saw the Freightliner truck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on South Beach's Ocean Drive with some 13 people inside, including a woman sitting on the lap of Starks, who was driving.
The truck's seating capacity is four occupants, the police report said. It was not clear from the police report whether the Freightliner -- normally part of a tractor-trailer -- was connected to a trailer.
In the report, the officer recalled pursuing the truck on foot for about a half-block and pounding on the rear driver's-side window, but it kept moving. The officer caught up to the truck again, and it stopped after the officer pounded on the window again, the report said.
"I slowly approached the side door and just as I reached it the vehicle accelerated and started moving forward and slightly to the left," the unidentified officer writes in the report. "The vehicle's path caused the driver's side of the vehicle to strike me in the chest pushing me back and pinning me against a vehicle stopped in traffic in the northbound lane."
Meanwhile, a second officer was pounding on the passenger's-side window, the report said. The truck stopped, and Starks was arrested.
A police check showed that the truck's license plate was not assigned to that vehicle, the report said, and Starks faces a charge for that as well.
Starks was released from jail later Sunday, according to a records check. The Miami Herald newspaper reported earlier he was jailed on $10,000 bond.
Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene told CNN the club was "only recently made aware of the situation. Since we are in the process of gathering information we have no comment."
Starks is in his sixth NFL season and his second with the Dolphins.
|
[
"Who struck an officer?",
"What reports he was jailed on $10,000 bond?",
"What was the bond?",
"What did Starks do?",
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"Who was arrested?",
"Who is Randy Starks?",
"When Was Randy Starks arrested?",
"Who was arrested early Sunday morning?"
] |
[
"Randy Starks",
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"with a slow-moving Freightliner truck,",
"Miami Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks",
"Miami Dolphins defensive end",
"early Sunday",
"Randy Starks"
] |
question: Who struck an officer?, answer: Randy Starks | question: What reports he was jailed on $10,000 bond?, answer: The Miami Herald | question: What was the bond?, answer: $10,000 | question: What did Starks do?, answer: he struck an officer with a slow-moving Freightliner truck, | question: What did he do to a police officer?, answer: with a slow-moving Freightliner truck, | question: Who was arrested?, answer: Miami Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks | question: Who is Randy Starks?, answer: Miami Dolphins defensive end | question: When Was Randy Starks arrested?, answer: early Sunday | question: Who was arrested early Sunday morning?, answer: Randy Starks
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Miami police issued a plea for information Saturday after at least one person with an assault rifle opened fire on a crowd of people on a streetcorner Friday night, killing two teens and wounding seven other people.
Evidence markers dot the Miami street where nine people were gunned down with an AK-47 Friday night.
"We need the community to come together, someone come forward and give us a tip," Miami Police Officer Kenia Alfonso told CNN.
"There are a lot of people in that area. Someone must have seen something, someone must know who could've done this horrific crime."
Alfonso said two teens, ages 16 and 18, died in the attack, which broke up a game of craps in front of a grocery store about 9:50 p.m. Friday in the city's Liberty City neighborhood.
Five of the shooting victims were still in the hospital Saturday night, according to CNN affiliate WSVN.
Others told WSVN that a masked man with an AK-47 burst onto the scene and ordered everyone to the ground.
"Boy came round the corner; he was like, 'Get down,' and he just started shooting," 16-year-old victim Andrew Jackson told WSVN. Watch as resident describes scene as "war zone" »
Six of the nine shot were current or former Northwestern Senior High School students, Alfonso said.
"It was like a war zone," resident Joan Rutherford told WSVN. "I witnessed this guy laying there with his face, looked like it was completely tore off. His eyes was all I could see, and he had a grip on some money and gasping and trying to lift his head up to say something."
Police Chief John Timoney said that at least one man with an AK-47 "discharged numerous rounds, then ran around the corner. There were some more rounds discharged there from an AK-47 and another weapon."
One of those wounded was in critical condition Saturday and undergoing surgery, Timoney said.
"We are convinced that because of the amount of people out here last night that there is somebody that knows the individuals or individual involved, and we need them to come forward," Timoney said, according to WSVN.
"These are weapons of war, and they don't belong on the streets of Miami or any other street in America," Mayor Manuel Diaz said. Watch Miami residents call for stricter laws »
Alfonso said police did not know the motive for the shooting and had no suspects.
CNN's Patty Lane contributed to this report.
|
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question: How many people died in this incident?, answer: two teens | question: What is "WSVN"?, answer: CNN affiliate | question: Who ordered the students to the ground?, answer: a masked man with an AK-47 | question: When was the crowd fired upon?, answer: Friday night, | question: How many victims were students?, answer: Six | question: What did the teen tell WSVN?, answer: "Boy came round the corner; he was like, 'Get down,' and he just started shooting," | question: How many are students?, answer: Six | question: What were the six victimes students at?, answer: Northwestern Senior High School | question: Who was fired at on Friday night?, answer: crowd of people | question: What did the gunman order the victims to do?, answer: ordered everyone
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Police think it started with a dispute over an ex-girlfriend. Threats were made on social networking sites and via text messages.
The suspects, clockwise from top left are: Lernio Colin, Angel Cruz, Peter MacDonald and Christopher Harter.
A murder plot was hatched and, police say, in the early hours of last Saturday morning, a Florida man was gunned down in his car. But the suspects apparently killed the wrong man.
Now four men are in custody, and will face charges of first degree premeditated murder and two counts of attempted murder. The four are Angel Cruz, 23; his brother from Oregon, Christopher Harter, 29; Peter MacDonald, 18; and Lernio Colin, 20. They have all appeared before a judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
They have not entered pleas and are being held without bond, according to state prosecutors.
Detectives are executing search warrants today, and much about the case is still not known.
"The victim was with two other males, in the vehicle," said Mike Jachles of the Broward Sheriff's Office.
"One of those men was the intended target," Jachles told CNN.
Witnesses said multiple shots were fired, according to police. Henry Mancilla, 24 was sitting in the driver's seat of a gold Mitsubishi Galant at an intersection in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale.
"They were exiting the vehicle when shots were fired, striking Mancilla," said Jachles. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mancilla was with two other men in their early 20s, Tony Santana and Nick Pappas. One of them was the intended victim, but police are not saying who.
"The four men acted in unison in planning and executing this murder. Mancilla was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he ended up the victim," said Mike Jachles.
The three victims said they had been "jumped" earlier in the evening by the same four men and fled the scene in a red Chevy Impala, according to a sheriff's detective affidavit released Monday afternoon.
Later, a blue Chevy Silverado pickup truck belonging to the defendant Cruz drove up to the three men, according to the affidavit. The victims say they armed themselves with a baseball bat and a walking cane, when the truck turned around and drove towards them. That's when the shots were fired.
Christopher Harter told police he was in the vehicle at the scene, but said he left the vehicle and then heard four or five gunshots, according to the affidavit. Harter also told police he saw his brother, Angel Cruz, in possession of a semi-automatic pistol three weeks prior to the incident.
"It could have been a case of mistaken identity, but our investigation will determine that," Jachles told CNN.
Threats were posted on social networking sites and sent via cellular text messages by the suspects to the intended victim, said police. Police said they have not subpoenaed those records and are not releasing the names of those Internet sites.
The Broward County State Attorney's office could seek the death penalty.
|
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] |
[
"in the driver's seat of a gold Mitsubishi Galant at an intersection in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale.",
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"not saying who."
] |
question: Where was he sitting when shot?, answer: in the driver's seat of a gold Mitsubishi Galant at an intersection in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale. | question: what Four men in custody; police executing search warrants?, answer: are Angel Cruz, 23; his brother from Oregon, Christopher Harter, 29; Peter MacDonald, 18; and Lernio Colin, 20. | question: How many people are in custody?, answer: four men are in | question: Who is in police custody?, answer: Now four men are | question: where Threats exchanged over the Internet?, answer: on social networking sites and via text messages. | question: Who was shot to death?, answer: Henry Mancilla, | question: How many men are held in custody?, answer: four | question: Who was the actual target?, answer: "One of those men | question: What are police doing?, answer: not saying who.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama told Florida's Cuban-American community Friday that his Cuba policy would be based on "libertad" and freedom for the island nation's people.
Sen. Barack Obama speaks at a Cuban Independence Day event in Miami, Florida, on Friday.
"My policy toward Cuba will be guided by one word: 'libertad,' " he said, using the Spanish word for liberty at an event celebrating Cuban Independence Day in Miami, Florida.
"The road to freedom for all Cubans must begin with justice for Cuba's political prisoners, the right of free speech, a free press, freedom of assembly, and it must lead to elections that are free and fair," Obama said. "That is my commitment.
"I won't stand for this injustice; you will not stand for this injustice, and together we will stand up for freedom in Cuba. That will be my commitment as president of the United States of America," he said. Watch Obama call for freedom in Cuba »
Obama also said the policy for Cuba and the rest of Latin America would be guided by "the simple principle that what's good for the people of the Americas is good for the United States."
"After eight years of the failed policies of the past, we need new leadership for the future," he said. "After decades of pressing for top-down reform, we need an agenda that advances democracy, security and opportunity from the bottom up."
Obama called for looser restrictions on travel to Cuba so Cuban-Americans can visit family members relatives as well as allowing larger money transfers to the island, two positions that are popular within the Cuban-American community.
Obama, however, may lose votes among Cuban-Americans if they think he is willing to talk with Raúl Castro, the president of Cuba who recently took over leadership of the island nation from his brother, Fidel Castro.
Speaking in Miami on Tuesday, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, blasted Obama for changing his positions on normalization with Cuba and for wanting to "sit down unconditionally for a presidential meeting with Raúl Castro."
"These steps would send the worst possible signal to Cuba's dictators: There is no need to undertake fundamental reforms; they can simply wait for a unilateral change in U.S. policy," McCain said. "I believe we should give hope to the Cuban people, not to the Castro regime. Watch McCain blast Obama's position on Cuba »
"My administration will press the Cuban regime to release all political prisoners unconditionally, to legalize all political parties, labor unions and free media, and to schedule internationally monitored elections. The embargo must stay in place until these basic elements of democratic society are met," McCain said.
But Obama said McCain had misrepresented his position.
"John McCain's been going around the country talking about how much I want to meet with Raúl Castro, as if I'm looking for a social gathering; I'm going to invite him over and have some tea. That's not what I said, [and] John McCain knows it," he said.
Obama also faulted McCain for pursuing what he called the failed Cuba polices of President Bush.
"Now, I know what the easy thing is to do for American politicians. Every four years, they come down to Miami, they talk tough, they go back to Washington, and nothing changes in Cuba. That's what John McCain did the other day," Obama said. "He joined the parade of politicians who make the same empty promises year after year, decade after decade.
"Instead of offering a strategy for change, he chose to distort my position and embrace George Bush's and continue a policy that's done nothing to advance freedom for the Cuban people. That's the political posture that John McCain has chosen, and all it shows is that you can't take his so-called straight talk seriously."
Republicans have been able to count on the support of
|
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question: What should be based on liberty?, answer: policy | question: Who is the democratic front runner?, answer: Barack Obama | question: What will the Cuba policy be based on?, answer: "libertad" and freedom for the island nation's people. | question: Who accuses Sen. McCain of distorting position?, answer: Obama | question: Who says Cuba policy will be based on liberty for Cuban people?, answer: Sen. Barack Obama | question: Who argues for continuation of hard line policy?, answer: John McCain, | question: Who called for looser restrictions on travel?, answer: Obama
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Sharon Long's work has earned her the nickname "Skull Lady."
Sharon Long is a forensic artist whose job is to help identify the dead, often murder victims.
She is a forensic artist whose job is to give faces -- and sometimes identities -- back to anonymous murder victims who have been robbed of both.
Armed with sculptor's clay, glass eyes, wigs and research, Long creates a face from a human skull.
When Fort Myers, Florida, police found eight sets of human remains in the woods in March, they turned to her -- anything to help identify the people who were so mercilessly left to rot amid the trees and mud.
"[Police] have no other way. They have no fingerprints; they have no flesh. Usually, the last resort is building a face," Long said. See the "skull lady" at work »
She hopes that when the faces of those killed get printed in newspapers or appear on TV or online, a friend or loved one recognizes them and says, "Gee, we haven't seen so-and-so for a while, and that kind of looks like him."
"Then, at least, you have a lead, and then you can get DNA from people. And then [police] have something to go on."
Long, 67, has made faces for the unknown victims of grisly homicides and solved historical mysteries. During her 20-year career, the forensics specialist from the University of Wyoming helped identify the crew of the H.L Hunley, a Confederate submarine sunk during the Civil War. She also created the first picture of the only explorer to have died on the Lewis and Clark expedition.
When law enforcement asks for Long's assistance, it is almost always on a case that has gone very cold. And that was exactly the case in Fort Myers, where police were desperate for any information on the dead they found: eight men killed, their bodies discovered in a wooded area on March 23, 2007. Watch how bones can give clues to investigators »
There were no witnesses, no leads and little evidence of killings other than the victims' bones.
If Long could identify the victims of the crime, it might help to catch a serial killer. But before Long could create any likeness of the victims, she would have to do a lot of work -- hundreds of hours of it.
Long first creates a mold of the skull and uses it to make a plaster replica. She puts eraser tips on points to mark tissue depth. Sculptor's clay fills in for skin and muscle. The faded gumline on the skull's teeth helps Long determine how thick the person's lips were.
The victim's hair and eye color requires guesswork and research, Long says. Often while working on cases, she talks to people who lived in the same area as the victim or victims to find out the most common eye color and what hairstyles are in fashion. See how to decode a face »
She spent two months on the Fort Myers skulls.
"I start working, and 15 hours can go by, and I don't get up and move, and you don't realize how much time has gone by, and, well, that's how intense I get," she said. "It's like you get carried away in this life of somebody. I start trying to think of them as being an alive person and doing something and not getting killed."
Eventually, publicity about the Fort Myers case would lead people with missing relatives to submit their DNA. Testing revealed that two of the men were Erik Kohler and John Blevins. Both men lived hardscrabble lives and had run-ins with police. Both disappeared in 1995.
At a news conference last month where Fort Myers police unveiled Long's sculptures, investigators said they still need to identify the other six victims if they are to solve the case.
Kohler and Blevins didn't closely mirror Long's sculptures of their faces, but there were some
|
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] |
question: Of those found, how many were identified?, answer: two | question: what does sharon long do, answer: forensic artist | question: what did police find, answer: eight sets of human remains | question: Who were the identified remains?, answer: Erik Kohler | question: Who creates art from skulls?, answer: Sharon Long | question: what happened in florida, answer: police found eight sets of human remains in the woods in March, | question: Where is the forensic artist from?, answer: the University of Wyoming
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched an investigation into whether there is a connection between improperly sterilized endoscopy equipment and a veteran's positive HIV test.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, requested that the VA look into potential contamination at its facilities.
This comes after more than 10,000 veterans were possibly exposed to HIV and hepatitis at three VA facilities while undergoing colonoscopies and other procedures with equipment that had not been properly cleaned. The VA sent letters to those veterans offering free testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
"The VA prides itself on being accountable, and we are extremely concerned about this matter, and as a result we have initiated an investigation," Dr. Michael J. Kussman, the VA's undersecretary for health, said in a news release Friday. "We have an obligation to provide those who have served and sacrificed for our Nation the care they deserve."
Along with the positive HIV test, the VA says 16 other veterans have tested positive for hepatitis B and hepatitis C at two VA facilities. Of all the 17 positive test results, 11 were at the VA's Murfreesboro, Tennessee, facility, and six were from the VA's Augusta, Georgia, hospital. Thousands of other veterans are being tested at the VA hospital in Miami, and the VA says it is waiting to verify results there.
So far, 3,174 veterans have been notified of their test results. VA officials decline to say where the veteran who tested positive for HIV was treated. Watch more on the contamination controversy »
Officials stress that the positive results don't necessarily mean the equipment is to blame. The VA is conducting an epidemiological investigation at the facilities to determine if the veterans who have tested positive for hepatitis have similar strains of the virus.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are also calling for an investigation. In a letter last month to Gen. Eric Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, requested that the VA Office of Inspector General "begin an investigation into the potential problems of contamination; whether any patient has contracted an infection from unsterilized equipment; and, most importantly, how we can prevent such problems from happening again."
The VA says it's reviewing procedures at other facilities. So far, it says, it has encountered no additional problems. In the meantime, the VA has brought in additional personnel to help with testing and counseling in Miami, Murfreesboro and Augusta. It has also set up a toll-free number that VA patients and their families can call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for additional information: 1-877-575-7256.
The VA says it will pay for treatment for the infected vets even if they didn't get hepatitis or HIV from the dirty equipment.
"We are making sure to take corrective measures to ensure veterans have the information and the care necessary to deal with this unacceptable development," Kussman said.
|
[
"Who were also tested positive for hepatitis?",
"What were they trying to link?",
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] |
[
"veterans",
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question: Who were also tested positive for hepatitis?, answer: veterans | question: What were they trying to link?, answer: improperly sterilized endoscopy equipment and a veteran's positive HIV test. | question: What was not cleaned properly?, answer: endoscopy equipment
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement closed a sex-related criminal probe of former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley on Friday without filing charges, authorities said.
"There is insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges," said Gerald Bailey, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Authorities were investigating whether the Florida Republican, who resigned in September 2006, might have used congressional computers to engage or solicit minors in any illegal activities.
Officials said they were hindered by refusal from Foley and the House of Representatives to allow inspection of the computers.
"FDLE conducted as thorough and comprehensive investigation as possible considering Congress and Mr. Foley denied us access to critical data," Bailey said in a written statement. "Should additional information arise which is pertinent to this case, we will ensure it is appropriately investigated."
Foley is "relieved" that no probable cause was found to charge him with a crime, his lawyer, David Roth, told reporters Friday evening. But in a statement Roth read on behalf of the former congressman, Foley added, "I however recognize that while my behavior was not illegal, it does not by any means make it proper or approriate. To the contrary, I am deeply ashamed of my conduct, which was wrong and without question inappropriate."
Foley said he takes full responsibility for his actions and apologized, particularly to the recipients of the e-mails or instant messages.
"I continue to pray for forgiveness from those I have disappointed" and emotionally harmed, Foley said in the statement.
Foley entered treatment for alcoholism on October 1, 2006, he said in his statement, and has been clean and sober since the day he resigned from Congress.
Roth has denied that his client engaged in sexual activity with minors.
"He is absolutely, positively not a pedophile," attorney David Roth said previously. "He is apologetic for the communications he made while under the influence of alcohol, which he acknowledges are totally inappropriate."
Those communications included scores of e-mails and instant messages that were given to investigators by former House pages. The exchanges -- in which Foley used the screen name MAF 54 -- were published in a House ethics committee report in December 2006.
Roth told reporters Friday that Foley has no intention of re-entering politics and is focusing on his recovery.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement put the price tag for the nearly two-year investigation at about $37,800.
Foley entered a treatment facility for alcoholism shortly after resigning, saying he is gay and was molested by a priest when he was between the ages of 13 and 15.
A Catholic priest living in Italy admitted in a TV interview that he molested Foley when he was a teenager.
"Once maybe, I touched him or so, but I didn't -- it wasn't -- because it's not something you call, I mean rape or penetration or anything like that, you know. We were just fondling," said the priest, Anthony Mercieca.
The ethics committee's probe concluded that House GOP leaders were negligent in not protecting male teenage pages from possible improper advances by Foley. But the panel said there were no violations of the House Code of Official Conduct and decided no one would be reprimanded.
A Justice Department report issued a month later said the FBI should have notified the House or other officials when members first learned of the inappropriate e-mails. The FBI acted within its "range of discretion" when it initially decided not to open a criminal investigation in the case, the Justice Department said. But the internal watchdog's investigation concluded that simply filing away the complaint from a public interest group was an inadequate response.
The FDLE's investigative summary notes that the U.S. House's clerk of courts took possession of two computer hard drives from Foley's two district offices in Florida and the computer from his Washington office, along with backup material.
The department said it did not seek a search warrant for the drives because it failed to turn up probable cause of a crime with a Florida connection.
|
[
"Who was accused of sending suggestive messages?",
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"who was accused"
] |
[
"U.S. Rep. Mark Foley",
"without filing",
"The Florida Department of Law Enforcement",
"U.S. Rep. Mark Foley"
] |
question: Who was accused of sending suggestive messages?, answer: U.S. Rep. Mark Foley | question: Will the Florida agency file charges?, answer: without filing | question: What agency won't file charges against ex-rep. Mark Foley?, answer: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement | question: who was accused, answer: U.S. Rep. Mark Foley
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The Miami area seems to be enjoyed most by people who live somewhere else.
Garcia's offers freshly caught fish and a great view from a deck overlooking the Miami River.
More often than not snowbirds, the yearly visitors who winter in South Florida, and other tourists appear to take over. But there are plenty of places that are beloved by locals and won't cost you a fortune.
A good first stop is Lincoln Road, the pedestrian boulevard that runs almost the width of Miami Beach. A farmers' market each Sunday is a weekly meeting point for many locals, and although the area has lost some of its identity to chains, there are plenty of unique restaurants and shops to sample.
Start your stroll on Lincoln with coffee at David's Café (1654 Meridian Ave.). From a large open window facing the street, the cafe keeps the Cuban coffee flowing 24/7 to a wide mix of Miamians who line up for their caffeine fix. Not too much English is spoken here though, so practice the following: cafecito (a shot of sugary Cuban coffee), cortadito (sugary Cuban coffee cut with milk) and café con leche (a Latin latte).
A block west of David's is The Frieze (1626 Michigan Ave.), which devoted regulars will swear serves the best ice cream in the world. A taste of one of the many flavors of ice cream or sorbet -- made from fresh local fruits -- may make you a convert as well. Flavors such as wasabi or tamarind have to be tried to be believed. Whether it's the best in the world is open for debate, but for sure The Frieze serves the best scoops in Miami.
At Segafredo's, on the West end of Lincoln (1040 Lincoln Road), the real attraction is people watching. It's the place to see and be seen in Miami Beach. Customers spending hundreds of dollars on champagne and cocktails or a few bucks on coffee and simple snacks enjoy the same great view of local characters on parade and the beautiful people who act as if Lincoln Road were their own personal catwalk.
North of Lincoln Road, on the Biscayne Bay side of Miami Beach is Joe Allen restaurant (1787 Purdy Ave.), a bastion of good food and service that a crowd of mostly local clientele has kept going for nearly a decade. The restaurant has locations in other cities, but walking into the low-key Miami Beach dining room you would swear you stumbled onto a well-kept secret. Joe Allen's serves really fresh comfort food: steaming plates of mussels in an Asian broth, homemade pastas, great burgers and a killer meatloaf. This is not the place for celebrity sightings and the latest trendy food, but you will eat well and not break the bank.
Many Miami restaurants boast they serve the freshest fish in town, but few have their own fishing fleet to back up the claim. Garcia's Seafood Grille and Fish Market (398 N.W. N. River Drive, Miami) offers its own freshly caught fish and a great view from a deck overlooking the Miami River. It's a trick to get there, and the restaurant is one of the few bright spots in a still run-down area of downtown Miami, so go with good directions. As you lunch on a mahi-mahi sandwich with a beer served in an ice-cold mug and watch the boats go by, the trip to Garcia's will seem well worth the effort.
It wouldn't be Miami, of course, without the beach, and every local has his or her own preferred strip of sand. The beach at Collins Avenue and 87th Terrace is a favorite for people who want to relax with the Sunday paper and a fold-out chair. The water and sand seem cleaner than most other beaches and the area is a favorite for kite surfers.
If you aren't already a local, you soon will feel like one after a few hours there with the sand between your toes.
|
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"What side of Miami beach are they?",
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] |
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"caffeine fix."
] |
question: What side of Miami beach are they?, answer: the Biscayne Bay | question: What is on offer at Garcias?, answer: freshly caught fish and a great view from a deck | question: Who offer freshly caught fish?, answer: Garcia's | question: what does the Garcia's Seafood Grille and Fish Market offers?, answer: a great view from a deck overlooking the Miami River. | question: Where do the Miamians line up?, answer: David's Café | question: who serves fresh comfort food on the Biscayne Bay?, answer: Joe Allen's | question: What does Joe Allen serve?, answer: best ice cream | question: Miamians line up for what reason?, answer: caffeine fix.
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The storm called Hanna weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm Tuesday morning as maximum sustained winds eased down to 70 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
This satellite image from Monday shows Hanna over the southern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Despite the downgrade, Hanna dropped torrential rain on the eastern Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Haiti. Hurricane warnings remained in effect.
Hanna's path and strength remain uncertain, but the latest forecast map from the National Hurricane Center predicts it still could make landfall as a major hurricane on the southeastern U.S. coast by Friday evening.
Hanna's path early Tuesday appeared to be a "meandering" loop across Turks and Caicos, but atmospheric changes over the western Atlantic are expected to steer the storm northwestward over the next two or three days, according to forecasters.
As of 5 a.m. ET, Hanna was a Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale with sustained winds of 80 mph (129 kph) and gusts of up to 100 mph. iReport.com: Watch Hanna lash Turks and Caicos Islands
Three hours later, it was downgraded to a tropical storm as winds fell below the 74 mph threshold for hurricane status. It could return to hurricane status later Tuesday or on Wednesday, forecasters said.
Hanna's line of fire could include the U.S. Atlantic coast from Miami, Florida, to Massachusetts, according to the hurricane center's long-range forecast map. Charleston, South Carolina, appears in the middle of this "cone of uncertainty," with Hanna potentially making landfall there Friday.
"It appears that the center has been meandering," forecasters said.
The history of hurricanes that have been where Hanna is now might argue against its heading toward the southeastern United States. None of the September storms that passed within 200 miles of Hanna's current location has gone there, with most heading into the Gulf of Mexico and others going to New England or Nova Scotia.
Still, forecasters said, "the model guidance is remarkably well clustered" in support of its forecast path for Hanna.
Meanwhile, forecasters were keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Ike, which was gaining strength in the mid-Atlantic and appeared headed for the Bahamas later in the week. It had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph Tuesday morning.
|
[
"what did the system demote to",
"where to is the tropical storm moving",
"What level could Hanna return to later in the day?",
"What could Hanna return to later in the day?",
"What happened to a system as sustained winds fell off?",
"Where is Tropical Storm Ike moving toward?",
"What areas could be included in Hanna's path?",
"Where can Hanna's path path lead to?",
"What tropical storm moved toward the Caribbean Sea?",
"what did the forecasters say"
] |
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"hurricane status",
"hurricane status",
"weakened from a hurricane",
"Bahamas",
"include the U.S. Atlantic coast from Miami, Florida, to Massachusetts, according to the hurricane center's long-range forecast map.",
"U.S. Atlantic coast from Miami, Florida,",
"Hanna",
"atmospheric changes over the western Atlantic are expected to steer the storm northwestward over the next two or three days,"
] |
question: what did the system demote to, answer: tropical storm | question: where to is the tropical storm moving, answer: headed for the Bahamas | question: What level could Hanna return to later in the day?, answer: hurricane status | question: What could Hanna return to later in the day?, answer: hurricane status | question: What happened to a system as sustained winds fell off?, answer: weakened from a hurricane | question: Where is Tropical Storm Ike moving toward?, answer: Bahamas | question: What areas could be included in Hanna's path?, answer: include the U.S. Atlantic coast from Miami, Florida, to Massachusetts, according to the hurricane center's long-range forecast map. | question: Where can Hanna's path path lead to?, answer: U.S. Atlantic coast from Miami, Florida, | question: What tropical storm moved toward the Caribbean Sea?, answer: Hanna | question: what did the forecasters say, answer: atmospheric changes over the western Atlantic are expected to steer the storm northwestward over the next two or three days,
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named storm of the 2008 Atlantic season, formed Saturday near the coast of Belize, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Tropical Storm Arthur could make its way across the Yucatan and re-emerge in the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm made its way over land and was expected to weaken, but the center said the storm could re-emerge in the Gulf of Mexico and regain intensity Sunday.
At 11 p.m., the center of Arthur was over the southern Yucatan Peninsula, about 80 miles (125 km) west of Chetumal, Mexico, and about 120 miles (195 km) south-southeast of Campeche, Mexico.
It was moving west at about 7 miles (11 km) per hour.
The storm's maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (65 km/hr), with higher gusts, mainly over water east of its center. Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 260 miles (415 km) from the center of the storm, forecasters said.
The government of Belize issued a tropical storm warning for the nation's coast, and the government of Mexico issued a tropical storm warning from Cabo Catoche south to the border with Belize.
A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within the warning area -- in this case, within the next six to 12 hours.
The storm was forecast to dump up to 10 inches of rain over Belize, up to 15 inches in isolated areas, the hurricane center said.
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season begins Sunday.
On Thursday, Tropical Storm Alma, the first one of the year in the eastern Pacific, formed near the west coast of Central America, according to the National Weather Service. The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression and dissipated over the high terrain of Central America.
The federal government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted this month that the Atlantic season would be more active than normal, with up to 16 named storms and up to five major hurricanes of Category 3 or above.
The noted Colorado State University hurricane forecasting team predicted this year that there would be 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
The team calculated a 69 percent chance that at least one major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. coast.
A survey released this week found that 50 percent of 1,100 adults surveyed in Atlantic and U.S. Gulf Coast states did not have disaster plans or survival kits.
"Nearly one in three said they would not prepare their home until a storm is within 24 hours of landfall," Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Thursday.
"Now is the time to buy all that stuff," he said upon the release of the survey by polling firm Mason-Dixon.
|
[
"When did the storm originally begin?",
"If the storm re-emerged into the Gulf of Mexico could it regain intensity?",
"What was the approximate sustained winds brought by the storm?",
"What are the maximum sustained winds of the storm",
"Where will 10 to 15 inches of rain fall?",
"When is the storm expected to reappear?",
"what will happen if the storm re-emerges into gulf of mexico?",
"What number of inches or rain is the storm forecast to dump?",
"What was the storm's average wind speed?",
"What day does the hurricane season begin?",
"What speed will the storms maximum sustained winds reach?"
] |
[
"Saturday",
"the center said the storm could re-emerge in the Gulf of Mexico and regain intensity Sunday.",
"near 40 mph",
"near 40 mph",
"Belize,",
"Sunday.",
"regain intensity",
"15",
"40 mph",
"Sunday.",
"near 40 mph"
] |
question: When did the storm originally begin?, answer: Saturday | question: If the storm re-emerged into the Gulf of Mexico could it regain intensity?, answer: the center said the storm could re-emerge in the Gulf of Mexico and regain intensity Sunday. | question: What was the approximate sustained winds brought by the storm?, answer: near 40 mph | question: What are the maximum sustained winds of the storm, answer: near 40 mph | question: Where will 10 to 15 inches of rain fall?, answer: Belize, | question: When is the storm expected to reappear?, answer: Sunday. | question: what will happen if the storm re-emerges into gulf of mexico?, answer: regain intensity | question: What number of inches or rain is the storm forecast to dump?, answer: 15 | question: What was the storm's average wind speed?, answer: 40 mph | question: What day does the hurricane season begin?, answer: Sunday. | question: What speed will the storms maximum sustained winds reach?, answer: near 40 mph
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Fay made landfall in southwestern Florida early Tuesday, coming ashore at Cape Romano just south of Marco Island, the National Hurricane Center said.
Satellite image shows Tropical Storm Fay along Florida's southwest coast at 11 p.m. ET Monday.
Forecasters immediately dropped hurricane warnings for the storm as it never reached the 74 mph threshold necessary for hurricane status.
It was the third landfall for the storm, which came ashore in western Cuba Sunday night and then again over Key West Monday afternoon.
Voluntary evacuations were urged Monday evening on Marco Island, a community of about 12,000 people near Naples on southwestern Florida's coast. However, a CNN crew reported many people seemed to be staying and few had boarded windows there.
At of 5 a.m. ET Tuesday, the storm was moving north-northwest at 9 mph (15 km/hr) and was on the Florida coastline at Cape Romano, or about 55 miles (90 km) south of Fort Myers.
Maximum sustained winds were near 60 mph (95 km/hr), with higher gusts, and forecasters expected some strengthening prior to landfall. Tropical storm force winds extended up to 125 miles (205 km). iReport.com: Are you there? Share photos, video
Fay is expected to continue in a north-northeasterly direction throughout the day, passing near Orlando, and entering the Atlantic as a tropical depression off the coast of northeastern Florida early Wednesday. Watch wind, rain batter Key West »
A tropical storm warning wraps around the bottom of the Florida peninsula from Longboat Key on the Gulf Coast to Flagler Beach on the east. The Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to the west end of the Seven Mile Bridge are also included in the warning.
Rainfall amounts up to 10 inches are expected across portions of southern and east-central Florida, with 4 to 8 inches elsewhere along the storm's path.
Isolated tornadoes are possible over the Florida Keys and the southern Florida peninsula, the center said.
|
[
"What came ashore in western Cuba Sunday?",
"When did the storm come ashore?",
"When did the hurricane make landfall?",
"What was dropped as Fay's winds never reached 74 mph?",
"What did winds never reach?",
"What made landfall at Cape Romano?",
"Where is Cape Romano?",
"Where did Fay make landfall?",
"Where did the storm come ashore?",
"When did the hurricane warnings drop?"
] |
[
"Tropical Storm Fay",
"early Tuesday,",
"early Tuesday,",
"hurricane warnings",
"74 mph threshold",
"Tropical Storm Fay",
"just south of Marco Island,",
"southwestern Florida",
"Cape Romano just south of Marco Island,",
"Tuesday,"
] |
question: What came ashore in western Cuba Sunday?, answer: Tropical Storm Fay | question: When did the storm come ashore?, answer: early Tuesday, | question: When did the hurricane make landfall?, answer: early Tuesday, | question: What was dropped as Fay's winds never reached 74 mph?, answer: hurricane warnings | question: What did winds never reach?, answer: 74 mph threshold | question: What made landfall at Cape Romano?, answer: Tropical Storm Fay | question: Where is Cape Romano?, answer: just south of Marco Island, | question: Where did Fay make landfall?, answer: southwestern Florida | question: Where did the storm come ashore?, answer: Cape Romano just south of Marco Island, | question: When did the hurricane warnings drop?, answer: Tuesday,
|
MIDDLESBROUGH, England -- Middlesbrough have confirmed that midfielders Fabio Rochemback and Gaizka Mendieta and striker Dong Gook Lee have all been released.
Middlesbrough have decided against taking up the option of re-signing Brazilian midfielder Fabio Rochemback.
The Premier League club had an option to extend Brazilian Rochemback's deal by another two years, but manager Gareth Southgate has decided to let him go.
"We both feel that the time is right for Fabio to have a fresh challenge," Southgate said. "He is a talented footballer and I think he's just had his best season for us, while it was fitting that he should bow out against Manchester City on Sunday with probably his best performance in a Middlesbrough shirt."
The 26-year-old joined Boro from Barcelona in 2005 and played 91 games for the Teesside club. He signed off in style by scoring a thumping long-range free-kick in Sunday's 8-1 victory over City.
Rochemback, who netted seven times for Boro, played a major role in helping the club reach the 2006 UEFA Cup final, a year after appearing in the final during a loan spell with Sporting Lisbon -- where he is expected to move back to this summer.
Mendieta, 34, was one of football's costliest players when he joined Lazio from Valencia for 48 million euros in 2001, but he disappointed and joined Barcelona and then Boro on loan.
The former Spain midfielder joined permanently on a free transfer in 2004, but has not played for the first team since December 26, 2006.
"It was a difficult situation for a player of Gaizka's caliber to find himself out of the first team reckoning," added Southgate.
"I made it clear to him that he did not figure in my plans but he decided to stay and try to get back into the first team.
"That didn't work out but his attitude to training was always excellent and he was a good influence on some of our young reserve team players."
South Korean international Lee joined Boro on a free transfer from Pohang Steelers in January 2007. He scored only twice in 11 starts and 18 appearances as a substitute and has not appeared for the first team since early February.
Southgate is still hopeful of persuading goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to sign a new contract at the Riverside.
The 35-year-old Australian joined Boro from Bradford City in a $3 million deal in February 1997 and has played nearly 450 games for the club.
His deal runs out this summer and he has so far refused to sign an extension, prompting reports of interest from a host of European clubs.
"We are talking to Mark. I'd like him to stay. His experience is important but he has real drive and determination that is still increasing," said Southgate.
"He is the one in our dressing room that can truly say he has played at the highest level -- in World Cups, in Europe, in cup finals and so on.
"We have to negotiate and see where we go, but players have to want to stay here and we have to want to keep them.
"Mark has been here a long time so he has to decide if he needs a fresh challenge, whether what we are trying to do is going to excite him, whether he feels he is going to be appreciated here."
Southgate also confirmed they have offered striker Tom Craddock and right-back Tony McMahon one-year extensions to their current deals, which run out this summer.
Brazilian Rivaldo has changed his mind about retiring and says he will play for Greek club AEK again next season.
The 36-year-old had decided to quit after AEK were denied the title because Olympiakos were awarded three points for a game they lost after the opposing team fielded an ineligible player.
"The truth is that at the end of the championship, I felt great disappointment and a (sense of) injustice, but the love and support I have received from fans and the team have contributed to my final decision ... I have decided to stay at AEK next season,"
|
[
"What did they not take up?",
"Who did nt take up the deal?",
"Who released midfielders Fabio Rochemback and Gaizka Mendieta?",
"Who changed their mind about retirement?",
"Who has been released?",
"Who decided not to take up option on Rochemback's deal?",
"Who will continue at AEK next season?"
] |
[
"the option of re-signing Brazilian midfielder Fabio Rochemback.",
"Gareth Southgate",
"Middlesbrough",
"Brazilian Rivaldo",
"Mendieta and striker Dong Gook Lee",
"Middlesbrough",
"Rivaldo"
] |
question: What did they not take up?, answer: the option of re-signing Brazilian midfielder Fabio Rochemback. | question: Who did nt take up the deal?, answer: Gareth Southgate | question: Who released midfielders Fabio Rochemback and Gaizka Mendieta?, answer: Middlesbrough | question: Who changed their mind about retirement?, answer: Brazilian Rivaldo | question: Who has been released?, answer: Mendieta and striker Dong Gook Lee | question: Who decided not to take up option on Rochemback's deal?, answer: Middlesbrough | question: Who will continue at AEK next season?, answer: Rivaldo
|
MIDDLETOWN, Connecticut (CNN) -- The suspect in the shooting of a Wesleyan University student is in police custody, police in Meriden, Connecticut, said Thursday.
Police have arrested Stephen Morgan in the shooting death of Johanna Justin-Jinich.
A spokesman in Meriden said Stephen Morgan had been in custody there, but was transferred to police in Middletown, seven miles away. No other details were available.
An arrest warrant was issued earlier for Morgan, charging him with murder in the death of Johanna Justin-Jinich at a Middletown bookstore on Wednesday.
Justin-Jinich was shot Wednesday afternoon at the Red & Black Cafe in Broad Street Books, the campus bookstore, the university said.
She worked at the cafe, the cafe said on its Web site. It said that her killing has left employees "devastated."
Earlier Thursday, a law enforcement source told CNN that police spoke briefly to the suspect after her shooting death.
Morgan was one of several people who gathered Wednesday afternoon outside Broad Street Books after the Wesleyan junior was shot, the source said. He gave his name to investigators who spoke with him, the source said.
At that early stage of the investigation, the source said, police had no reason to suspect Morgan.
Earlier Thursday, Morgan's sister had urged him to turn himself in to "avoid any further bloodshed."
Diana Morgan told reporters in Marblehead, Massachusetts, that her family was "shocked and sickened by the tragedy in Middletown."
She said her family did not know her brother's whereabouts, but issued a brief statement to him through the media: "Steve, turn yourself in right now to any law enforcement agency, wherever you are, to avoid any further bloodshed. We love you, we will support you in every way and we don't want anyone else to get hurt."
She did not take questions.
Before his arrest, police had been worried that Morgan may be targeting Wesleyan University and the town's Jewish residents.
A statement from the university alleges that Morgan had written threats against "Wesleyan and/or its Jewish students" in his personal journals.
Congregation Adath Israel, Middletown's lone synagogue, canceled all activities for the next day, said its president, Eliot Meadow.
He said police told him that they do not think Morgan is part of a larger anti-Semitic organization.
About 200 families attend the synagogue, Meadow said, and he added that Wesleyan, a private university with about 3,000 students, has a substantial Jewish population.
While Justin-Jinich was a student at Wesleyan and was Jewish, according to the Middletown mayor, there was another connection between her and her alleged killer, authorities said. Watch how suspect and victim knew each other »
In July 2007, the young woman filed a harassment complaint against Morgan while the two were taking the same six-week summer course at New York University, school spokesman John Beckman told CNN.
The complaint, in which Justin-Jinich said she was receiving harassing e-mails and phone calls from Morgan, was filed with the university's public safety department toward the end of the course, Beckman said.
The public safety department brought in the New York Police Department and after conversations with Morgan and Justin-Jinich, the young woman declined to follow up or press charges, Beckman said.
Beckman said the two were not living in the same student residence house during the course. Additional details were not immediately available.
Another law enforcement source also told CNN that in an excerpt from one of the e-mails sent to Justin-Jinich, Morgan wrote, "You're going to have a lot more problems down the road if you can't take any (expletive) criticism, Johanna." Watch the crime described as 'every parent's nightmare' »
Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano said the connection between Morgan and Justin-Jinich may "go back to Colorado." No further details were available.
CNN's Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt contributed to this report.
|
[
"Where was the shooting?",
"What did the suspect do in the bookstore?",
"Who was arrested?",
"Who was arrested in the university student's shooting death?",
"What did the suspect's sister urge him to do?"
] |
[
"Red & Black Cafe in Broad Street Books, the campus bookstore,",
"shooting death of Johanna Justin-Jinich.",
"Stephen Morgan",
"Stephen Morgan",
"turn himself in"
] |
question: Where was the shooting?, answer: Red & Black Cafe in Broad Street Books, the campus bookstore, | question: What did the suspect do in the bookstore?, answer: shooting death of Johanna Justin-Jinich. | question: Who was arrested?, answer: Stephen Morgan | question: Who was arrested in the university student's shooting death?, answer: Stephen Morgan | question: What did the suspect's sister urge him to do?, answer: turn himself in
|
MILAN, Italy -- European Super Cup winners Milan were brought back down to earth at the San Siro on Monday, as Fiorentina held them to a 1-1 draw in Serie A.
Kaka (right) wheels away in celebration after scoring his penalty against Fiorentina.
Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu earned the visitors a point with a 56th-minute header after Milan playmaker Kaka had scored from the penalty spot in the 27th minute.
Milan, who beat Genoa 3-0 in their opening league game, join Fiorentina as one of seven teams with four points in the league table.
Mutu scored against the run of play from Mario Alberto Santana's cross.
Earlier, Fiorentina defender Dario Dainelli had conceded a penalty when he tripped Massimo Ambrosini in the area.
Filippo Inzaghi wasted a golden chance to win the match in the 71st minute when Kaka slid the ball across the front of Fiorentina's goal. However, the Italy forward somehow managed to miss the ball and an open net.
Fiorentina could have won it late on but midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic hit the post.
"I am always angry when we don't get the maximum points, but in this case we did everything we possibly could," said Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti.
"We tried to win and ran quite a few risks, but so soon after our last game it was understandable we had some difficulties." E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Who was the super cup winners?",
"Who gave Milan the lead?",
"Who won the Super Cup?",
"Who did AC Milan play against?",
"Who is Adrian mutu?",
"What was the final score?",
"Who does Adrian mutu play for",
"Who scored for Fiorentina?"
] |
[
"Milan",
"Kaka",
"Milan",
"Fiorentina",
"Fiorentina striker",
"1-1 draw",
"Fiorentina",
"Adrian Mutu"
] |
question: Who was the super cup winners?, answer: Milan | question: Who gave Milan the lead?, answer: Kaka | question: Who won the Super Cup?, answer: Milan | question: Who did AC Milan play against?, answer: Fiorentina | question: Who is Adrian mutu?, answer: Fiorentina striker | question: What was the final score?, answer: 1-1 draw | question: Who does Adrian mutu play for, answer: Fiorentina | question: Who scored for Fiorentina?, answer: Adrian Mutu
|
MINGORA, Pakistan (CNN) -- Gen. Nadeem Ahmad swirls the helicopter over Pakistan's ground zero. Below is the Swat Valley of North West Frontier Province.
A Pakistani soldier patrols a ruined street in Mingora.
From the air, the valley in the foothills of the Hindu Kush looks undisturbed. Green fields amid clusters of drab houses.
A closer look at Swat reveals how well the Pakistani Army fared in its military campaign to wipe out the militants.
The cost of success: massive destruction that is sure to hamper the lives of already suffering residents just starting to trickle back to the homes they fled.
A few months ago, ferocious battles between Pakistan's Army and Taliban fighters erupted here -- in Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts. War's remnants serve as a constant reminder. A destroyed bridge. Pockmarked houses. Hotels that look like they've been abandoned for years.
Nadeem maneuvers the chopper to circle Mingora, the largest city in the Swat Valley. From the hilltop Army sentry posts that come into view, soldiers survey the ground below, hard won from Taliban fighters.
The militants, Nadeem says, have fled to nearby mountains.
On the ground, he shows off a cache of weapons seized in the fighting. The soldiers are keen to boast their victory.
Mingora remains on high alert. A curfew has been lifted for morning hours, although soldiers keep close watch on those who venture out.
The city's pain is plainly evident on its scarred, deserted streets. Many shops are shuttered or destroyed. Watch Stan Grant tour the shattered streets of Mingora »
The United Nations estimates that 375,000 Swat Valley residents fled their homes during the fighting. In all, 2.5 million Pakistanis were displaced in what was said to be one of the largest human migrations in recent history.
About 260,000 people have been living in 21 refugee camps in neighboring Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Peshawar and Charssada districts, but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees say the "vast majority" of internally displaced Pakistanis have been staying with host families, rented houses or in schools.
The government plans to return people first from the camps and then focus on those living elsewhere.
But this week, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that as many as 1 million people could remain displaced until December because of the widespread destruction in their home towns, such as Mingora.
Relief agencies have reported dire humanitarian conditions in Mingora: hospitals without electricity that are inundated with patients, an erratic supply of water and natural gas. One resident, who identified himself only as Abdullah, told CNN that returning people are facing shortages in food, water and basic supplies for survival.
Some displaced families also expressed concerns about schooling for their children, reported the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), the U.N. news agency focusing on humanitarian issues.
Louis-Georges Arsenault, emergency office director for UNICEF, said 1 million children were at risk of not starting school by September, mainly due to the Taliban's widespread destruction of schools and that 4,000 existing schools continue to shelter displaced people.
Businessman Muhammad Khan, 40, who recently returned to Mingora, voiced the despair of returning residents. He told IRIN that "everything is in ruins."
"Everything is in ruins," IRIN quoted Khan as saying. "It will take months for life to return to normality."
But that normality will no longer include the Taliban, Pakistani soldiers say. The fight was hard, but it was victorious, they say. They point to an area in the city where they say the Taliban displayed the bodies of their victims, some beheaded. It became known as "Slaughter Square."
Slaughter Square's name may be outdated for the time being, but residents like Abdullah say it will be a long time before life in Mingora returns to what it once was.
"I don't like army. I don't like Taliban," Abdullah says, standing among the ruins of what used to be a thriving market. "I only want peace."
|
[
"what were they victorious in",
"Who claim victory in fight against Taliban militants?",
"Who is trickling back into the region?",
"What does local businessman say?"
] |
[
"The fight",
"Pakistan's Army",
"already suffering residents",
"\"everything is in ruins.\""
] |
question: what were they victorious in, answer: The fight | question: Who claim victory in fight against Taliban militants?, answer: Pakistan's Army | question: Who is trickling back into the region?, answer: already suffering residents | question: What does local businessman say?, answer: "everything is in ruins."
|
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- A federal grand jury has indicted two Minnesota men in connection with the recruitment of Somali immigrants to fight with Islamic insurgents in their home country.
Jamal Bana is one of several missing Somali-Americans believed to have fought with an Islamist insurgency.
Salah Osman Ahmed and Abdifatah Yusuf Isse are charged with one count each of providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure people overseas, the indictment states. The recruiting effort took place between September 2007 and December 2008, according to the charges.
Ahmed also is charged with two counts of making false statements to investigators. According to the indictment, he told FBI agents that he had traveled alone on a flight to Somalia when, in fact, he and another person were going together "so that they could fight jihad in Somalia."
Ahmed was arrested Saturday, FBI Special Agent E.K. Wilson told CNN. Isse had been in custody for some time, said Omar Jamal, the head of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis. Both were from Minnesota and in their 20s, Jamal said.
Jamal said Ahmed and Isse were "foot soldiers" carrying out the work of others, and that he expected more indictments "in a week or two."
The FBI has been investigating what appears to be a massive recruiting effort by the al Qaeda-linked Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab in immigrant communities in the United States. More than a dozen young men of Somali descent have disappeared from the Minneapolis area in recent months, and at least three have been killed in Somalia, community leaders have said.
The latest, Jamal Bana, was confirmed dead over the weekend, his family said Sunday. The same day, Somalia's president -- a former member of the Islamist movement himself -- issued a plea to Somali-Americans not to join the fight in his country.
"I am saying to those young men from abroad: 'Your families fled your home to America because of insecurity. You should not return here to foment violence against your people,' " President Sheik Sharif Ahmed said.
Al-Shabaab has ties to al Qaeda and has recruited foreign fighters to join its battle to overthrow the Somali government, U.S. officials said.
It remains entrenched in the northeast and in sections south of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after fighting that has uprooted more than 200,000 people since early May, according to the United Nations.
Wilson said the number of missing men believed to be in Somalia is "in the 10s," but their recruitment is "a significant concern and one that we're giving our highest priority."
In October, Shirwa Ahmed, 27, a Somali-American believed to have been radicalized by al-Shabaab, traveled from Minneapolis to Somalia and blew up himself and 29 others. It was the first suicide bombing by a naturalized U.S. citizen, and it raised red flags throughout the U.S. intelligence community and sparked an investigation by the FBI.
Burhan Hassan, a 17-year-old Somali-American high school student in Minneapolis, went missing eight months ago, around the same time as Bana. Last month, his family learned that he was killed in Somalia.
Neither family has any idea why the young males left the United States, where they came as young boys, and Bana's family believes he was being held against his will, said Omar Jamal, head of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis.
"Only one time he placed a phone call [in mid-November], he didn't say much," Jamal said. "He spoke as if he was being held hostage. He couldn't be speak freely. They asked him to cut the conversation short."
Hassan's uncle, Abdirizak Bihi, said a fourth man -- 30-year-old Zakariya Maruf -- was killed Friday, but Jamal said Maruf may only be injured.
Maruf was the first of the missing Somalis to head overseas, said Bihi, who has become a spokesman for the families of the missing men. Bihi called him a "leader" whom the others
|
[
"Who received material support?",
"FBI were investigating militants from which African country?",
"Who is the FBI investigating?",
"What were the two charged with?",
"How many defendants were mere \"foot soldiers\"?",
"what was the charge?",
"what were 2 defendants?",
"who were foot soldiers",
"The militant group in Africa has ties to who?",
"who is investigating",
"who do they have ties to",
"They were charged with providing material support to who?"
] |
[
"terrorists",
"Somalia",
"a massive recruiting effort by the al Qaeda-linked Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab in immigrant communities in the United States.",
"one count each of providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure people overseas,",
"Ahmed and Isse",
"providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure people overseas,",
"Salah Osman Ahmed and Abdifatah Yusuf Isse",
"Ahmed and Isse",
"al Qaeda",
"FBI",
"al Qaeda",
"Islamic insurgents"
] |
question: Who received material support?, answer: terrorists | question: FBI were investigating militants from which African country?, answer: Somalia | question: Who is the FBI investigating?, answer: a massive recruiting effort by the al Qaeda-linked Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab in immigrant communities in the United States. | question: What were the two charged with?, answer: one count each of providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure people overseas, | question: How many defendants were mere "foot soldiers"?, answer: Ahmed and Isse | question: what was the charge?, answer: providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure people overseas, | question: what were 2 defendants?, answer: Salah Osman Ahmed and Abdifatah Yusuf Isse | question: who were foot soldiers, answer: Ahmed and Isse | question: The militant group in Africa has ties to who?, answer: al Qaeda | question: who is investigating, answer: FBI | question: who do they have ties to, answer: al Qaeda | question: They were charged with providing material support to who?, answer: Islamic insurgents
|
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- A Somali teen who left Minnesota to return to his native country last November has been reported killed.
The 17-year-old, who was not named, was reportedly killed Friday in artillery fire in the violence-ravaged nation's capital of Mogadishu, said the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The center is asking federal officials for help in bringing the teen's body back to the United States for burial, executive director Omar Jamal said.
The teen was among a group of young Somali-American men who left Minneapolis last year and were feared recruited by the extremist group, al-Shabaab, that has ties to al Qaeda, according to the U.S. State Department.
Al-Shabaab is blamed for a surge of violence in Somalia, as insurgents group fight the government to implement sharia, a stricter form of Islamic law.
The rebel group has said it has recruited many fighters in its battle.
Al-Shabaab, also known as the Mujahedeen Youth Movement, was officially designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government in March 2008.
In October, Shirwa Ahmed, 27, a Somali-American who had been radicalized by al-Shabaab in his adopted home state of Minnesota, traveled to Somalia and blew himself up and 29 others.
The incident, the first-ever suicide bombing by a naturalized U.S. citizen, raised red flags throughout the U.S. intelligence community.
Somalis began arriving in the United States in significant numbers after the U.S. intervention in Somalia's humanitarian crisis in 1992.
The Somali-American population is now concentrated in clusters primarily in Minneapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Seattle, Washington and San Diego, California.
The potential recruitment of young Somali-American men has been made possible by "a number of factors that come together when a dynamic, influential and extremist leader gains access to a despondent and disenfranchised group of young men," Andrew Liepman, deputy director for intelligence at the National Counterterrorism Center, said earlier this year.
Many refugees, he said, "lack structure and definition in their lives" and are "torn between their parents' traditional tribal and clan identities, and the new cultures and traditions offered by American society."
CNN's Chris Welch in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
|
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question: Who asked feds for help, answer: Somali Justice Advocacy Center | question: Who is asking feds for help to get body returned to the US for a burial?, answer: Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. | question: Who is feared to be killed in Mogadishu?, answer: A Somali teen | question: When did the group of Somali men leave the state, answer: November | question: Who is feared killed in Mogadishu, answer: A Somali teen
|
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Abayte Ahmed and her husband learned of their son's death in the most heinous fashion. A family acquaintance called and told them to click on an Internet site. There on the screen were photographs of their 20-year-old son -- the boy with the movie-star looks -- shot through the head thousands of miles away in Somalia.
Jamal Bana died in Somalia. Several missing Somali-Americans are believed to have fought there.
"He must have been somewhat disillusioned and indoctrinated, because he didn't have any clue about Somalia at all," his mother said, fighting back tears and barely able to speak about her eldest son.
Jamal Bana had been missing for months from his Minneapolis home. His family is still grappling with the circumstances surrounding his death in a land they had fled -- an African nation wracked by chaos and violence.
The FBI said Bana's death is part of a sweeping federal investigation into a recruiting effort in the United States by a Somali terrorist group called Al-Shabaab, which has ties to al Qaeda. More than a dozen young men of Somali descent have disappeared from the Minneapolis area in recent months. At least three, including Bana, have ended up dead in Somalia, community leaders say. Watch the harrowing saga of Jamal Bana »
Bana was the kind of son a modest immigrant family pins its hopes on. He was the eldest of seven and studying engineering at local colleges. But last fall, his family said, he disappeared without any warning. A few days later, the phone rang. All that could be heard was a quick sentence. "I'm in Somalia," his mother quoted him as saying. He then hung up.
Communication from then on was scarce. In calls or text messages, the family said, Bana was guarded, as though someone was watching or listening to him.
On July 11, the family received the call telling them to look on the Internet. Bana's father broke down in tears when he saw the photos. One image was a close-up of his son's face, a bullet wound on one side of his head. Another showed the body being carried through the streets of Mogadishu on a stretcher.
His parents said they believe their son was brainwashed and recruited to fight in the civil war between Somalia's unstable transitional government and Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab remains entrenched in northeast Somalia and in sections south of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after fighting that has uprooted more than 200,000 people since early May, according to the United Nations.
The question immigrants in the United States want answered is: How have their youth ended up so far away?
One of the missing youth, Shirwa Ahmed, 27, blew up himself and 29 others last fall in Somalia in what is believed to be the first suicide bombing carried out by a naturalized U.S. citizen. Ahmed had traveled from Minneapolis. The attack raised red flags throughout the U.S. intelligence community and sparked an investigation by the FBI.
Just weeks ago, community activist Abdirizak Bihi lost his 17-year-old nephew, Burhan Hassan, in Somalia. Asked if his nephew had been kidnapped from Minneapolis, Bihi said, "They kidnap them in the sense of mental kidnapping, not physically. But they play a male role of mentor."
Bihi and community leader Omar Jamal said they hold one place at least loosely responsible: the Abubakar as-Saddique Islamic Center, the largest mosque in Minneapolis.
"All these kids missing, they all have one thing in common: They all participated in youth programs in that mosque," said Jamal.
Jamal and Bihi said leaders of the mosque, at the very least, allowed people to come around their facility and recruit young men to fight in Somalia -- a charge the head imam denies. CNN was not allowed inside the mosque, but was granted an interview with the imam at a different location.
"This is the baseless accusation really," said Sheikh Abdirahman Sheikh Omar Ahmed. "The mosque -- the mission of the mosque -- is to worship.
|
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question: Where did Jamal Bana's family find about his death?, answer: on an Internet site. | question: What person has been missing for months?, answer: Jamal Bana | question: who was missing for months, answer: Jamal Bana | question: What is part of a wider federal inquiry of terror?, answer: Bana's death | question: Where is the mosque located that says terror recruiters are not part of their organization?, answer: Minneapolis. | question: what caused his death, answer: shot through the head | question: What happened at the Minneapolis mosque?, answer: leaders of the mosque, at the very least, allowed people to come around their facility and recruit young men to fight in Somalia | question: Who has been missing for months?, answer: Jamal Bana | question: who said terror recruiters are not at my mosque, answer: Sheikh Abdirahman Sheikh Omar Ahmed. | question: What is the Somali group doing?, answer: recruiting
|
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- David and Christina Macfarlane always dreamed of opening a restaurant. And with David's background as a White House chef, they certainly have the in-house culinary ability.
David and Christina Macfarlane in their Minneapolis restaurant, L'Ecosse.
But they never imagined they'd be doing it in one of the toughest economic times ever, and they wondered if it would even be possible.
"The banks were like, 'You're opening a restaurant now?' " Christina says. " 'Yeah, we're opening a restaurant now.' "
David was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but moved to the United States with his family in his early teens and soon found his passion for the palate. Soon after high school, he joined the U.S. Navy, where he ultimately spent years cooking -- two of which were spent in the kitchen at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as a chef for President Clinton at the beginning of his first term in 1992.
Looking at a picture of himself and the former president, David describes a favorite memory.
"He said that was the best meal he ever ate. I was pretty geeked about that." See more about that favorite meal »
But the Macfarlanes wanted more time as a family -- something not suited to David's high-profile job. They moved a number of times before settling down in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, suburbs where, most recently, David worked for Fusion Culinary -- until his position was eliminated, that is.
Christina says that as dismayed as David was over the job loss, she saw it as "a blessing."
"I thought, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!' " she says, adding that she saw it as the perfect opportunity to follow through with their dream.
Now, despite the battered economy, the two stand behind the bar in their new restaurant, L'Ecosse, which, incidentally, is French for "Scotland."
However, they have a slightly different take on the menu than perhaps they would have had if times were perkier.
"We went to over a dozen restaurants looking at menus, pricepoints, [and] realizing the struggles in the economy," Christina recalls.
The two concluded that while people are still eating out, they aren't seeking "fancy" food -- in other words, they weren't seeking the type of fare one might typically associate with state dinners at the White House.
David says that's all a misconception anyway.
"Comfort food," he says. "That's what the president wanted most."
Some of the president's favorite foods, David says were nachos and salsa, tuna sandwiches, or just warm milk and cookies.
"[President Clinton] wasn't looking for any of the fancy frou-frou stuff. We did that for state dinners or we did that for dignitaries that would come in, but ... at lunchtime when the president would be in the Oval Office by himself, [he'd say] 'Lemme have a tuna sandwich.' "
At L'Ecosse, tuna and warm cookies are on the menu.
Keeping with his Scottish upbringing, David's menu also is largely UK-centric: meat pies and fish and chips are two of the specialties.
He does it all with fresh, local ingredients and says he can keep prices down because he does a lot of the work himself and with the help of a very minimal staff. Watch the chef talk about keeping it simple »
Everything on the breakfast and lunch menus is priced under $10, and the two say that when they expand to a full dinner menu once their liquor license is approved, they want to keep prices similarly low.
"The reason we did that was so nobody had sticker shock," David says. "They're very good items, but they're also inexpensive items and you're not going to break the bank."
"If you want to come in and get Bill Clinton's favorite, it doesn't have to be $15
|
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question: Who has opened a restaurant?, answer: David and Christina Macfarlane | question: Waht was the former president a fan of?, answer: were nachos and salsa, tuna sandwiches, | question: What will make the prices lower?, answer: down because he does a lot of the work himself | question: What was taken out of dining?, answer: "Comfort food,"
|
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Drivers who were on the Minneapolis bridge when it collapsed told harrowing tales of survival.
"The whole bridge from one side of the Mississippi to the other just completely gave way, fell all the way down," survivor Gary Babineau told CNN. "I probably had a 30-, 35-foot free fall. And there's cars in the water, there's cars on fire. The whole bridge is down."
He said his back was injured but he determined he could move around.
"I realized there was a school bus right next to me, and me and a couple of other guys went over and started lifting the kids off the bridge. They were yelling, screaming, bleeding. I think there were some broken bones." Watch a driver describe his narrow escape »
At home when he heard about the disaster, Dr. John Hink, an emergency room physician, jumped into his car and rushed to the scene in 15 minutes. He arrived at the south side of the bridge, stood on the riverbank and saw dozens of people lying dazed on an expansive deck.
They were in the middle of the Mississippi River, which was churning fast, and he had no way of getting to them. He went to the north side, where there was easier access to people. Ambulances were also having a hard time driving down to the river to get closer to the scene.
Working feverishly, volunteers, EMTs and other officials managed to get 55 people into ambulances in less than two hours. Occasionally, a pickup truck with a medic inside would drive to get an injured person and bring him back up even ground, Hink told CNN.
The rescue effort was controlled and organized, he said; the opposite of the lightning-quick collapse.
"I could see the whole bridge as it was going down, as it was falling," Babineau said. "It just gave a rumble real quick, and it all just gave way, and it just fell completely, all the way to the ground. And there was dust everywhere and it was just like everyone has been saying: It was just like out of the movies."
Babineau said the rear of his pickup truck was dangling over the edge of a broken-off section of the bridge. He said several vehicles slid past him into the water.
"I stayed in my car for one or two seconds. I saw a couple cars fall," he said.
"So I stayed in my car until the cars quit falling for a second, then I got out real quick, ran in front of my truck -- because behind my truck was just a hole -- and I helped a woman off of the bridge with me.
"I just wanted off the bridge, and then I ran over to the school bus. I started grabbing kids and handing them down. It was just complete chaos."
He said most of the children were crying or screaming. He and other rescuers set them on the ground and told them to run to the river bank, but a few needed to be carried because of their injuries. See rescuers clamber over rubble »
Babineau said he had no rescue training. "I just knew what I had to do at the moment."
Melissa Hughes, 32, of Minneapolis, told The Associated Press that she was driving home when the western edge of the bridge collapsed under her.
"You know that free-fall feeling? I felt that twice," Hughes said.
A pickup landed on top of her car, but she was not hurt.
"I had no idea there was a vehicle on my car," she told AP. "It's really very surreal."
Babineau told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "On the way down, I thought I was dead. I literally thought I was dead.
"My truck was completely face down, pointed toward the ground, and my truck got ripped in half. It was folded in half, and I can't believe I
|
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"30-, 35-foot free"
] |
question: Who thought he was going to die?, answer: Gary Babineau | question: What was the number of people who were affected?, answer: 55 | question: Which bridge was it?, answer: Minneapolis | question: Where was the bridge that collapsed?, answer: Minneapolis | question: Which Minnesota bridge collapsed?, answer: Minneapolis | question: What state did the bridge collapse?, answer: Minnesota | question: What was the estimated free fall in feet per the driver?, answer: 30-, 35-foot | question: Did vehicles on the bridge fall far?, answer: 30-, 35-foot free | question: What distance did the driver fall?, answer: 30-, 35-foot free | question: What did the driver say after the event?, answer: "The whole bridge from one side of the Mississippi to the other just completely gave way, fell all the way down," | question: Which bridge collapsed?, answer: Minneapolis | question: What words did the man use to describe the accident?, answer: "I probably had a 30-, 35-foot free fall. And there's cars in the water, there's cars on fire. The | question: What did the man say?, answer: "The whole bridge from one side of the Mississippi to the other just completely gave way, fell all the way down," | question: What did the driver say?, answer: "The whole bridge from one side of the Mississippi to the other just completely gave way, fell all the way down," | question: Did the driver fall far?, answer: 30-, 35-foot free
|
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Melissa and Jackson Brandts knew right away that the photo from their recent trip to Canada was a good one.
Melissa and Jackson Brandts were taking a photo of themselves when the squirrel popped up.
However, it wasn't until the world -- and National Geographic -- took notice that they realized exactly how good.
Now, after submitting it to the magazine's online "Your Shot" contest, the Minnesota couple's photo is set to grace the pages of the magazine's November issue. It's appeared on the Web sites of news outlets around the world, and the squirrel -- now dubbed "Crasher Squirrel" -- even has its own Wikipedia entry of the same moniker.
Melissa Brandts and her husband Jackson were hiking in Banff National Park the last week in May when they decided to set up their camera and use their wireless remote shutter for a few shots of the two of them. They were getting situated on the rocky shore near Lake Minnewanka when the now-iconic critter stopped by for a visit.
"The little squirrel had been running around while we were getting the shot set up," Melissa Brandts said in a phone interview Tuesday. "I was joking with my husband that I hoped he was friendly because he was getting awful close and kind of scampering around our feet and stuff."
Friendly? You might say so. It was also a bit timid and perhaps even indecisive because it soon scurried away and then, just as quickly, rushed back again.
"Photogenic" might also be a good word to describe it.
"All of a sudden he popped back up because he heard the shutter releasing, the clicking of the camera. The only thing we can figure is that he thought it was going to give him food or something," Brandts said.
"He popped right up and looked right into the camera, and we were laughing so hard because we were like 'get it, get it!' and we were trying to get the remote to fire. So we got a couple of pictures -- took a couple of pictures with him there, and then he ducked down and proceeded to run away."
The resulting image exceeded all expectations.
"We didn't realize how good it was until we got back to the hotel that night and downloaded it to my husband's computer, and when we could see it on the full screen we were like, 'Whoa, are you serious?'"
"We had no idea it was going to turn out exactly like it did with him being in perfect focus, us being out of focus, and then us just laughing in the background. We weren't sure if he'd be standing like in front of one of us or something like that."
An international phenomenon
Brandts said she and her husband showed the photo to their friends and family and were subsequently incessantly prodded to "do something" with it.
For months the two weren't sure what that something could be. That changed, however, when the latest issue of National Geographic arrived in the mail.
"I saw the 'Your Shot' contest, which of course I knew existed, but I had never thought of entering one of my own pictures into it," Brandts said. "I thought, 'This is what I'm going to do!'"
Brandts said she submitted it on August 5 and by August 13 it was NationalGeographic.com's photo of the day.
"Things just kind of spun out of control from there."
The photo was soon published in the pages of two national Canadian newspapers, and Brandts received calls from a friend in South Korea who'd seen it on a local South Korean news Web site.
The couple has since appeared on NBC's "Today" show as well as the Twin Cities' local affiliate KARE.
And now that it's been selected for publication in the November issue of National Geographic, the attention hasn't subsided.
As of this writing, Brandts has received Facebook messages from random fans in
|
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"What did the couple set up?",
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] |
[
"camera",
"National Geographic",
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"squirrel",
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question: What did the couple set up?, answer: camera | question: What magazine will the photo be in?, answer: National Geographic | question: What popped up in front of camera?, answer: squirrel | question: What animal pops up in the camera?, answer: squirrel | question: Where did the photo appear?, answer: It's appeared on the Web sites of news outlets around the world,
|
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- President Bush surveyed this week's bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and pledged the government would "eliminate roadblocks" and "cut through paperwork" to get it rebuilt.
"I bring prayers from the American people to those who have suffered loss of life as a result of the collapse of the 35W bridge in the Twin Cities. I bring prayers to those who wonder whether they'll ever see a loved one again," Bush said on his visit.
"I have met with the chief of police and the sheriff and rescue workers -- people who represent men and women working as hard as they possibly can to save life and to find life -- to go under these murky waters to find the facts. And it's going to take awhile."
Shortly after Bush left the site, a diver bobbed in the water and communicated with an attending boat with hand signals.
"I have been impressed not only by their determination but by their compassion," the president said. Watch Bush tour the disaster site »
"We want to get this bridge rebuilt as quick as possible. We understand that this is a main artery," Bush said. "People depend on this bridge, on this highway."
Bush was accompanied by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who pledged that she would do what she could to meet the needs of the city.
On Friday, the chief federal investigator said the south end of the bridge "behaved differently" from the rest of the structure during its catastrophic collapse.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker said, based on a video of the collapse and where the bridge debris lies, the southern end shifted 50 feet to the east.
"And when we compare that to what we've seen in the rest of the bridge, the rest of the bridge appears to have collapsed in place," Rosenker told reporters.
Rosenker cautioned that investigators' interest in the southern end does not mean they have found the cause of the bridge collapse.
"What we have is a step forward," he said.
"We believe that as the bridge began to fall, as it began to collapse, it shifted," Rosenker said. "I am not saying that the 50-foot shift created the fall. That is not what we believe. What we believe is whatever created the failure, we also saw a 50-foot shift in the southern end of the structure."
Rosenker would not offer any theories on what caused the collapse, saying that would come after the 19 investigators have completed their analysis. See which states have most troubled bridges »
The 1,907-foot bridge came down Wednesday in a cloud of dust and river water during the evening rush hour.
Divers searched the river throughout Friday, locating 12 submerged or partially submerged vehicles, Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said. While no bodies were found, two of the vehicles were so badly crushed that divers could not check inside. Five people were confirmed to have died in the collapse. View photos from the disaster »
"I'm hopeful that the death toll will remain low, but I can't be absolutely certain," Stanek said. "I can only pray."
The Hennepin County medical examiner's office Friday identified a fifth victim as Paul Eickstadt, 51, of Mounds View, Minnesota, who was the driver of the tractor-trailer that was ablaze in the immediate aftermath of the collapse. The other four victims were previously identified. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Susan Roesgen contributed to this report.
|
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question: What did the transportation secretary promise?, answer: she would do | question: What did a federal investigator note about a bridge?, answer: "behaved differently" from the rest of the structure during its catastrophic collapse. | question: Who pledges to get bridge rebuilt?, answer: President Bush | question: How many feet did part of the bridge shift?, answer: 50 | question: Who promises to help city's transit needs?, answer: Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, | question: Who did Bush praise?, answer: chief of police and the sheriff and rescue workers | question: What did Federal investigators note about the bridge?, answer: pledged the government would "eliminate roadblocks" and "cut through paperwork" to get it rebuilt. | question: What does the President pledge to do?, answer: pledged the government would "eliminate roadblocks" and "cut through paperwork" | question: Who promised help for transit needs?, answer: President Bush | question: How far did the bridge shift?, answer: 50-foot | question: Who pledged to get the bridge rebuilt?, answer: President Bush
|
MODESTO, California (CNN) -- Some of the people hit hardest by this bad economy are the youngest. Almost 2 million children nationwide have had or will have their lives disrupted by home foreclosures, according to one study.
There are more empty desks in Suzell Tougas's fourth grade classroom after 10 students have stopped coming.
These are the children whose families have had to move, sometimes more than once. The youngsters are pulled out of school, often leaving their friends behind without even saying goodbye.
Nine-year-old Kenia, who is in the fourth grade at Fairview Elementary School in Modesto, California, said that is what happened to her. She is new to the school, having moved to the area just a few months ago. She said it is really hard and she misses her friends.
Her classmate Bethany said her best friend since kindergarten just left without saying goodbye.
Heather Sharp, the principal at Fairview, said her school has been the one most affected by the bad economy in the Modesto City School system.
"We have, over the last couple of months, 50 students coming new to the school and 50 students leaving," Sharp said.
It was so bad that the school conducted a door-to-door search for missing students, she said.
"We had our community aide going out to houses. And they were boarded up, windows boarded, yard brown. She had to go to neighbors to find out where the kids were."
In terms of raw numbers, California had the most foreclosures of any state from 2007 through January 2009. More than 57,000 homes entered foreclosure. Many of those were in Stanislaus County, where home prices have declined 65 percent since December 2005, according to the Modesto Bee.
Fourth-grade teacher Suzell Tougas said she has lost 10 kids from her class so far this year and is braced to lose more. She usually has a room full of children with every desk occupied. Now, it "looks empty ... it's like a "ghost town".
She said constant moving is hard on kids.
"Just having to start over and start over is really hard on a child," Tougas said. "It takes six weeks for a child to adjust ... at least."
While children are in that period of adjustment, she said, they aren't learning and their studies suffer.
"The biggest issue is that when [children have to move] when there are other stressors going on, we know it puts these kids at greater risk for being behind in their academics," said Pat Popp, a past president of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth.
That is borne out in a recent study by a nonpartisan group in Washington called First Focus. It said that children who move twice in one year are only half as likely as others to be able to read proficiently, and may have a greater chance of being held back. It also found that moving a lot reduces the student's chance of graduating from high school by half. Read the report here
The report, published in May, estimated that 1.95 million children will be affected by foreclosure over the next two years.
The number of homeless students is increasing dramatically. A study by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children reported that more than 450 school districts across the nation had an increase of at least 25 percent in the number of identified homeless students between the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years. Read the report here (pdf)
A student who moves "may hear the same information again that you learned in your previous classroom or miss information that has already been covered in your class but wasn't taught in your previous school," Popp said.
The fallout from the rash of foreclosures likely will have a long-term impact on education, especially in California. Schools get much of their funding from property tax revenues. Real estate values are spiraling downward and so is the revenue.
At Fairview Elementary, Principal Sharp worries about students like
|
[
"What life change is this article about?",
"Where is Modesto?",
"Which grade were the students in the reading in?",
"What did the teacher say?",
"What has happened to California?",
"Children are what?",
"What has hit California hard?",
"What are children who move twice in a year less likely to do?",
"California is hit hard by what?",
"4th graders in what city miss friends?"
] |
[
"home foreclosures,",
"California",
"fourth",
"she has lost 10 kids from her class so far this year and is braced to lose more.",
"most foreclosures of any state",
"Some of the people hit hardest by this bad economy",
"bad economy",
"read proficiently,",
"bad economy",
"Modesto, California,"
] |
question: What life change is this article about?, answer: home foreclosures, | question: Where is Modesto?, answer: California | question: Which grade were the students in the reading in?, answer: fourth | question: What did the teacher say?, answer: she has lost 10 kids from her class so far this year and is braced to lose more. | question: What has happened to California?, answer: most foreclosures of any state | question: Children are what?, answer: Some of the people hit hardest by this bad economy | question: What has hit California hard?, answer: bad economy | question: What are children who move twice in a year less likely to do?, answer: read proficiently, | question: California is hit hard by what?, answer: bad economy | question: 4th graders in what city miss friends?, answer: Modesto, California,
|
MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- A roadside bombing in Somalia's capital killed 21 women who were cleaning rubbish from a southern Mogadishu street on Sunday morning, a hospital official said.
Mogadishu residents gather around victims of the bomb attack along the city's Maka Al Mukarama Road.
The bomb blast wounded another 46 people, most of them Somali women who had gathered to clean Maka Al Mukarama Road in southern Mogadishu's Kilometer 4 district, according to Medina Hospital director Dr. Dahir Dhere.
"It suddenly turned the area into a carnage, scattering body parts of the street cleaners into a large area," said witness Asha Ise Gedi. "There were pools of blood everywhere. I have never seen such mass killing."
"They were innocent poor mothers or sisters," Gedi said. "Why did they deserve this?"
It is unclear who is behind the attack.
Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb Mohamed Dhere, who was recently fired by the country's prime minister, blamed the Islamic Courts Union for waging the attack. But the head of the Islamist insurgent group, Abid Rahim Ise Adow, denied any involvement and blamed Somalia's government for orchestrating the attack.
The victims were participating in a program that allows Somali women to work as street cleaners in exchange for food. The United Nations' World Food Program organized the program, which began last year and is administered by Mogadishu's regional authority.
Mogadishu has been the site of violence in recent months between Ethiopian troops and Islamist fighters.
Somalia's current transitional government is trying to maintain control of the capital, with the help of the better-equipped Ethiopian forces.
On Saturday, two-thirds of the Somali government ministers announced their resignations, blaming Prime Minister Nur Hassan Nur Ade's "dictatorship," which they said included his firing of Mogadishu's mayor.
Nur Ade said he suspects the mass resignations were aimed at weakening implementation of the peace agreement between Somalia's transitional government and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.
He said he had no plans to resign.
The peace agreement, signed June 9 in Djibouti, calls for a cease-fire between Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia, an opposition group that includes members of the Islamist Court Union which overthrew the government in 2006.
The ICU was ousted from power later that year by Ethiopian forces, with the support of Somalia's transitional government.
If followed, the peace deal would pave the way for a withdrawal of Ethiopian troops -- a major sticking point for Islamist fighters who oppose their presence.
The agreement calls on the alliance to dissociate itself from armed groups still fighting the government and for all sides to allow "unhindered humanitarian access and assistance" to all Somalis.
A joint committee led by U.N. officials will monitor the agreement's implementation.
Ethiopian forces became embroiled in an Islamist insurgency after the Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia in December 2006 to overthrow the ICU leaders and reinstall the transitional government. As guerrilla attacks mounted, efforts to replace the Ethiopians with an African Union-led peacekeeping mission faltered.
Ethiopia's invasion had the blessing of Somalia's government and the United States, which accused the ICU of harboring fugitives from the al Qaeda terrorist movement.
The conflict displaced hundreds of thousands of Somalis, further worsening a humanitarian crisis that dates back to the collapse of the country's last government in 1991.
The situation has been exacerbated by drought, continual armed conflicts in central and southern Somalia, and high inflation on food and fuel prices.
CNN's Alan Duke and journalists Mohamed Amin Adow and Abdi Nasir Mohamed contributed to this report.
|
[
"who blames islamists?",
"who is the mayor?",
"Who do islamist fighters blame for blast?",
"who is the prime minister?",
"Where is the site of violence between ethiopian troops and islamist fighters?",
"Where do they clean streets?",
"Who does the mayor blame for blast?",
"who are part of un program?"
] |
[
"Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb Mohamed Dhere,",
"Mohamed Omar Habeb Mohamed Dhere,",
"Somalia's government",
"Nur Hassan Nur Ade's",
"Mogadishu",
"southern Mogadishu",
"Islamic Courts Union",
"Mogadishu's regional authority."
] |
question: who blames islamists?, answer: Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb Mohamed Dhere, | question: who is the mayor?, answer: Mohamed Omar Habeb Mohamed Dhere, | question: Who do islamist fighters blame for blast?, answer: Somalia's government | question: who is the prime minister?, answer: Nur Hassan Nur Ade's | question: Where is the site of violence between ethiopian troops and islamist fighters?, answer: Mogadishu | question: Where do they clean streets?, answer: southern Mogadishu | question: Who does the mayor blame for blast?, answer: Islamic Courts Union | question: who are part of un program?, answer: Mogadishu's regional authority.
|
MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- Gunmen attacked a convoy Sunday in Somalia and took several hostages, including two foreign aid workers from the group Doctors Without Borders.
Medecins San Frontieres workers, shown here, were abducted and released in March in Sudan.
Local staff said a three-car convoy was traveling from Rabbure to Hudur in southwestern Somalia, escorted by local bodyguards, when gunmen seized the group.
The district commissioner of Rabbure said the only people released were elders accompanying the staff, with the local and international staff kept as hostages.
Doctors Without Borders, widely known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres, did not immediately release the identities or nationalities of the hostages. MSF is an international medical group that works in more than 60 countries. It says it helps people "threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe."
Michel Peremans, international coordinator for operational communications for MSF Belgium, which operates in the region, confirmed that the organization had lost contact with two of its staff in Somalia.
Rabbure is in the Bakole region, which is under the control of the group al-Shabaab, considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.
Al-Shabaab was once the armed wing of the Islamic Courts Union, which took over most of southern Somalia in the second half of 2006. The United States says the group is affiliated with the al Qaeda terrorist network, and the U.S. backed an Ethiopian invasion that drove the ICU from power in 2006.
The ICU's former leader, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, became president after Ethiopian troops withdrew in January. Al-Shabaab rejected the peace agreement that led to the Ethiopian withdrawal and is now fighting Sheikh Ahmed's government.
Attacks on aid workers in the region are common, and U.N. staff came under attack this year.
In Sudan, on the other side of Ethiopia, four workers from Medecins Sans Frontieres were abducted in March and released a few days later.
All four -- an Italian doctor, a Canadian nurse, a French coordinator and a Sudanese guard -- worked for the Belgian section of the humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres.
Sudan last month ordered 13 major aid groups to leave the country after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
CNN's Mohammed Amin and Carol Jordan contributed to this report.
|
[
"who has not released the names?",
"Workers from which organization were abducted?",
"who abducted the workers",
"what is common in the region?",
"Where did the gunmen seize the convoy?",
"who seized convoy?"
] |
[
"Doctors Without Borders,",
"Doctors Without Borders.",
"Gunmen",
"Attacks on aid workers",
"in southwestern Somalia,",
"Gunmen"
] |
question: who has not released the names?, answer: Doctors Without Borders, | question: Workers from which organization were abducted?, answer: Doctors Without Borders. | question: who abducted the workers, answer: Gunmen | question: what is common in the region?, answer: Attacks on aid workers | question: Where did the gunmen seize the convoy?, answer: in southwestern Somalia, | question: who seized convoy?, answer: Gunmen
|
MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- An enraged crowd dragged the body of an Ethiopian soldier through the streets of Somalia's capital Thursday after gun battles with Islamic insurgents killed 19 people, witnesses reported.
In a brutal echo of a 1993 battle involving Somali militias in which the bodies of U.S. troops were dragged through the streets, crowds Thursday shouted "God is great" as they pulled the bruised, bullet-riddled corpse through a dusty Mogadishu neighborhood.
The body was bound hand and foot with wire and wrapped in a sheet of plastic when insurgents pulled it out of a car and left it with the crowd in the northern Mogadishu neighborhood of Suqa Holaha, witnesses reported.
Nine Ethiopians are reportedly part of the 19 dead.
Another battle broke out on the city's south side Thursday morning between Ethiopian troops and insurgents armed with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The fighting drove hundreds more people from their homes, on top of the tens of thousands aid agencies say have fled in recent weeks.
"Ethiopians will launch violent attacks on us, for some of their comrades have been killed today," said Rahma Nor Omar, an elderly woman in the capital. "They will be like wounded animals."
Witnesses put the death toll from the day's clashes at 19, including Ethiopian troops, insurgents and civilians.
Ethiopian troops arrived in Somalia in December 2006 to help a weak Somali government drive the Islamic Courts Union out of Mogadishu and restore a U.N.-backed transitional government after a decade and a half of near-anarchy. The Islamists responded by launching an insurgency against Somali government and Ethiopian troops that has lasted nearly a year.
The United States accused the ICU of harboring suspected al Qaeda figures, including three men wanted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and raised no objections to Ethiopian presence in Somalia.
Washington has long been concerned that Somalia could turn into a safe haven for terrorists, but ICU leaders denied harboring al Qaeda suspects. E-mail to a friend
|
[
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"What was the incident in Mogadishu in 1993 where a soldier was dragged?",
"Where was the Ethiopian soldier killed?",
"In what ways is Washington concerned that Somalia could turn into a safe haven for terrorists?",
"Where was the battle?",
"When was the Ethiopian soldier dragged?",
"What was the soldier bound with?",
"What is the number killed by insurgents?",
"What country is Washington concerned about becoming a haven for terrorists?",
"What was the body bound with?",
"Where was the US soldier dragged?",
"What happened to the Ethiopian soldier?"
] |
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] |
question: What is Washington concerned with?, answer: that Somalia could turn into a safe haven for terrorists, | question: What is Washington concerned Somalia could turn into?, answer: safe haven for terrorists, | question: When was a U.S. soldier dragged through the streets of Mogadishu?, answer: Thursday | question: What did the incident recall?, answer: 1993 battle involving Somali militias in which the bodies of U.S. troops were dragged through the streets, | question: Who was the soldier who was dragged?, answer: Ethiopian | question: What was the incident in Mogadishu in 1993 where a soldier was dragged?, answer: after gun battles with Islamic insurgents killed 19 people, | question: Where was the Ethiopian soldier killed?, answer: Somalia's capital | question: In what ways is Washington concerned that Somalia could turn into a safe haven for terrorists?, answer: harboring suspected al Qaeda figures, | question: Where was the battle?, answer: Mogadishu | question: When was the Ethiopian soldier dragged?, answer: Thursday | question: What was the soldier bound with?, answer: wire | question: What is the number killed by insurgents?, answer: 19 people, | question: What country is Washington concerned about becoming a haven for terrorists?, answer: Somalia | question: What was the body bound with?, answer: wire | question: Where was the US soldier dragged?, answer: through the streets, | question: What happened to the Ethiopian soldier?, answer: The body was bound hand and foot with wire and wrapped in a sheet of plastic when insurgents pulled it out of a car and left it with the crowd in the northern Mogadishu neighborhood of Suqa Holaha,
|
MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- At least 39 civilians were killed in Somalia's capital Monday after a convoy of African Union peacekeepers was hit by a roadside bomb, causing the troops to open fire, officials and eyewitnesses said.
Islamist militia display weapons Monday in defiance of newly elected President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Maj. Ba-Huko Barigye, spokesman to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISON), said an explosion targeted a contingent of Ugandan troops. At least one soldier was injured and one of the vehicles damaged, Barigye said.
Ahmed Dirie Ali, spokesman of Hawiye Traditional Elders -- a major group of local clan leaders -- condemned the civilian deaths. And Mogadishu's deputy mayor, Abdifatah Ibrahim Shaweye, accused AMISOM of killing innocent civilians deliberately during a "brutal attack," an allegation Barigye denied.
"The deputy mayor has got the wrong information," he said. "They are targeting AMISOM, but the people who have died are all Somali civilians, who have nothing, whatsoever to do with AMISOM."
Officials say the incident happened on Maka al-Mukarama road, which connects the presidential palace and the airport in southern Mogadishu. The incident occurred on the same day that the new Somali president, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, was attending an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006, to depose an Islamic government led by Ahmed that had taken control of Mogadishu. But at the summit, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged continued support for national reconciliation efforts in Somalia, which has been without an effective central government since 1991.
"It is important that these efforts should have a tangible effect in improving the security environment for the Somali people and humanitarian actors," Ban said in a statement released by his office. "The United Nations will provide strong logistical support to the African Union's AMISOM force and help develop Somali security forces."
He also encouraged AU leaders to consider a plan that will incorporate AMISOM into a larger U.N. peacekeeping force in the months ahead.
AMISOM was set up to take over from Ethiopian forces, which were supposed to be withdrawn soon after the December 2006 invasion that deposed the Islamic Courts Union, which Ahmed once led. But the Ethiopians and the country's U.N.-backed transitional government were soon battling Islamist guerrillas, including the militia al-Shabaab -- which the United States has designated as a terrorist group with links to al Qaeda.
The transitional government eventually signed a peace agreement with a new movement led by Ahmed, the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. But al-Shabaab has rejected the deal and continued fighting.
The militia overran the town of Baidoa, the seat of the transitional government, within hours of the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops last week. Ahmed was elected president Saturday by lawmakers in Djibouti, and many Somalis view him as a final hope to challenge the militia and its extremist ideology.
CNN's Amir Ahmed and Ahmednor Mohamed Farah for CNN contributed to this report.
|
[
"Whose deaths occurred on the road?",
"where did civilian deaths occurr",
"what does the deputy mayor say",
"Who is making the statement?",
"Where did the deaths occur?",
"what strikes African Union peacekeepers",
"Who did the bomb strike?"
] |
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"39 civilians",
"MOGADISHU, Somalia",
"accused AMISOM of killing innocent civilians",
"U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon",
"MOGADISHU, Somalia",
"roadside bomb,",
"of African Union peacekeepers was hit by a roadside"
] |
question: Whose deaths occurred on the road?, answer: 39 civilians | question: where did civilian deaths occurr, answer: MOGADISHU, Somalia | question: what does the deputy mayor say, answer: accused AMISOM of killing innocent civilians | question: Who is making the statement?, answer: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon | question: Where did the deaths occur?, answer: MOGADISHU, Somalia | question: what strikes African Union peacekeepers, answer: roadside bomb, | question: Who did the bomb strike?, answer: of African Union peacekeepers was hit by a roadside
|
MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- Chaos and death on the streets of Mogadishu: unfortunately, it's nothing new in the Somali capital.
Casualties are taken into Mogadishu's hospital on stretchers.
Government forces are fighting against insurgents on this day in September in a bloody battle that leaves 30 dead. Dozens of wounded Somalis are taken out of the danger zone, some of them in the back of insurgents' pick-up trucks.
One of the trucks races through the streets, zig-zagging to the echoing booms of the ongoing shelling. The truck comes to an abrupt halt, stopping at a rare sight in the Somali capital -- an ambulance, waiting at the heart of the chaos to ferry the dead and the injured to the hospital.
The wounded are transferred onto the ambulance. People shout and run as the mortar attacks continue. One woman screams over and over for her son.
The ambulance is one of seven medical vehicles paid for with donated funds from local and expatriate Somalis. Residents can simply call for the ambulances without charge, and the vehicles will be dispatched to the scene.
"It is amazing," said Rufai Salad, one of the founders of the ambulance service in the Somali capital. "We have this toll-free number, 777, that you dial. Someone is giving you a free call and then coming and giving you free help.
"People here find it hard to believe it is real."
Life Line Africa, a local Somali charity, started its ambulance service in Mogadishu in December, bringing a small amount of order to the lawless country that is in the midst of a brutal Islamist insurgency.
Apart from the short-lived rule of the Islamic Courts Union in 2006, there has been no genuine central authority in Somalia since the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre's repressive regime in 1991.
Now, the United States and other Western powers are propping the U.N.-backed transitional government forces in their attempt to fend off the insurgency, particularly Al-Shabaab -- a Somali militant group that has ties to al Qaeda. Watch Nima Elbagir's report on the humanitarian crisis in Somalia »
Basic amenities in Somalia, like electricity, water and sanitation - and even luxuries such as wireless Internet facilities -- are provided by enterprising businessman, which is partly how the ambulance service came to life.
In the Somali equivalent of a public-private partnership, clan elders and local businessman donated the money to fund the ambulance service, helping fulfill a crucial need.
The ambulance drivers are well compensated, earning about U.S. $200 a month in a country where the average yearly income is $130, according to the United Nations.
Life Line Africa's monthly budget for its Mogadishu ambulance service is $3,200, including fuel, running costs and the salaries of the 10 drivers. They hope to increase their driving staff to 14.
Salad, 24, is an information technology officer for the Somali president's office, but volunteers his time to help keep Life Line Africa running.
His enthusiasm about the ambulance service obscures the very real danger he and his drivers face. Part of the problem, he explains, is trying to stay neutral in a war zone.
"We did have one driver killed by Al-Shabaab," he admits. "They told us that it was because we were carrying government soldiers to hospital. But I said to them that this is what we do - we are working for all of you."
And it's not just the insurgents that Salad and his drivers fear.
"We had to take the body of a Syrian ship captain who had been killed by pirates to the airport," he said. "The government and African Union soldiers opened fire on the ambulance. We were later told they'd received information that the insurgency was planning on using an ambulance to stage a suicide attack."
"But what can you do?" he asks. "Our driver ran away and then later was allowed to come back for his ambulance."
Salad says the relatively high pay is not the real reason
|
[
"How much do ambulance drivers earn?",
"What is national average annual salary?",
"Who is fighting?",
"What is the national average annual salary for ambulance drivers?",
"What did the volunteer ambulance ferry?",
"What do the volunteers do?"
] |
[
"are well compensated, earning about U.S. $200 a month",
"$130,",
"Government forces",
"$200 a month",
"the dead and the injured to the hospital.",
"help keep Life Line Africa running."
] |
question: How much do ambulance drivers earn?, answer: are well compensated, earning about U.S. $200 a month | question: What is national average annual salary?, answer: $130, | question: Who is fighting?, answer: Government forces | question: What is the national average annual salary for ambulance drivers?, answer: $200 a month | question: What did the volunteer ambulance ferry?, answer: the dead and the injured to the hospital. | question: What do the volunteers do?, answer: help keep Life Line Africa running.
|
MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- Ethiopian troops have not yet begun to withdraw from key positions in the capital of Somalia two days after they were supposed to do so under a peace agreement designed to end years of conflict.
Ethiopian troops are yet to leave the Somlai capital despite a peace agreement.
The Ethiopians had agreed to withdraw from some bases by Friday under an agreement signed last month by the Somali transitional government and a rebel faction known as the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.
Ethiopia invaded Somalia two years ago to expel Islamic forces who had conquered Mogadishu. Under the deal signed October 26, a cease-fire between the transitional government and the ARS went into effect November 5. The Ethiopians were to withdraw from from key positions in the capital on November 21, and leave the country entirely early in 2009.
Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein has said that Ethiopian troops will withdraw as agreed.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate leader of the rebel ARS, told the local radio station Shabelle Saturday that the Ethiopian troops would pull out on schedule.
Insurgents clashed with Somali government forces and their Ethiopian allies Friday, witnesses said, leaving at least 11 fighters dead.
The fighting started when armed insurgent fighters attacked the house of a local commissioner in Mogadishu's Wadajir district, sparking heavy fighting between the government troops guarding the house and the insurgents.
"I saw 11 men wearing red turbans on the heads dead on the ground," local resident Mohamed Haji Ali told CNN by phone from a house near where the clashes took place. Other residents provided a similar death toll.
The commissioner whose house was attacked, Ahmed Da'd, said that his soldiers killed 17 insurgents. He displayed what he said were some of the dead insurgents for the media.
It is not clear what will happen if the Ethiopian troops remain in Mogadishu despite the October 26 peace deal. Under that agreement, government and opposition members will form a 10,000-member joint police force to keep order, along with the African Union peacekeeping mission now in place and a U.N. force to be deployed later. Both sides will work toward establishing a unity government in Somalia, which has been riven by 17 years of strife since the collapse of its last fully functional government.
Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006 to install the transitional government in Mogadishu after a decade and a half of near-anarchy. The invasion had the blessing of the United States, which accused the Islamic Courts Union -- which captured Mogadishu earlier that year -- of harboring fugitives from al Qaeda. The Islamists responded with a guerrilla campaign against government and Ethiopian troops.
Efforts to replace the Ethiopians with an African Union-led peacekeeping mission faltered as the violence worsened, and heavy fighting in Mogadishu and other cities drove hundreds of thousands from their homes. The lawlessness also spilled on to the seas off the Horn of Africa, where international vessels are routinely hijacked by suspected Somali pirates who demand large ransoms.
Journalist Abdinasir Mohamed Guled and CNN's Mohammed Amiin and Amir Ahmed contributed to this report.
|
[
"What was designed to end conflict?",
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"Ethiopian troops have yet to withdraw from where?",
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"When will bases withdraw?",
"What did troops do?",
"What was the peace agreement designed to end?",
"When did these troops agree to move by?",
"When were the troops supposed to withdraw?",
"What nation were the Ethiopian troops fighting in?"
] |
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question: What was designed to end conflict?, answer: a peace agreement | question: What day did they agree to withdraw by?, answer: November 21, | question: Which country were Ethiopian troops occupying?, answer: Somalia | question: Ethiopian troops have yet to withdraw from where?, answer: capital of Somalia | question: Where are the Ethiopian troops withdrawing from?, answer: capital of Somalia | question: When will bases withdraw?, answer: by Friday under | question: What did troops do?, answer: have not yet begun to withdraw | question: What was the peace agreement designed to end?, answer: years of conflict. | question: When did these troops agree to move by?, answer: Friday | question: When were the troops supposed to withdraw?, answer: November 21, | question: What nation were the Ethiopian troops fighting in?, answer: Somalia.
|
MONT TREMBLANT, Quebec (CNN) -- Natasha Richardson came to Mont Tremblant ski resort in eastern Canada last month for what was supposed to be a skiing getaway.
Actress Natasha Richardson died after suffering an epidural hematoma in a fall during a ski lesson.
But what she may not have known is some doctors have been arguing that if a person here is in need of urgent care at a medical trauma center, he or she may not be able to get there fast enough. The only way to get to the closest trauma center from here is to drive 2½ hours to Montreal. No helicopter medical service is available.
The Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail obtained 911 recordings from Monday, March 16, when Richardson fell on a beginners slope on a sunny, clear day at the resort. The first request for help came in at 12:43 p.m., an urgent call that a woman had fallen on the slopes. That woman was Richardson. Seventeen minutes later, at 1 p.m., an ambulance arrived, but Richardson had been able to walk away from the fall and was headed back to her hotel room.
Ten minutes later the ambulance was told to stand down, the call canceled.
What Richardson couldn't have known is that she suffered an epidural hematoma. It's a condition where a blood clot forms between the skull and the outer layer of the brain. Too much pressure can cause brain damage and even death. Symptoms include dizziness, headaches and nausea.
"The person seems to be fine and walks it off, and that's one of the problems with an injury such as this," said Dr. Liam Durkan, a neurologist with the Montreal Neurology Institute. "Anytime there is any sort of process expanding in the skull, which is a closed space, once the symptoms are apparent, it can be a matter of 30 minutes to an hour to 90 minutes before there is a major deterioration."
Two hours after her initial fall, while Richardson was back in her hotel room, she was feeling the symptoms. The clock was ticking and she needed to get to a trauma center fast. With the closest trauma center 2½ hours away, time may have been running out on her. It's recommended that anyone with an epidural hematoma get to the trauma center within 30-90 minutes.
At 2:59 p.m., another ambulance was dispatched to the resort. This time, the paramedics went inside and worked on Richardson for 33 minutes before transporting her to the closest hospital an hour away, but it is not a trauma center. Inside the ambulance, Richardson drifted in and out of consciousness.
"It is a rapidly deteriorating situation and the distance might have been just too much by ambulance, road ambulance or air ambulance. It's difficult to say," said Durkan, who did not treat Richardson. Depending on the severity of the injury at the time, he said, even helicopter services may have been too late.
Some trauma doctors have argued for air transport here since the mid-1990s. They say the safest and fastest way to move anyone suffering a trauma injury such as Richardson's is by helicopter. Helicopter transport is common practice in the United States and other areas of Canada. But in the Quebec region, very few places have access to air transport.
In an open letter to the citizens of Quebec sent to the Montreal Gazette, Dr. Michael Churchill Smith, director of professional services at the Montreal General Hospital, said incidents like Natasha Richardson's should serve as a wake-up call to Quebec. "It is no longer morally acceptable for our citizens who, in the moment of their greatest needs, do not have access to a rapid transit system that gives them the best chance to not only survive, but to survive with a quality of life."
Daniel LeFrancois, director of Quebec's pre-hospital care, told the Gazette that cost is prohibitive when a one-hour flight costs $6,000. It's a question of resources and priorities focusing on "the biggest gain for the biggest need," he said.
Richardson was taken from Mont Tremblant to a hospital in
|
[
"For what reason did they have to drive Natasha Richardson to the trauma center?",
"Where was Natasha Richadrson injured?",
"What happened to Natasha Richardson?",
"With epidural hematoma, what is survival window without treatment?",
"What have some Canadian doctors been arguing about since the 1990's?",
"Was heliciopter medical service available?",
"What is the time frame for survival of epidural hematoma?",
"since when Canadian trauma doctors have argued for air transport?",
"where was Natasha Richardson injured?"
] |
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"matter of 30 minutes to an hour to 90 minutes before there is a major deterioration.\"",
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"Mont Tremblant ski resort"
] |
question: For what reason did they have to drive Natasha Richardson to the trauma center?, answer: after suffering an epidural hematoma in a fall during a ski lesson. | question: Where was Natasha Richadrson injured?, answer: Mont Tremblant ski resort | question: What happened to Natasha Richardson?, answer: died after suffering an epidural hematoma in a fall | question: With epidural hematoma, what is survival window without treatment?, answer: 30 minutes to an hour to 90 minutes | question: What have some Canadian doctors been arguing about since the 1990's?, answer: air transport | question: Was heliciopter medical service available?, answer: No | question: What is the time frame for survival of epidural hematoma?, answer: matter of 30 minutes to an hour to 90 minutes before there is a major deterioration." | question: since when Canadian trauma doctors have argued for air transport?, answer: the mid-1990s. | question: where was Natasha Richardson injured?, answer: Mont Tremblant ski resort
|
MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva has broken her own world record in the women's pole vault with a leap of 5.04 meters as she warmed up for her Olympic defense.
Isinbayeva broke her own women's pole vault world record on her third attempt in Monaco.
The record came at the Monaco Grand Prix on Tuesday on her third and final attempt at the height.
Her previous record of 5.03 meters was set in Rome on July 11.
Isinbayeva is the reigning Olympic and world champion.
Asafa Powell claimed his third 100 meters success inside a week when he raced clear in his season-best time of 9.82 seconds.
Powell shaved 0.06sec off his previous season-best of 9.88, set last Tuesday in Stockholm, where he saw off fellow Jamaican and world record holder Usain Bolt.
On Tuesday Powell was too hot for Davis Patton of the U.S. (9.98) and Nesta Carter of Jamaica (10.02), the fourth best time of the season all the more impressive given the calm conditions.
"I am very happy," said Powell. "I feel great, very fresh. I've got a world record in my legs. I am very confident. My goal is to be consistent."
A tough headwind had compromised Powell's attempts to have a tilt at Bolt's mark although he still cruised to a weekend victory at the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace in 9.94sec.
Other Tuesday highlights saw Jamaica's Melaine Walker set a year mark in the women's 400m hurdles in clocking 53.48 sec.
Walker, who shattered her own personal best of 54.14 in the process, will hope her performance augurs well for the Beijing Games, where Aussie two-time world champion Jana Rawlinson will not be competing owing to a toe injury.
Kenyan Daniel Kipchirchir Komen also set a year best mark in the 1500m, crossing the line in 3 min 31.49sec to take 0.08sec off compatriot Augustine Kiprono Choge's June 1 showing in Berlin.
The 23-year-old's win tempered the disappointment of missing out on an Olympic berth.
Britain's Martyn Rooney also improved his personal best in the 400 meters for the second successive race, following up his win in the London Grand Prix with victory in 44.72 seconds.
The Monaco Grand Prix was the last major international track and field meeting before the Beijing Olympics which start on August 8.
|
[
"Which Jamaican athlete won three 100 meters races?",
"What did Powell win?",
"Who broke her own world record?",
"Who broke the record?",
"Whose record did she break?",
"Where was the record broken?"
] |
[
"Asafa Powell",
"claimed his third 100 meters success",
"Yelena Isinbayeva",
"Yelena Isinbayeva",
"her own world",
"Monaco Grand Prix"
] |
question: Which Jamaican athlete won three 100 meters races?, answer: Asafa Powell | question: What did Powell win?, answer: claimed his third 100 meters success | question: Who broke her own world record?, answer: Yelena Isinbayeva | question: Who broke the record?, answer: Yelena Isinbayeva | question: Whose record did she break?, answer: her own world | question: Where was the record broken?, answer: Monaco Grand Prix
|
MONTEREY PARK, California (CNN) -- Five men are accused of starting a massive Malibu wildfire at that destroyed more than 50 homes and forced about 15,000 people to evacuate.
A firefighter works to contain a wildfire threatening homes in Malibu, California, on November 24.
Authorities say the five, ranging in ages from 18 to 27, were drinking in a popular party spot in a cave at the park when they started the fire.
All five are from the Los Angeles area and are being charged with three felonies -- including two arson-related charges. Each count carries a sentence of two to four years in prison.
Baca said investigators traced the fire to the cave, then used receipts and surveillance camera footage from a nearby store to hunt down the men.
Investigators would not comment on why the men started the fire. During the investigation, fire officials speculated that a campfire may have started the blaze -- which engulfed roughly 5,000 acres and destroyed 80 structures, including the 53 homes.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in the wake of the fire, which started on November 24.
The blaze, which was fueled by dry Santa Ana winds and low humidity, followed a spate of California wildfires in October that charred more than 508,000 acres in several counties. Those fires forced 1 million people from their homes and left 14 people dead.
The men are expected to make their first court appearance on Monday. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"All five are from where?",
"What were the men doing in the cave?",
"How many homes were destroyed because of the men?",
"How many acres were engulfed?",
"Where were the men partying?",
"Fire engulfed how many acres?",
"Where were the five from?",
"What helped investigators find the men?",
"Men were partying where?",
"How many felonies were the men charged with?",
"Number of acres the firest destroyed?"
] |
[
"Los Angeles area",
"drinking in a popular party spot in a",
"more than 50",
"5,000",
"in a cave at the park",
"508,000",
"Los Angeles area",
"used receipts and surveillance camera footage from a nearby store to hunt down the",
"popular party spot in a cave at the park",
"three",
"5,000"
] |
question: All five are from where?, answer: Los Angeles area | question: What were the men doing in the cave?, answer: drinking in a popular party spot in a | question: How many homes were destroyed because of the men?, answer: more than 50 | question: How many acres were engulfed?, answer: 5,000 | question: Where were the men partying?, answer: in a cave at the park | question: Fire engulfed how many acres?, answer: 508,000 | question: Where were the five from?, answer: Los Angeles area | question: What helped investigators find the men?, answer: used receipts and surveillance camera footage from a nearby store to hunt down the | question: Men were partying where?, answer: popular party spot in a cave at the park | question: How many felonies were the men charged with?, answer: three | question: Number of acres the firest destroyed?, answer: 5,000
|
MORRISTOWN, New Jersey (CNN) -- Since the beginning of the year the family clinic at the Children's Hospital of New Jersey has seen an influx of young children coming in for flu shots.
New Jersey requires children from 6 months to 5 years old to get the flu vaccine to attend daycare or pre-school.
The rush for vaccinations is prompted by a new law that makes New Jersey the only state requiring children between 6 months and 5 years old to get the flu vaccine to attend a licensed daycare or pre-school. The deadline for the flu shot requirement was December 31.
Some parents are upset about the requirement. John General and Alnisa Bernabela brought their 4-year-old twins Jahmein and Jameir to the clinic last week for the flu shots.
"I'm really not okay with it because I think it should have been my choice," said Bernabela.
"By them forcing this, I feel like our rights have been violated," said General, holding his crying son Jameir being vaccinated.
Last fall, hundreds of parents with the New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice challenged the flu shot requirement at a rally in Trenton, New Jersey. The NJCVC and parents interviewed by CNN, expressed concern about the safety of influenza vaccines and possible long-term effects on young children.
But the New Jersey Department of Health says the new law is for the public good citing Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention numbers showing an average of 20,000 children under age 5 are hospitalized nationwide each year because of influenza complications.
"Parents are certainly concerned about the health and safety of their children," says Dr. Christina Tan, state epidemiologist for the New Jersey Department of Health. "But it's equally important to understand that the flu vaccine is safe and effective in preventing illness, not only in children, but also among the community as a whole."
Many doctors support the decision, saying it helps protect a higher risk population. Some parents object to mandatory vaccines »
"Kids under the age of 5 are targeted by this recommendation because when they get the disease they get sicker than adults do. They also are the ones who are more likely to transmit the flu because they are in closed quarters," said Dr. Nwando Anyaoku, who heads the clinic at the Children's Hospital of New Jersey. She says influenza tends to peak in New Jersey towards the end of January through early February.
Jennifer Frank says she's committed to the public health goal but not on the state's schedule. Her 2-year-old son Caleb was hospitalized twice for extreme eczema as an infant. At one point, he was on a feeding tube, and she says he couldn't get vaccinated.
"There was literally no clear space to put a needle," says Jennifer Frank.
Caleb's doctors were stumped and couldn't make a diagnosis for his condition. Since then, the Franks with their pediatrician's approval, have Caleb on a delayed vaccination schedule. As a result, they didn't meet the state's December 31 flu shot deadline and now their local board of health has banned Caleb from pre-school.
"When he gets his shots, that same rash flares up," says Joshua Frank, the father of Caleb. "You know, it's frightening. It's very real. And for them to say, 'Well, we don't care, even though your doctors agree with you,' is outrageous."
The Franks have appealed the local board of health's decision all the way to the state level, but officials have not wavered. While New Jersey does offer medical exemptions for some children, the rules are specific, and eczema is not considered a valid medical reason for delaying the flu vaccine.
"By allowing broader exemptions this could potentially erode the very core of protection," says Tan.
But the Franks believe the new law should include an appeal procedure, especially for families like theirs that are willing to vaccinate their children.
New Jersey Republican Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk has been working on legislation to allow parents to decide which vaccines
|
[
"Are some parents against this new law?",
"who believes law protects higher risk population?",
"Is flu vaccine compulsory in New Jersey for children to attend pre-school or day care?",
"who requires flu vaccine for children?",
"Do many doctors believe the law protects a high risk group?"
] |
[
"are upset about the requirement.",
"Many doctors",
"from 6 months",
"New Jersey",
"population."
] |
question: Are some parents against this new law?, answer: are upset about the requirement. | question: who believes law protects higher risk population?, answer: Many doctors | question: Is flu vaccine compulsory in New Jersey for children to attend pre-school or day care?, answer: from 6 months | question: who requires flu vaccine for children?, answer: New Jersey | question: Do many doctors believe the law protects a high risk group?, answer: population.
|
MORROW, Georgia (CNN) -- Jobless for nearly a year, Michael Rivers was about to walk out of his house a few weeks ago to catch the bus for another daylong employment hunt when a radio announcement stopped him.
With Ludacris at her side, single mom Joya Montgomery, 26, proudly displays keys to her car Sunday.
"This is Ludacris, and I'm giving away 20 free cars. ..."
The famous rapper was pulling an Oprah in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
The rapper announced that if listeners were able to pay the taxes, registration, tags and insurance, they should go to his nonprofit Ludacris Foundation Web site and write 300 words about why they deserved new wheels.
"And make it good," Luda warned. Watch Ludacris talk about his "stimulus" plan »
Four thousand people took him up on his challenge, and in a few days, more than 2,000 essays poured into the Nissan South dealership in Morrow, Georgia, that had teamed with the rapper on the used-car giveaway. See and hear the winners tell their stories »
Rivers' essay was among them.
"I didn't even wait; I just continued out that door to the community center, sat at a computer and let all my emotions come out," he said.
Rivers described riding the city bus with his 14-year-old daughter to make sure she arrived safely at school and how he recently celebrated the small victory of getting his 17-year-old autistic son, who can't tolerate crowds, to stand calmly for a few moments outside the bus stop. He doesn't live near a grocery store so he has to bring home the food he can carry on the bus.
Rivers was laid off from his job as a court clerk in the summer of 2008, and making job interviews on time isn't easy when the bus is often late.
But on Sunday afternoon, Rivers was giddy, slightly bouncing as he spoke. He stood shoulder to shoulder among the 20 winners and their friends and families waiting to see their cars.
"I don't care what it is," Rivers said. "I'm grateful for any car with four wheels because it beats two heels."
Winners received 30 days of free gas, which will be a big help to Joya Montgomery, a 26-year-old single parent of a 4-year-old, 8-year-old and 3-month-old.
She has been waking before 5 a.m. and walking to the bus stop, while it's dark, with her children to begin a long journey to her job and to drop them off at school or a friend's home.
"It was scary at times," she said. "You don't even know who's out there. I was always looking over my shoulder.
"I just can't believe I won. I'm real happy."
In the parking lot, the crowd was dancing. But the bass of Ludacris' latest single blasting from the dealership's loudspeakers was secondary inspiration for one Atlanta grandmother. Fifty-one-year-old Vermelle Jackson was so excited to have a 2005 Mercury Sable to drive around grandchildren, nieces and nephews that she swiveled her hips around and dipped it shockingly low to the ground.
"Lord Jesus. ... He brought this car to me, baby!" she shouted, arms raised. "This is God's work!"
Actually, the giveaway idea came from Chris White, the jovial, hand-shaking manager of Nissan South. "I knew someone who knew someone who knew Luda and, you know, we just made it happen," White said.
The concept seemed like a winner for everyone. Like many dealerships, Nissan South has not yet been reimbursed for the money it spent upfront during the federal government's Cash for Clunkers program that allowed customers to trade in older cars for $3,500 or $4,500 credit.
When the popular program ended August 24, the car dealer didn't want to turn away customers who kept streaming in, expecting to get the
|
[
"How many did he give away",
"who does Atlanta-raised celebrity gives used cars to?",
"how many essays have been received?"
] |
[
"20",
"listeners",
"more than 2,000"
] |
question: How many did he give away, answer: 20 | question: who does Atlanta-raised celebrity gives used cars to?, answer: listeners | question: how many essays have been received?, answer: more than 2,000
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A Russian serial murderer dubbed the "Chessboard Killer" was given the maximum sentence of life in prison Monday and ordered to undergo psychiatric therapy for a string of at least 48 murders that terrorized Moscow for years.
A Moscow jury convicted Alexander Pichushkin last week of 48 murders and three attempted murders. Pichushkin claimed he had actually committed 60 murders, though prosecutors were unable to find evidence to prove that.
Pichushkin earned the nickname "Chessboard Killer" for saying he had intended to kill one person for each of the 64 squares on a chessboard.
In ordering Pichushkin to receive compulsory psychiatric therapy, the judge said the defendant has a mental disorder but is still sane and cannot avoid responsibility for his crimes.
Throughout his trial, Pichushkin gloated over his crimes and ridiculed the police case against him.
"I was dismayed my work had been attributed to others," Pichushkin said. "In one week, I killed two people. If they hadn't caught me, I would have never stopped. Having caught me, they saved many lives." Watch video report on serial killer Alexander Pichushkin
For years until his arrest in June 2006, Pichushkin kept Moscow on edge, stalking the heavily forested Bitsa Park on the city's southern outskirts and preying on the homeless and elderly. Pichushkin claimed to have committed all but one of his murders in the park.
He lured his victims with the promise of alcohol and, after getting them drunk on vodka, he beat them to death and dumped their bodies in the park. It led Russian media to give Pichushkin his other nickname, the "Bitsa Maniac."
Over the years, Russian police recovered dozens of corpses, some with sticks and vodka bottles rammed into their skulls.
But the crucial lead came in 2005, when a woman Pichushkin worked with at a vegetable store was found dead. She had left a note at her home saying she was going for a walk with him.
Pichushkin said he had been aware of the note but killed her anyway. E-mail to a friend
CNN Correspondent Matthew Chance contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who was found guilty?",
"how long was the serial killer sentenced to?",
"Who was ordered to undergo psychiatirc treatment?",
"Who sentenced serial killer to maximum sentence?",
"What was Alexander Pichushkin found guilty of?",
"what does Alexander have to do in prison?",
"Who has been sentenced to maximum sentence of life in prison.",
"How many were killed?"
] |
[
"Alexander Pichushkin",
"life in prison",
"Alexander Pichushkin",
"A Moscow jury",
"48 murders and three attempted murders.",
"undergo psychiatric therapy",
"Alexander Pichushkin",
"48"
] |
question: Who was found guilty?, answer: Alexander Pichushkin | question: how long was the serial killer sentenced to?, answer: life in prison | question: Who was ordered to undergo psychiatirc treatment?, answer: Alexander Pichushkin | question: Who sentenced serial killer to maximum sentence?, answer: A Moscow jury | question: What was Alexander Pichushkin found guilty of?, answer: 48 murders and three attempted murders. | question: what does Alexander have to do in prison?, answer: undergo psychiatric therapy | question: Who has been sentenced to maximum sentence of life in prison., answer: Alexander Pichushkin | question: How many were killed?, answer: 48
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A Russian-led bloc of post-Soviet nations has agreed to establish a rapid-reaction military force to combat terrorists and respond to regional emergencies, Russian media reported Wednesday.
Russian navy soldiers stand guard during a military ceremony.
The decision came a day after reports that Kyrgyzstan is planning to close a strategically important U.S. military base that Washington uses to transport troops and supplies into Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, the Collective Security Treaty Organization -- made up of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan -- decided on the rapid-reaction force at a Kremlin summit, the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
The group's security council "spent a long time discussing the central issue of forming collective reaction forces and, generally, of rapid reaction to possible threats," said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, according to Russian news agency Interfax.
"Everyone agreed that the formation of joint forces is necessary," he said.
Officials told Russian media that all the members had signed the agreement, though Uzbekistan submitted a special provision.
Uzbekistan doesn't mind contributing military units to the rapid-reaction force "but does not consider it necessary for the moment" to attach emergency responders, drug-control forces and other special services, organization spokesman Vitaly Strugovets told Interfax.
Russian media reported that the force will be used to fight military aggressors, conduct anti-terror operations, battle regional drug trafficking and respond to natural disasters. The force will be based in Russia under a single command, with member nations contributing military units.
On Tuesday, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced at a Moscow news conference that "all due procedures" were being initiated to close Manas Air Base, RIA-Novosti reported. The announcement was made after news reports of a multimillion-dollar aid package from Russia to Kyrgyzstan.
Gen. David Petraeus, who oversees U.S. operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Afghanistan, was in Kyrgyzstan last month, partly to lobby the government to allow the United States to keep using the base. He said he and Kyrgyz leaders did not discuss "at all" the possible closure of the base and said local officials told him there was "no foundation" for news reports about the issue.
The United States is planning to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to halt a resurgence of the Taliban. Petraeus described Manas as having "an important role in the deployment of these forces" and in refueling aircraft.
The relationship between the United States and Kyrgyzstan was damaged when a Kyrgyz citizen was killed by a U.S. airman in December 2006. The airman was transferred out of Kyrgyzstan, and the dead man's family was offered compensation. Petraeus said in January that the investigation was being reopened.
As he announced the base closure Tuesday, Bakiyev said he was not satisfied with the inquiry into the accident and his government's "inability to provide security to its citizens" was proving a serious concern. Medvedev also weighed in on the issue Wednesday, saying the base closure shouldn't hamper anti-terrorism operations, according to Interfax.
"It would be great if their numbers meant there were fewer terrorists, but such action depends on other things as well," he said.
|
[
"Where will it be based?",
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"How many nations came into agreement?",
"Who agreedto form rapid-reaction force?",
"Which media is responding?",
"What number of nations have agreed reaction?",
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"What does Russia say",
"Where is US base",
"Which seven nations are invloved?",
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"What was agreed"
] |
[
"Russia",
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"agreed to establish a rapid-reaction",
"Kyrgyzstan",
"Tajikistan",
"in Russia",
"to establish a rapid-reaction"
] |
question: Where will it be based?, answer: Russia | question: What did the Russian media say?, answer: military force to combat terrorists and respond to regional emergencies, | question: How many nations came into agreement?, answer: Tajikistan | question: Who agreedto form rapid-reaction force?, answer: A Russian-led bloc of post-Soviet nations | question: Which media is responding?, answer: Russian | question: What number of nations have agreed reaction?, answer: Tajikistan | question: What does the Russian media say?, answer: reported that the force will be used to fight military aggressors, conduct anti-terror operations, battle regional drug trafficking and respond to natural disasters. The force will be based in Russia under a single command, with member nations contributing military units. | question: What does Russia say, answer: agreed to establish a rapid-reaction | question: Where is US base, answer: Kyrgyzstan | question: Which seven nations are invloved?, answer: Tajikistan | question: Where will it be based?, answer: in Russia | question: What was agreed, answer: to establish a rapid-reaction
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A passenger jet caught fire early Sunday, exploded and crashed into railway tracks in the central Russian city of Perm, killing all 88 people on board.
Wreckage from the Aeroflot-Nord Boeing 737, which crashed near Perm, lies across a railway track.
The exact cause of the pre-dawn crash is under investigation, but government spokesman Vladimir Markin said "a technical breakdown" was a likely cause.
Markin said in televised remarks that the failure of one of the Boeing 737-500's two engines may have caused the plane to come down, The Associated Press reported.
Airline officials have said there is no indication of terrorism.
"We think it's very doubtful that it was the result of a terrorist attack, because at the scene, there were no traces of explosives as we know for now," said Lev Koshlyakov, Deputy Director General of Aeroflot.
It took firefighters more than two hours to extinguish the blazing wreckage. When the sun rose, pieces of the Aeroflot jet were strewn about the railroad tracks.
"It slammed in front of my house, and there was a huge flame," an unidentified woman in Perm told Russian state television. "It looked like fireworks."
She said the impact of the crash "threw me across my sheets.... Then my daughter ran in from the next room and asked if a war had started."
She and other witnesses said they saw the aircraft burning before it came crashing down.
"It looked like a comet," she said.
The jet was en route to Perm from Moscow when the pilots lost communication with air traffic control just before landing about 3:10 a.m. (2110 GMT), an Aeroflot official said. He described the weather at the time as "mediocre."
The public safety minister for the Perm region said investigators were combing a 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) area, including homes and railways. Watch more about the crash »
"Right now, it's apparent that there was a fire on the plane at one kilometer in the air," Yuri Orlov said. "After that, all contact was cut off -- the plane exploded."
The flight data recorder has been recovered and will be analyzed by the International Aviation Commission, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said.
The plane carried 82 passengers, including seven children, and a crew of six. At least 21 non-Russians were on board, including passport-holders from Azerbaijan, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Ukraine, said Lev Koshlyakov, Aeroflot's deputy director general.
The U.S. Embassy confirmed that no Americans were on board the flight, even though one passenger was listed as a U.S. citizen.
It is the second crash in the region involving a Boeing 737 in less than a month. An Iran-bound Boeing 737 with 90 people on board crashed on August 24 just outside the airport in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, killing 68.
The 737 is a workhorse of the airline industry, with thousands of planes in service. Aeroflot said the one that crashed in Perm was manufactured in 1992 and was operated by its Aeroflot-Nord subsidiary.
"This Boeing 737 has all the necessary certificates," Koshlyakov said. "We conduct audits and inspections of all the affiliate companies we work with in the realm of their effectiveness, safety and reliability of the airplanes."
Airline safety in Russia and the former Soviet Union is among the worst in the world. Aviation experts say poor maintenance, inadequate pilot training and weak government controls are major factors.
But Aeroflot is considered one of the safer airlines in the region. Sunday's crash is the first fatal accident for the airline since 1994, when a Russian pilot handed control of an Airbus to his 15-year-old son. It crashed, killing all 75 people on board.
Russia's government has now ordered an inquiry into the latest incident, to find out how another routine flight could have ended in tragedy.
The National Transportation Safety Board will send a team of investigators to Perm to look into the
|
[
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"who is it operated by?",
"who was sent to investigate?",
"how many people died",
"Which U.S. team is being sent to investigate?",
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] |
[
"\"We think it's very doubtful that it was the result of a terrorist attack, because at the scene, there were no traces of explosives as we know for now,\"",
"Aeroflot-Nord subsidiary.",
"The National Transportation Safety Board",
"88",
"The National Transportation Safety Board",
"The exact cause of the pre-dawn crash",
"\"a technical breakdown\""
] |
question: What did officials say about terrorism?, answer: "We think it's very doubtful that it was the result of a terrorist attack, because at the scene, there were no traces of explosives as we know for now," | question: who is it operated by?, answer: Aeroflot-Nord subsidiary. | question: who was sent to investigate?, answer: The National Transportation Safety Board | question: how many people died, answer: 88 | question: Which U.S. team is being sent to investigate?, answer: The National Transportation Safety Board | question: what did they investegate, answer: The exact cause of the pre-dawn crash | question: what was the crash caused by?, answer: "a technical breakdown"
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A strong Russia is good for the United States, President Obama said in a speech in Moscow, where he is visiting in an effort to "reset" the countries' relations.
President Obama meets with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday before heading to the G-8 in Italy.
Obama delivered a commencement speech Tuesday at a Moscow graduate school.
"America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia," he told a large crowd at the New Economic School. "This belief is rooted in our respect for the Russian people, and a shared history between our nations that goes beyond competition."
He repeated the message in a meeting later with Russian business leaders, but also said Russia has to do more to fight corruption.
"We have to promote transparency, accountability, rule of law on which investments and economic growth depend," he said. Watch Obama discuss thoughts on Kremlin visit »
"We want Russia to be selling us goods and we want Russia to be buying goods from us," he said. "Total trade between our countries is just $36 billion. Our trade -- America's trade with Russia -- is only about 1 percent of all our trade with the world -- 1 percent -- a percent that's virtually unchanged since the Cold War." Watch Obama's full opening statement »
Obama later met Russian opposition leaders, speaking of the importance for the country to "not simply tolerate dissenting voices but also to respect and recognize dissenting voices."
Obama also spoke to civil society leaders, promising the United States will support universal values and human rights such as the rights of people to live as they choose, to have a free press and to speak their minds.
On Monday Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and discussed a series of agreements -- including one on nuclear-arms reduction -- as part of an effort to strengthen ties between the one-time Cold War rivals.
The two signed a deal on parameters for negotiations to replace the START agreement, with the goal of reducing nuclear weapons. START expires December 5. Watch Obama discuss arms control pact »
Under Monday's agreement, Russia and the United States will reduce their strategic warheads to a range of 1,500 to 1,675, and their strategic delivery vehicles to a range of 500 to 1,100. The numbers would be a reduction from the expiring START, which allowed 2,200 warheads and 1,600 launch vehicles.
The two-day summit in Moscow was to help refocus a relationship that, according to Obama, "has suffered from a sense of drift" in recent years. The president reiterated that in his speech Tuesday.
"That is why I have called for a 'reset' in relations between the United States and Russia," Obama said.
"This must be more than a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House, though that is important," he said. "It must be a sustained effort among the American and Russian people to identify mutual interests and to expand dialogue and cooperation that can pave the way to progress."
Obama met with Medvedev again Tuesday and with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin before heading to Italy for the Group of Eight summit. The G-8 agenda is packed with issues, including Iran, the global financial crisis, climate change and eradicating world poverty.
Putin said his meeting with Obama was "very good and substantive."
"We also talked about how we will be improving our relations in the near- and medium-term. It was a very well-intentioned and substantial conversation in many concrete fields. We have many points we agree on," Russia's prime minister said.
After his speech, Obama sat down with Ed Henry, CNN senior White House correspondent, for a brief interview.
The president spoke about a wide range of issues, including how much his daughters were enjoying Moscow, his impressions of Putin, relations with Iran and Michael Jackson.
On Iran, Obama reiterated recent statements about the post-election protests there.
"Events in recent weeks have disturbed the world.
|
[
"What was said about the talks?",
"How long is the summit?",
"How long will the summit last?",
"Who signed the joint understanding?"
] |
[
"\"very good and substantive.\"",
"two-day",
"two-day",
"The two"
] |
question: What was said about the talks?, answer: "very good and substantive." | question: How long is the summit?, answer: two-day | question: How long will the summit last?, answer: two-day | question: Who signed the joint understanding?, answer: The two
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Any attempt to pardon Mikhail Khodorkovsky -- once Russia's richest man, now its most famous inmate -- must follow standard procedure, including an admission of guilt, the nation's president said Sunday.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, is imprisoned in a work camp 4,000 miles from Moscow.
"Concerning the possibility of a pardon for someone, Khodorkovsky or anyone else, the procedure has to be carried out in accordance with our country's rules," President Dmitry Medvedev said in a transcript on his Web site. "In other words, a person must appeal to the president, plead guilty to having committed a crime and seek the appropriate resolution."
The president dismissed talks of a pardon, saying, "at this point, there is nothing to discuss."
Khodorkovsky once headed the Yukos oil company, once Russia's largest oil producer. He is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion.
Medvedev described corruption as a "very serious Russian disease" and emphasized the need to fight it.
"To this end, we have enacted a number of measures, including new legislation on corruption and special arrangements relating to government officials, their disclosures, declarations of income and so on," he said. "We are determined to continue this work, because we believe it is extremely important."
The former oil magnate is incarcerated in a work camp near the town of Krasnokamensk, 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) from his native Moscow. He has been imprisoned since his arrest in 2003.
Khodorkovsky had expressed a desire to run for office at the time and funded opposition political parties. He said the trial was part of a Kremlin campaign to destroy him and take the company he built from privatization deals of the 1990s. The Kremlin denied any role in his downfall.
Yukos, which has since been crushed by a $27.5 billion back-tax bill, has been the object of a lengthy campaign by prosecutors and tax authorities.
The court also ordered Khodorkovsky and his partner to pay about $600 million in back taxes.
|
[
"was he pardoned?",
"what did he do for a living?",
"What is former oil company head serving?",
"What did president say?",
"There will be no favoritism for whom?",
"Who is serving nine years for fraud?",
"What did Russian leader say?"
] |
[
"The president dismissed talks of a pardon,",
"Khodorkovsky once headed the Yukos oil company,",
"nine-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion.",
"\"Concerning the possibility of a pardon for someone, Khodorkovsky or anyone else, the procedure has to be carried out in accordance with our country's rules,\"",
"Mikhail Khodorkovsky",
"Mikhail Khodorkovsky,",
"\"at this point, there is nothing to discuss.\""
] |
question: was he pardoned?, answer: The president dismissed talks of a pardon, | question: what did he do for a living?, answer: Khodorkovsky once headed the Yukos oil company, | question: What is former oil company head serving?, answer: nine-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion. | question: What did president say?, answer: "Concerning the possibility of a pardon for someone, Khodorkovsky or anyone else, the procedure has to be carried out in accordance with our country's rules," | question: There will be no favoritism for whom?, answer: Mikhail Khodorkovsky | question: Who is serving nine years for fraud?, answer: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, | question: What did Russian leader say?, answer: "at this point, there is nothing to discuss."
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Dozens of gay and lesbian rights activists planning a parade in southwestern Moscow Saturday have been detained, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.
Gay and lesbian rights activists are detained in Moscow Saturday ahead of a planned march.
The arrests included Nikolai Alexeyev, a prominent gay activist in Russia, and his associate Nikolai Bayev, Interfax said, adding that more people trickling into the location were being arrested without explanation.
Officials of Moscow's gay community had announced earlier plans to rally at Novopushkinsky Park in central Moscow, Interfax said.
The arrests came ahead of Saturday night's Eurovision Song Contest, which is being held in Moscow. The contest has a strong following among the gay and lesbian community. Watch police break up the march »
Journalists from various countries gathered at the scene, as police barricaded the park with metal bars. Trucks with soldiers onboard were parked on nearby streets, Interfax said.
UK gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, in a statement on his Web site ahead of the march, said it was being held to coincide with the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
"This parade is in defense of human rights. We are defending the often violated human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Russians. They want legal protection against discrimination and hate crimes. I support their cause.
"Not all Russians are homophobic, but many are. Gay Russians suffer queer-bashing attacks, blackmail, verbal abuse and discrimination in education, housing and employment. This shames the great Russian nation."
The Eurovision Song Contest, which began in 1956, sees singers and groups from a short list of European nations perform a specially written song before telephone votes from each nation decide the winner.
In western Europe, the contest is regard as a light entertainment spectacular, with a strong following among the gay and lesbian community. Many fans dress up, hold parties and gather round the TV to watch the three-hour-plus televised marathon.
In recent years, however, eastern European nations, which take the contest much more seriously, have come to dominate.
The contest is also known for its political edge, as nations either give zero points to traditional enemies -- or, if they are enjoying good relations, the maximum number of points, as a sign of friendship.
The most famous winners of the contest were ABBA, who came to attention as the Swedish entry with "Waterloo" in 1974. In 1988, Celine Dion won the contest while singing on behalf of Switzerland. The dance show Riverdance first came to attention as an interval act when the contest was held in Dublin, Ireland, in 1994.
The organizers of the contest estimate it is watched by 100 million people worldwide.
|
[
"When did ABBA come to attention?",
"Where are demonstrators due to meet?",
"Name the most famous winners of the contest",
"Name the contest being held in Moscow?",
"Where is the contest held?",
"where the demonstrations",
"Where are the demonstrators meeting?"
] |
[
"1974.",
"southwestern",
"ABBA,",
"Eurovision Song",
"Moscow.",
"Novopushkinsky Park in central Moscow,",
"Novopushkinsky Park in central Moscow,"
] |
question: When did ABBA come to attention?, answer: 1974. | question: Where are demonstrators due to meet?, answer: southwestern | question: Name the most famous winners of the contest, answer: ABBA, | question: Name the contest being held in Moscow?, answer: Eurovision Song | question: Where is the contest held?, answer: Moscow. | question: where the demonstrations, answer: Novopushkinsky Park in central Moscow, | question: Where are the demonstrators meeting?, answer: Novopushkinsky Park in central Moscow,
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Gas will resume flowing "in the next few days," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told reporters following summit talks in Moscow aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute between Ukraine and Russia which has left many parts of Europe without natural gas.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was in Moscow Saturday for talks with Russian leaders.
Medvedev said the summit talks, which also involved Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, had raised a number of "interesting ideas," including loans and extensions of credit aimed at resolving the crisis. But he reiterated that no agreement had been reached.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the meeting highlighted Russian efforts to enlist major European gas companies as a part of an international consortium that would subsidize Ukrainian payments to ensure gas deliveries from Russia.
"Preliminary willingness (to join the consortium) has been stated by Eni, which was the first to do so, then by Ruhrgas, Wingas, Gaz de France, OMV, and Gasterra," Kupriyanov told Russian news agency Interfax.
On Friday, Putin said Ukraine required about $730 million of "technical gas" to resume export deliveries from Russia.
It has now been 11 days since much of Europe was cut off from crucial supplies of Russian natural gas because of the dispute between Russia and Ukraine, which is in charge of pipelines carrying gas to the continent. The taps remain shut despite a deal signed in Brussels earlier this week.
The European Union has tried to pressure Russia and Ukraine into sorting out the matter, calling into question their reliability as energy suppliers.
Russia has said the dispute is not bilateral.
Tymoshenko said ahead of the trip that her top priority was to resume Russian natural gas transit to Europe in order to protect Ukraine's reputation as a transit country and prevent the empty pipelines from suffering damage as a result of being idle. Watch how a simple price dispute led to the crisis »
"The government takes full responsibility for resolving the crisis in relations with Russia, which was not initiated by us," Tymoshenko said in a statement on the government's Web site.
The prime minister said she would press for direct relations between Russian energy giant Gazprom and Ukraine's state-run gas company Naftogaz and "mutually beneficial prices" for gas and transit.
It was prices and cost that caused the problems in the first place. Russia cut off Ukraine's domestic gas supply at the start of the year, claiming nonpayment of debt, and the two sides failed to agree on the terms for a new contract.
Six days later, in a move each side blamed on the other, Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine were turned off as well. Watch how Slovakia has been affected by the gas row »
"There is the need to compromise in order to preserve friendly relations between Ukraine and Russia, and to uphold the reputation of both countries in Europe," Tymoshenko said. "I am sure that such compromise will be brokered."
CNN's Matthew Chance contributed to this report.
|
[
"What was summit aimed at?",
"What does Medvedev say?",
"what were the talks",
"When will the gas begin to flow again?",
"who hosted the talks",
"What countries are involved in the dispute?",
"In what way has the shutdown affected Europe?"
] |
[
"resolving the ongoing dispute between Ukraine and Russia",
"aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute between Ukraine and Russia",
"summit",
"\"in the next few days,\"",
"Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko",
"Ukraine and Russia",
"without natural gas."
] |
question: What was summit aimed at?, answer: resolving the ongoing dispute between Ukraine and Russia | question: What does Medvedev say?, answer: aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute between Ukraine and Russia | question: what were the talks, answer: summit | question: When will the gas begin to flow again?, answer: "in the next few days," | question: who hosted the talks, answer: Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko | question: What countries are involved in the dispute?, answer: Ukraine and Russia | question: In what way has the shutdown affected Europe?, answer: without natural gas.
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Members of a Russian doomsday cult barricaded themselves in a cave to wait out the end of the world as the cult's leader underwent psychiatric exams Thursday, Russian media reported.
The cult, which calls itself the "true Russian Orthodox Church," believes the world will end in May.
The cult leader is in police custody awaiting proceedings on charges that he set up an organization "whose activity is associated with violence on citizens and instigation to refuse to perform their civil duties," according to the state-funded Itar-Tass news agency.
Four children are among 29 cult members holed up in a ravine in Russia's Penza region, where they apparently dug a cave.
One of the children in the cave is 18 months old, reported Itar-Tass. Temperatures in the cave are below 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius), the Russian news agency reported.
The cult members have refused law enforcement requests to come out or release the children, and they have threatened to commit suicide if police resort to force, according to Russian state television.
The cult, which calls itself the "true Russian Orthodox Church," believes the end of the world will come in May 2008.
Prosecutors announced Thursday they are opening criminal proceedings against the cult's leader, Father Pyotr Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov, 43, is "under the supervision of investigators," Olig Troshin, a Penza prosecutor, told Itar-Tass.
A law enforcement source in Penza told the Russian news agency Interfax that Kuznetsov "is being examined by psychiatrists."
Several clergymen, police officers and agents of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations are outside the cave.
"It is obviously some kind of insanity," Mitropolitan Kirill, a high-ranking Russian Orthodox Church official, told Russian television. "It is perhaps even a medical case. A very dangerous phenomena is happening in Russia's religious life."
He added, "What we're seeing in Penza right now is a most vivid example of what could happen to a country, to a society, if this society is deprived of proper religious education." E-mail to a friend
CNN's Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this report.
|
[
"When is the end of the world?",
"Who faces charges ?",
"What have the cult members threatened?",
"Who is holed up in a cave?",
"Who were holed up in the cave?",
"What does the cult think is coming in May?",
"Who believes it will be the end of the world?",
"Who threatened to commit suicide if police use force?"
] |
[
"believes the world will end in May.",
"The cult leader",
"to commit suicide if police resort to force,",
"Members of a Russian doomsday cult",
"29 cult members",
"end of the world",
"Members of a Russian doomsday cult",
"cult members"
] |
question: When is the end of the world?, answer: believes the world will end in May. | question: Who faces charges ?, answer: The cult leader | question: What have the cult members threatened?, answer: to commit suicide if police resort to force, | question: Who is holed up in a cave?, answer: Members of a Russian doomsday cult | question: Who were holed up in the cave?, answer: 29 cult members | question: What does the cult think is coming in May?, answer: end of the world | question: Who believes it will be the end of the world?, answer: Members of a Russian doomsday cult | question: Who threatened to commit suicide if police use force?, answer: cult members
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian authorities are investigating the recent killing of a model-turned-bodyguard.
Anna Loginova in a photo shoot for the Russian edition of Maxim magazine.
Anna Loginova, a 29-year-old former successful model, ran a private security firm of female bodyguards, highly trained in martial arts, demanding high prices to protect Russian billionaires.
One notable client was Russian boxer Kostya Tszyu.
A carjacker pulled Loginova out of her Porsche Cayenne Sunday in Moscow. Loginova grabbed onto the door handle as the car picked up speed and she was dragged along the street before letting go as the car sped away.
"An intruder just threw her out of the car" Russian police stated, "She grabbed the door handle, but when the car picked up speed, she let go."
Her fearlessness proved fatal. Loginova died on the scene from serious cranial injuries. The vehicle was later found abandoned in southern Moscow.
Luxury car theft is common in Moscow. Loginova told Maxim magazine in a recently taped interview that she fought off a car thief just four months ago.
"I stepped out of my car and closed the door when I suddenly saw a young man near me. He grabbed me by the arm in which I was holding the car keys," she was quoted as saying.
"By reflex, I used a jiu-jitsu technique. I twisted his arm and hit him on the face with my elbow. The guy obviously was not expecting such a reaction. He fell down on the rear windshield, which gave me enough time to grab my gun. He immediately jumped into his Honda and drove away,"
Those who knew her said she was never deterred by danger.
For many Russians she was a feminine icon, bridging the glamorous world of modeling and the rough underbelly of Russian crime.
"I think she was kind and sweet, not like a terminator, not like Sigourney Weaver in 'Aliens'" said Igor Cherski from Maxim magazine "but I feel that she was not afraid of anything, there was no fear in her eyes." E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Where was she killed?",
"Was she an icon?",
"Who was a feminine icon?",
"Who did Loginova fight off?",
"What did Loginova tell a magazine recently?"
] |
[
"Moscow.",
"For many Russians",
"Anna Loginova",
"a car thief",
"that she fought off a car thief just four months ago."
] |
question: Where was she killed?, answer: Moscow. | question: Was she an icon?, answer: For many Russians | question: Who was a feminine icon?, answer: Anna Loginova | question: Who did Loginova fight off?, answer: a car thief | question: What did Loginova tell a magazine recently?, answer: that she fought off a car thief just four months ago.
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- The Somali government has asked Russia to intervene against pirates who have seized a Ukrainian cargo ship, the Somali ambassador to Russia said Wednesday.
The U.S. Navy released this observance photo of the MV Faina, which is loaded with weapons and tanks.
But the Russian navy issued a statement later in the day saying it had no intention of using force against the pirates, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.
"The questions of freeing the ships and crew are being dealt with in line with the corresponding international practices," Interfax quoted Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo as saying. "For understandable reasons, the use of force would be an extreme measure because it could threaten the life of the international crew of the ship."
The pirates took over the MV Faina last week off the coast of Somalia and are demanding a $20 million ransom for the ship's cargo of 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks, tank artillery shells, grenade launchers and small arms. The ship is anchored within Somalia's 12-mile territorial limit.
"The government and the president of Somalia are allowing the Russian naval ships to enter our waters, and fight against pirates both in the sea and on the land, that is, if they would have to chase them," Amb. Mohamed Handule said at a news conference in Moscow.
"We think that this issue of piracy has exceeded all limits. It is very dangerous that pirates are now laying their hands on arms -- not just for Somalia, not only for the navigating, but for the entire region in general," he added. "Right now, pirates are controlling the sea in this area, but just imagine if they get control of the land too."
The announcement raised concern among some officials monitoring the situation. Watch Russian warships move to confront pirates »
"We may have bad news," said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya Seafarers Association.
Mwangura said some of the Ukrainian crew's family members are concerned for their loved ones' safety and have called him to see if he can communicate with the pirates. He urged negotiations to continue.
"For the safety of the crew members," Mwangura said, "let the ship owners talk with the pirates." Watch Mwangura talk about the rise in pirating »
A Russian navy ship sailing toward the Faina is in the Atlantic Ocean and "still has a bit of water to get here," said U.S. Navy Lt. Stephanie Murdock, who is stationed in nearby Bahrain. "There is no estimated time of arrival yet."
The U.S. Navy has several ships in the area monitoring the situation.
"There have been no changes today," Murdock said.
The Navy has not communicated with the Russian ship but will work out coordination when it arrives, Murdock said.
The Russian ship Neustrashimy is headed to the region solely to protect Russian shipping, according to the Russian navy spokesman.
"The navy command has been stressing that the Neustrashimy, from the Baltic Sea Fleet, has been given the task of arriving in the area of Somalia and guaranteeing for a certain time the safe seafaring of Russian ships in the area with a high risk of pirate attacks. The essence of the mission is to prevent the seizure of Russian ships by pirates," Dygalo said.
Handule, the Nigerian ambassador, seemed to criticize the United States for not taking action.
"Ships of more than 10 countries are now close to our shores, but we are not satisfied with the results of their activities," he said.
Citing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1816, Handule said, "We are inviting all countries, all states who have possibility to support Somalia to fight against ... pirates. We are especially inviting Russia and giving special status to Russian warships to fight, to help Somalia."
The latest developments came two days after three pirates were killed when they started shooting at each other, according to Mwangura, the Kenya maritime official. The shootout centered on a disagreement between moderate and radical pirates aboard the ship, Mwangura said. The moderates
|
[
"who wants russian to intervene?",
"who is fed up with inaction?",
"who captured the mv faina?",
"what does somalia want"
] |
[
"Somali government",
"Somalia",
"pirates",
"Russia to intervene against pirates"
] |
question: who wants russian to intervene?, answer: Somali government | question: who is fed up with inaction?, answer: Somalia | question: who captured the mv faina?, answer: pirates | question: what does somalia want, answer: Russia to intervene against pirates
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A Ukrainian general has been arrested in connection with the murder of a journalist nearly nine years ago, the country's president said Wednesday.
Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko has labeled Georhiy Gongadze's killing the country's most important case.
Gen. Alexei Pukach was detained Tuesday in connection with the killing of Georhiy Gongadze, who was abducted in September 2000 and later found decapitated.
The Gongadze killing is the country's most important criminal case, President Viktor Yushchenko said in a statement on his Web site.
"To me, it's a question of honor to resolve the murder of Georhiy Gongadze. It's a question of whether or not good or evil prevails," Yushchenko said.
Organizations ranging from the European Union to the Committee to Protect Journalists have demanded that Ukraine bring the journalist's killers to justice.
Pukach had been on the run for years before he was seized Tuesday in a joint operation by the Security Service and the prosecutor general's office, Yushchenko said. He has already been interrogated once and is cooperating with the investigation, the president added.
The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed the arrest, it said in a statement to CNN.
"As the suspected organizer of the killing, Pukach could point the investigation to those who ordered the crime nine years ago," said Nina Ognianova, the organization's Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator.
"Only with the masterminds behind bars would Ukrainian authorities be able to reverse the impunity in Gongadze's assassination," her statement said.
Three former police officers were convicted last year of killing Gongadze and given jail sentences of 12 to 13 years, the Committee to Protect Journalists said at the time.
There has long been suspicion that top Ukrainian government officials were involved in the murder.
"Gongadze, the pioneer editor of critical Internet newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda (Ukrainian Truth), had long angered authorities with his highly critical reports detailing corruption in (former President Leonid) Kuchma's administration," CPJ said last year, when the three men were sentenced.
Kuchma has long denied involvement in the killing.
Pukach was a high-ranking interior ministry official at the time Gongadze disappeared.
His former boss, Interior Minister Yuri Kravchenko, was found dead at his country house in March 2005, days before he was to be questioned by prosecutors over the killing of the journalist.
The Ukrainian security service, the SBU, suggested Kravchenko killed himself, and the dead man's successor quoted a suicide note, according to Russian media.
"Please forgive me, I've become a victim of political intrigues of President Kuchma and his people. I'm leaving you without a twinge of conscience. Farewell," then-Interior Minister Yuli Luzenko quoted the note as saying.
But Myroslava Gongadze, the slain journalist's widow, noted Kravchenko had two bullets in his head.
"I think it has to be investigated," she said of the death.
"He was the main player of my husband's murder ... he was the person who [took] the order and who gave the order," she told CNN at the time of Kravchenko's death.
Kuchma had been implicated in the murder by critics who cited secretly recorded audio tapes in which the president allegedly ordered his staff to get rid of the journalist. Kuchma vehemently denied those charges.
|
[
"what day was the captured?",
"Who was abducted in 2000?",
"Who was arrested?",
"Who was on the run for years?",
"When was Gen. Alexei Pukach captured?",
"Who was abducted?",
"in what year abducted?"
] |
[
"Tuesday",
"Georhiy Gongadze,",
"Alexei Pukach",
"Gen. Alexei Pukach",
"detained Tuesday",
"Georhiy Gongadze,",
"2000"
] |
question: what day was the captured?, answer: Tuesday | question: Who was abducted in 2000?, answer: Georhiy Gongadze, | question: Who was arrested?, answer: Alexei Pukach | question: Who was on the run for years?, answer: Gen. Alexei Pukach | question: When was Gen. Alexei Pukach captured?, answer: detained Tuesday | question: Who was abducted?, answer: Georhiy Gongadze, | question: in what year abducted?, answer: 2000
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A bear on ice skates attacked two people during rehearsals at a circus in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing one of them, Kyrgyz officials said Friday.
In the incident, which happened Thursday, the 5-year-old animal killed the circus administrator, Dmitry Potapov, and mauled an animal trainer, who was attempting to rescue him.
"The incident occurred during a rehearsal by the Russian state circus company troupe which was performing in Bishkek with the program, Bears on Ice," Ministry of Culture and Information director Kurmangazy Isanayev told reporters.
It is unclear what caused the bear to attack Potapov, 25, nearly severing one of his legs while dragging him across the ice by his neck. Medical personnel were unable to save Potapov, who died at the scene.
The 29-year-old circus trainer Yevgeny Popov, who attempted to rescue Potapov, was also severely injured, according to doctors.
"The victim has sustained serious injuries - deep scalp lacerations, bruising of the brain, lacerations on his body. His condition is considered critical," Dr. Gulnara Tashibekova told reporters on Russian state television.
After the incident, the circus was cordoned off by police and emergency service workers. Experts have been brought in to examine the bear, which was shot and died at the scene.
Russia has a long-standing tradition of training bears to perform tricks such as riding motorcycles, ice skating, and playing hockey. Fatal attacks are unusual.
|
[
"Who was dragged across ice?",
"Who were preparing for \"Bears on ice\"?",
"What country has a tradition of training bears to perform tricks?",
"What is the name of the show for which the troupe was preparing?",
"From where does the circus hail?",
"What did the ice skating bear do?",
"What is the circus bear's talent?",
"Who was killed at the circus?"
] |
[
"Potapov,",
"the Russian state circus company troupe",
"Russia",
"Bears on Ice,\"",
"Bishkek,",
"attacked two people during rehearsals at a circus in Bishkek,",
"ice skating,",
"Dmitry Potapov,"
] |
question: Who was dragged across ice?, answer: Potapov, | question: Who were preparing for "Bears on ice"?, answer: the Russian state circus company troupe | question: What country has a tradition of training bears to perform tricks?, answer: Russia | question: What is the name of the show for which the troupe was preparing?, answer: Bears on Ice," | question: From where does the circus hail?, answer: Bishkek, | question: What did the ice skating bear do?, answer: attacked two people during rehearsals at a circus in Bishkek, | question: What is the circus bear's talent?, answer: ice skating, | question: Who was killed at the circus?, answer: Dmitry Potapov,
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A cult member who spent several months holed up in a cave with dozens of other people anticipating the end of the world claimed Wednesday that two women died and were buried inside.
An above-ground kitchen used by the doomsday cult in the Penza region during the summer.
The former cave-dweller, Vitaly Nedogon, relayed his claims to Russian TV journalists, according to Anton Sharonov, a spokesman for the administration of Penza, a region southeast of Moscow.
The official said Nedogon did not report the information to police or authorities. Once the rest of the apocalyptic sect leaves the cave, investigators will move in to try to confirm Nedogon's report, Sharonov said.
Nedogon and others left the cave, said to be near the village of Nikolskoye, about 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the Russian capital, about a week ago, after part of its ceiling collapsed.
He claimed two women died at different times during the cult's seclusion, which began in November 2007. One woman died of cancer and the other from excessive fasting, he told the media.
"However," Sharonov told the Russian news agency Interfax, "the Penza regional administration is of the view that these deaths must be proven legally, which is possible only if all the people leave the cave so that investigative officials can examine it."
Sharonov said those who remain in the cave told Penza officials during negotiations that they would come out by the Russian Orthodox Easter, on April 27. He said officials believe 11 people are left in the cave, but only nine will be alive if Nedogon's report is true.
According to Interfax, Penza Deputy Governor Oleg Melnichenko, who is leading the local effort to resolve the situation, said he was unaware of any deaths in the cave.
The cave ordeal began when Kuznetsov, the group's leader, told his followers to hide themselves to await the end of the world, which he predicted would take place in May.
They had threatened to commit mass suicide if authorities tried to intervene.
Thirty-five sect members are believed to have entered the cave initially, Interfax said. E-mail to a friend
From CNN's Maxim Tkachenko in Moscow.
|
[
"What month did the Russian cult leader tell the followers the world would end in?",
"Where was the cult?",
"Who claimed that a woman died from cancer?",
"When did they think the world would end?",
"What did the members threaten?",
"What is the name of the Russian cult leader?",
"What did sect members threaten to do?",
"Sect members threatened to commit suicide if authorities tried to intervene"
] |
[
"May.",
"the Penza region",
"Vitaly Nedogon,",
"May.",
"to commit mass suicide",
"Vitaly Nedogon,",
"commit mass suicide",
"Thirty-five"
] |
question: What month did the Russian cult leader tell the followers the world would end in?, answer: May. | question: Where was the cult?, answer: the Penza region | question: Who claimed that a woman died from cancer?, answer: Vitaly Nedogon, | question: When did they think the world would end?, answer: May. | question: What did the members threaten?, answer: to commit mass suicide | question: What is the name of the Russian cult leader?, answer: Vitaly Nedogon, | question: What did sect members threaten to do?, answer: commit mass suicide | question: Sect members threatened to commit suicide if authorities tried to intervene, answer: Thirty-five
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A leading human rights activist was abducted and killed in Russia Wednesday, the organization she worked for told CNN.
Estemirova, pictured in 2007, had been openly critical of Chechnya's president, Ramzan Kadyrov.
Natalya Estemirova, of the Russian human rights group Memorial, was kidnapped outside her home in Grozny, Chechnya, Oleg Orlov said, citing eyewitness reports.
She was later found dead in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia, said Orlov, the head of the organization's Moscow office.
Estemirova, 50, was a leading human rights activist in the North Caucasus area who had been openly criticizing Chechnya's authoritarian president, Ramzan Kadyrov, and his methods.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed indignation at the murder and said her killers should be punished to the full extent of the law, his office said.
He expressed his condolences to her family, press secretary Natalya Timakova said.
Estemirova shouted that she was being kidnapped as she was forced into a white Lada automobile that had stopped on the road in front of her house at 8:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m. ET), Orlov said.
An unidentified man grabbed her and shoved her into the car, he told CNN. "This is a kidnapping," she yelled, he said.
Estemirova studied history at Grozny University, then taught history before turning to journalism and human rights in 1998, Memorial said.
She joined the organization in March 2000.
In a written statement, U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the United States is "deeply saddened" by the report of Estemirova's death.
"We call upon the Russian government to bring those responsible to justice," he said.
He described Estemirova as "uncompromising in her willingness to reveal the truth regardless of where that might lead. She was devoted to shining a light on human rights abuses, particularly in Chechnya."
The Committee to Protect Journalists, in a written statement, demanded that the killing be thoroughly investigated immediately.
"As she uncovered massive, ongoing human rights violations in Chechnya by the federal and regional authorities, Estemirova was often at odds with Chechen authorities, according to her colleagues," the advocacy group said.
She won three international awards for human rights activities -- including the inaugural Anna Politkovskaya Award, named for the Russian investigative journalist who was herself murdered almost three years ago.
Estemirova was Politkovskaya's "most frequent companion during travel and investigations in Chechnya," the organization Reach All Women in War said in announcing the prize for Estemirova.
"They investigated a number of cases together -- about which Anna wrote for (the newspaper) Novaya Gazeta and Natalya wrote for Memorial's Web site and for local newspapers."
"President Medvedev must make good on his promise to investigate this shocking killing by ensuring that the inquiry is thorough and transparent," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "The killers of this courageous reporter, one of the few left in Chechnya, must not be allowed to walk free like so many before them."
CNN's Maxim Tkachenko in Moscow, Russia, contributed to this report.
|
[
"Whats the name of the woman killed?",
"Who had Estemirova been critical of?",
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"Where did the kidnapping take place?",
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] |
[
"Natalya Estemirova,",
"Chechnya's president, Ramzan Kadyrov.",
"Ingushetia,",
"Grozny, Chechnya,",
"Grozny, Chechnya,",
"Grozny, Chechnya,",
"in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia,",
"Ramzan Kadyrov."
] |
question: Whats the name of the woman killed?, answer: Natalya Estemirova, | question: Who had Estemirova been critical of?, answer: Chechnya's president, Ramzan Kadyrov. | question: Where did they find Estemirova's body?, answer: Ingushetia, | question: Where was she from?, answer: Grozny, Chechnya, | question: Where was Estemirova living?, answer: Grozny, Chechnya, | question: Where did the kidnapping take place?, answer: Grozny, Chechnya, | question: Where was the woman found dead?, answer: in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia, | question: What person was she critical of?, answer: Ramzan Kadyrov.
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck southern Kyrgyzstan late Sunday night killing an estimated 70 people and destroying more than 120 buildings, the government reported Monday.
The earthquake occurred near Kyrgyzstan's border with China.
Gulshat Kadirova, an official from the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Situations, told CNN that casualty figures were preliminary and could rise as rescue efforts progress.
The weekend quake, measured by the U.S. Geological Survey Report, rattled all of Central Asia; however destruction is concentrated in the remote village of Nura on Kyrgyzstan's border with China.
"The remoteness of the villages hit by the earthquake, the absence of means of communications and the destruction of roads are hindering assistance to the injured," the Kyrgyz Health Ministry press service told Interfax.
The Health Ministry of Kyrgyzstan has set-up a crisis center in the region, however rescue efforts remain difficult, according to a ministry official.
The Kyrgyz Emergency Situations Ministry also sent humanitarian aid to the region.
"Four helicopters have just left taking food and blankets to the people affected in the area," a ministry representative told CNN by phone.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent a letter of condolence to Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, according to the Kremlin's Web site.
Medvedev noted Russia's readiness to offer assistance.
Bakiyev is scheduled to visit the destroyed region of Nura this week to monitor the search-and-rescue operations, Kadirova told CNN.
Temblors continued in Central Asia on Monday with two strong earthquakes striking part of Tibet within 15 minutes of each other.
|
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"Health Ministry of Kyrgyzstan",
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"70 people",
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"an estimated 70 people",
"6.6",
"more than 120"
] |
question: Who has set up a crisis center?, answer: Health Ministry of Kyrgyzstan | question: What agency established a crisis center?, answer: Health Ministry of Kyrgyzstan | question: Around how many people were estimated to be killed?, answer: 70 | question: What was the estimated death toll?, answer: 70 people | question: What was the earthquake's magnitude?, answer: 6.6 | question: How many were killed?, answer: an estimated 70 people | question: What was the magnitude of the earthquake?, answer: 6.6 | question: How many buildings were destroyed?, answer: more than 120
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A team of experts gathered Friday on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula to decide how to deal with marauding bears that reportedly have killed two people recently.
As many as 12,000 bears live on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
The bears are blamed for the deaths of two guards at a geological station near a platinum mine on the peninsula in far eastern Russia.
Russian media reports cite local law enforcement officials as saying the remains of the two men had been "gnawed on."
Groups of bears have been reported in the region since the deaths, and many people have refused to work at the mine, saying they are afraid.
Three hunters and a representative of Koryakgeoldobycha, employer of around 400 people at the mine, will evaluate the danger and decide whether killing a few animals is necessary, said Vladimir Rudeyev of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry in Kamchatka.
"All decisions are made locally," he told CNN. "No licenses [for shooting bears] have been issued yet. Reports came out that they were, but that's incorrect."
Hunters might need to kill only the most aggressive bears, he said. Generally, bears are timid animals and need only to be scared off.
Exterminating wild bears that are not afraid of humans is relatively common in Canada and the United States.
Trouble in northeastern Kamchatka began when the two unarmed geological station guards were found dead July 17. More than 93 miles (150 kilometers) away, about 20 bears came into another station several days later. Then, dozens more wild bears were seen 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 kilometers) away, around various stations and villages in the area.
"Bears came out to where they used to live before," Rudeyev said. "It constantly happens on the Kamchatka Peninsula, on various rivers, places where people work."
Humans are to blame because they attract the animals by leaving out trash or they frighten bear cubs, turning them into aggressive grown-ups, he said.
Laura Williams, senior adviser for the World Wildlife Fund in Russia, also said it's the search for food that probably drives bears close to human camps. Kamchatka bears are used to feeding on salmon in the summer, but there have been fewer of the fish in local rivers this year because of overfishing, contamination or natural causes.
"When [bears] don't have salmon, they go into some of the settlements, creating bad situations both for themselves and people," Williams said. "When you're in bear country, it's important to know how to act when you meet a bear."
The Kamchatka Peninsula has long been known for its brown bear population, estimated at 8,000 to 12,000. In some areas of the peninsula, the population density is the greatest in the world.
Human deaths from bears are rare, and Williams said it would be an overstatement to say the situation this year is out of hand.
CNN's Mike Sefanov contributed to this report.
|
[
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] |
[
"Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.",
"two",
"leaving out trash",
"bears are blamed for the deaths",
"the search for food",
"marauding bears",
"Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.",
"July 17."
] |
question: Where were groups if bears seen?, answer: Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. | question: how many guards were killed?, answer: two | question: what is driving bears closer to humans?, answer: leaving out trash | question: what killed them?, answer: bears are blamed for the deaths | question: What is driving bears into closer contact with humans?, answer: the search for food | question: What killed two guards?, answer: marauding bears | question: Where were groups of bears seen?, answer: Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. | question: When were two guards killed?, answer: July 17.
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- As I raised my hands toward the ceiling and then pointed them toward my head, I had to wonder: How would the 19th-century Russian writer Nikolai Gogol feel if he knew that a bunch of foreigners were dancing the YMCA at a nightclub named after him?
The iconic St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square takes on a brighter, more colorful look at night.
Gogol the man is considered the father of modern Russian realism, with works such as "Dead Souls." Gogol the cafe-club is considered a favorite hangout for Russians and expatriates alike, perfect for meals, coffee, fruity cocktails and music 'til everyone clears out around 2:30 a.m., when Moscow's "real" nightclubs heat up.
Since the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Russia's capital city has progressed in many ways, breaking free of old social structures while struggling to maintain its cultural heritage.
The city has preserved a lot of its old beauty, boasting monuments such as St. Basil's Cathedral and gorgeous landscapes such as Tsaritsino Park. At the same time, there are Internet cafes and 24-hour bookstores, and you'd be hard-pressed to meet someone who doesn't carry a cell phone.
But, as an American studying abroad at Moscow State University, I sometimes felt perplexed in this immense modern metropolis that still makes certain familiar conveniences inconvenient.
In Moscow, kiosks for adding money to your cell phone seem far more common than ATMs. Even nice restaurants with $40-minimum meals -- for example, the best beef stroganoff and fried cheese balls of your life -- accept only cash, no cards. After two weeks, I never figured out where to buy a nail clipper -- but I did see Vladimir Lenin's body, perfectly preserved since 1924. View more photos of Moscow »
At the university, I had to present a special ID card to one set of guards at the entrance, a dorm pass to another crew, and then confront a third layer of hallway-based security before arriving at my room. I also needed written approval from my floor's "administrator" to take luggage out of the building.
Then, there's money. Moscow, or "Moskva" in Russian, holds the distinction of the world's most expensive city, according to Mercer's 2008 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. Be prepared for fees from your bank and the Russian bank whenever you use an ATM. Try to stay away from touristy restaurants for meals, and do your souvenir shopping at Izmailovsky Market (Metro: Izmailovsky Park) instead of in stores.
The expatriates I encountered all echoed the sentiment that Moscow is a city of constant stress. Maybe that's why I will always love most the Moscow I experienced at night.
The monuments that look mildly impressive by day suddenly come to life with light against the onyx sky. You can look out over Sparrow Hills and see the endless glittering skyline, or settle down somewhere like Gogol (Metro: Tverskaya) for vodka-enhanced beverages and music from around the world. And, as long as you know "Mozhna?" ("May I?") and "Spasiba" ("Thank you)," it matters less that few people speak substantial English.
Café Bilingua (Metro: Chistye Prudy) is another cozy place to mingle with locals and ex-pats for hours on end -- you can have your coffee in the tiny two-story book shop, or take it up to the restaurant and performance section. Another bar I liked is Etage (Metro: Pushkinskaya), right off Pushkin's Square near a large neon-light sculpture of flowers (how would the great poet feel about that?).
Nightclubs dedicated to too-many-people-to-move dance floors don't start up until well after midnight. Propaganda (Metro: Lubyanka), conveniently located near the headquarters of the KGB, spins all kinds of dance music -- go on a Thursday evening for a less crowded experience.
Then there's The Real McCoy (Metro: Barrikadnaya), so packed with people that merely crossing
|
[
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"Whose body is on display?",
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"What has been named the most expensive city?"
] |
[
"Vladimir Lenin's",
"Izmailovsky",
"Vladimir Lenin's",
"Moscow,",
"Izmailovsky Market",
"Moscow,"
] |
question: Who's body was preserved?, answer: Vladimir Lenin's | question: Which market has the best souvenirs?, answer: Izmailovsky | question: Whose body is on display?, answer: Vladimir Lenin's | question: What is the most expensive city?, answer: Moscow, | question: Who has the best souvenir shopping ?, answer: Izmailovsky Market | question: What has been named the most expensive city?, answer: Moscow,
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Natalia Vodianova is the Russian supermodel and philanthropist described by designer Tom Ford as "the most beautiful woman in the world."
Natalia Vodianova: "I think protecting your family and giving to them is the most important achievement."
Natalia, 27, is a mother of three and has set up her own children's charity. The woman nicknamed "Supernova" tells My City_My Life about her tough childhood, her love of Moscow and why Russian vodka is the best.
CNN: How would you describe Moscow?
Natalia Vodianova: It's a city of contrasts. You have this great culture and traditions that are very normal, calm and established. And then you have explosions of emotion, craziness, art, and young people who are so proud to be Muscovites and really trying to be individuals.
Moscow is a huge inspiration for me. I love what I find here, I love being here.
CNN: What would you change about Moscow given the chance?
NV: Definitely the way it's treated at the moment, the way the government wants to renovate the old buildings. To me it's a little bit sad because in the West people have a very different mentality about renovating buildings, keeping them as intact as possible.
Watch Natalia Vodianova take CNN on a tour of Moscow. »
CNN: What's the fashion in Moscow?
NV: You see women in jeans wearing very high heels and a short puffy jacket. It's really funny!
CNN: Tell me about your childhood
NV: I was born in Nizhny Novgorod to a very poor family and unfortunately my father and mother separated when I was very little.
She was a single mum and had two more girls. It was a struggle but we all worked really hard and stood up for each other. My mum was amazing; she never drank, she never smoked -- she lived for us. I appreciate what she has done for me and the way she raised me.
CNN: Is family very important to you?
NV: I think protecting your family and giving to them is so important. It's the most important achievement.
CNN: How did your modeling career take off?
NV: I went to Paris when I was 17. I was lucky because my career kind of gradually built up over two years -- I always had good work but I wasn't a star straight away.
In fact, my agency thought that I might never do shows because I was a bit shorter and not skinny enough, but when I gave birth to my first son I was 19 and I lost a lot of weight.
I guess the stress on the body was extreme and I suddenly just turned into this stick -- just the way designers love models. My career took off after Lucas was born because I opened a lot of shows on the runway and that's where a lot of stars are made in my industry.
See Natalia Vodianova's Moscow in photos. »
CNN: If you weren't a model, what would your life be like?
NV: It's very hard to say what my life would be like if I hadn't gone to Paris. People say I didn't change very much but I don't think that's true.
I'm a happy person and even if I thought that I was happy then, I had so much baggage to carry with me: my background, people's expectations, the fact that I wasn't a perfect student and I wasn't going to school all the time -- I didn't live a normal life at all.
That's not with me anymore, because of my success. It really doesn't matter because I know I have learned so much more than a lot of other girls who have had perfect childhoods.
CNN: Tell us about the charity and what you are trying to achieve with it?
NV: I started my foundation in 2005, after the Beslan tragedy [the 2004 school siege in which at least 339 hostages were killed]. I was in Moscow
|
[
"Where is Natalia Vodianova from?",
"What is Natalia Vodianova's occupation?"
] |
[
"I was born in Nizhny Novgorod",
"supermodel"
] |
question: Where is Natalia Vodianova from?, answer: I was born in Nizhny Novgorod | question: What is Natalia Vodianova's occupation?, answer: supermodel
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia expressed interest in using Cuban airfields during patrol missions of its strategic bombers, Russia's Interfax news agency reported
"There are four or five airfields in Cuba with 4,000-meter-long runways, which absolutely suit us," Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev told Interfax.
Zhikharev, who is the chief of staff of the Russian Air Force's long-range aviation, said, "If the two chiefs of state display such a political will, we are ready to fly there."
Zhikharev also told Interfax that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered a military airfield on La Orchila island as a temporary base for Russian strategic bombers.
"If a relevant political decision is made, this is possible," he said, according to Interfax. Zhikharev said he visited La Orchila in 2008 and can confirm that with minor reconstruction, the airfield owned by a local naval base can accept fully-loaded Russian strategic bombers.
|
[
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"who is hugo chavez",
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"what did russian air force offical say",
"Who is Venezuelan president?",
"Where are Russia trying to fly to?",
"how many fields does cuba have",
"How many fields are suitable for Russia?"
] |
[
"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez",
"Venezuelan President",
"\"If the two chiefs of state display such a political will, we are ready to fly there.\"",
"\"If the two chiefs of state display such a political will, we are ready to fly there.\"",
"Hugo Chavez",
"Cuban airfields",
"four or five",
"four or five airfields"
] |
question: who offered a miliary airfeld, answer: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez | question: who is hugo chavez, answer: Venezuelan President | question: what did russian air force say, answer: "If the two chiefs of state display such a political will, we are ready to fly there." | question: what did russian air force offical say, answer: "If the two chiefs of state display such a political will, we are ready to fly there." | question: Who is Venezuelan president?, answer: Hugo Chavez | question: Where are Russia trying to fly to?, answer: Cuban airfields | question: how many fields does cuba have, answer: four or five | question: How many fields are suitable for Russia?, answer: four or five airfields
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia is planning a "comprehensive rearmament" of its military, President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday.
A Russian T-90 tank rolls through Red Square during 2008's Victory Day parade.
The announcement comes amid concerns in Moscow over the performance of its forces during last year's invasion of Georgia, an expert on the Russian military told CNN.
Christopher Langton, an analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said the campaign against the former Soviet republic had revealed significant weaknesses within Russia's armed forces.
"The Georgia thing was a wake-up call on a number of fronts," said Langton, a former British military and defense attache in Russia. "Things they expected to perform well didn't -- communications, the air force. It took five days, which is quite a long time, to suppress another country's air defenses, quite a small country's."
Medvedev said the "most important task is to re-equip the [Russian] Armed Forces with newest weapons system," in televised remarks to defense ministry officials. He said the process had already begun and would accelerate through 2011.
Medvedev insisted that falling prices for oil and gas -- which contribute significantly to Moscow's budget -- would not force him to scale back on plans to modernize the military.
The defense budget has "virtually remained the same as was planned," Medvedev said, "despite our current financial problems."
The country will aim for 70 percent of its weaponry to be "modern" by 2020, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said, according to RIA-Novosti, the state-run news agency.
Russia invaded Georgia, to its south, in August of last year -- the first time Russian military forces had engaged in an offensive outside their borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The conflict strengthened the hand of Medvedev, who favors reform, against generals who oppose it, Langton, the military analyst, told CNN.
"It gave Medvedev a chance to reply to opponents in Ministry of Defense: 'We need much more mobile forces, better weaponry,'" Langton said.
But Langton pointed out that Russia has been talking about modernizing its army almost since the end of the Cold War nearly two decades ago.
Former President Boris Yeltsin announced in the early 1990s that Russia would replace its conscript army with a professional force by 2010, Langton said -- a target it has come nowhere close to meeting.
Modernization foundered on Russia's need to bring in money by exporting arms, rather than using the products of its military-industrial complex itself; opposition from entrenched interests in the Ministry of Defense, which opposed downsizing; and in the face of a national security strategy that focused on conflicts like the two Chechen wars.
Former President Vladimir Putin staked his popularity in the late 1990s on winning the second war with the restive Chechnya, Langton observed.
Medvedev, too, wants to promote pride in the country's military, the analyst said, but has a "more nuanced approach" than his predecessor, who remains influential as prime minister.
Langton said Medvedev believes Russian forces should be capable of operating alongside Western forces. But, he added, "Some of the generals don't agree with him."
|
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"What Dmitry Medvedev said about the issue?"
] |
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"\"comprehensive rearmament\"",
"2020,",
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"70 percent",
"the process had already begun and would accelerate through 2011.",
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"Russia is planning a \"comprehensive rearmament\" of its military,"
] |
question: What Russia planning about the military?, answer: "comprehensive rearmament" | question: When does Russia aim to have 70% of its weaponry "modern" by?, answer: 2020, | question: What is Russia planning for its military?, answer: a "comprehensive rearmament" of | question: What percentage of its weaponry does Russia want modernized?, answer: 70 percent | question: When is rearmament set to begin?, answer: the process had already begun and would accelerate through 2011. | question: What did last year's invasion of Georgia reveal?, answer: significant weaknesses within Russia's armed forces. | question: What Dmitry Medvedev said about the issue?, answer: Russia is planning a "comprehensive rearmament" of its military,
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia's president launched a verbal volley at Georgia's leaders on Monday, as Georgia hit back with renewed accusations that the Russian invasion was premeditated.
Russian soliders on patrol outside the Georgian city of Gori on Monday.
President Dmitry Medvedev said: "The world has seen that even today, there are political morons who are ready to kill innocent and defenseless people in order to satisfy their self-serving interests, while compensating for their own inability to resolve complicated issues by using the most terrible solution -- by exterminating an entire people.
"I think that there should be no mercy for that. We will do our best not to let this crime go unpunished."
He was speaking at a visit to the military headquarters at Vladikavkaz, near the Russian-Georgian border.
Each side accuses the other of "ethnic cleansing" during the conflict over South Ossetia, which erupted August 7.
In Washington, Georgia's ambassador to the United States said the Russian push into Georgia the following day had been long planned.
"You just don't move more than 1,200 tanks and 15,000 soldiers into a country within 12 hours without previous planning," Ambassador Vasil Sikharulidze said.
The conflict began more than a week ago when Georgian troops entered the breakaway territory of South Ossetia to attack pro-Moscow separatists. Russia responded by invading the country on August 8, prompting heavy fighting with Georgian forces that spread to another breakaway territory, Abkhazia.
The Georgian troops withdrew and Russian forces took control of several areas -- prompting an international outcry. After diplomatic efforts led by France on behalf of the European Union, Georgia and Russian signed a cease-fire. France is the rotating EU head.
Russia's military says its withdrawal from Georgia has begun, but a senior Pentagon official told reporters Monday evening that there has been little evidence of Russian troops pulling out. The official did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue. Watch more on Russian withdrawal »
"We're talking about pulling our troops away to the borders of South Ossetia. They will not be on Georgia territory," Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the Russian armed forces deputy chief of staff, said Monday.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Russia needs to start pulling back "without delay," saying the "Russians have committed to withdrawing, and they need to withdraw. And so that is what we are looking for."
A Georgian Interior Ministry official said there have been "no signs" of a Russian troop withdrawal despite Russia's pledge to start moving back on Monday.
News footage showed Russian tanks pushing away Georgian police cars about 20 miles (32 km) south of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. Watch tanks deal with the police car »
Witnesses said Georgian police cars had been blocking the road and the police told Russian tank commanders that they were carrying out orders. The tanks proceeded to plow ahead, damaging the police cars in the process.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said a Russian armored column had been seen moving a bit deeper into Georgian territory, traveling south from Kashuri to Borjomi. Kashuri is about 10 miles (16 km) south of South Ossetia. Another column was moving north from the Kashuri area to Sachkhere.
Nogovitsyn told reporters Russian troops were leaving Gori on Monday, the Interfax news agency said.
He did not say how many troops were withdrawing or how many would return to South Ossetia or Russia.
However, CNN journalists in Gori, near South Ossetia, said it was still under Russian control and there was no evidence the Russians were pulling out. Also, Russian tank and artillery positions were seen extending nine miles (15 km) south of Gori.
Nogovitsyn said Russia was not yet moving vessels in the Black Sea from their positions near Georgia, but they would return to Sevastopol after the settlement of the conflict.
He said Russia's deputy foreign minister had presented the U.S. ambassador to the country with a timetable of the events that led to Russia's actions and clearly indicated Georgia's responsibility.
He said a prisoner exchange involving the
|
[
"what did witnesses say",
"What did Russian tanks push through?",
"There is little evidence that Russian troops are leaving where?",
"where are the russian troops",
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] |
[
"Georgian police cars had been blocking the road and the police told Russian tank commanders that they were carrying out orders. The tanks proceeded to plow ahead, damaging the police cars in the process.",
"Georgian police cars",
"Georgia",
"outside the Georgian city of Gori",
"Russian tanks"
] |
question: what did witnesses say, answer: Georgian police cars had been blocking the road and the police told Russian tank commanders that they were carrying out orders. The tanks proceeded to plow ahead, damaging the police cars in the process. | question: What did Russian tanks push through?, answer: Georgian police cars | question: There is little evidence that Russian troops are leaving where?, answer: Georgia | question: where are the russian troops, answer: outside the Georgian city of Gori | question: What pushed through a road block?, answer: Russian tanks
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian and British ships repelled a pirate attack on a Danish ship in the Gulf of Aden, the Russian navy said Wednesday.
Pirates have caused havoc off the coast of Somalia, hijacking 33 ships this year.
Elsewhere, pirates hijacked a Turkish-flagged ship carrying 4,500 tons of chemicals and 14 crew off Yemen's coast.
The pirates hijacked the ship, Karagol, near Yemen as it traveled to Mumbai, India, semi-official news agency Anadolu Ajansi reported, citing a written statement from the Turkish Maritime Agency.
Russian navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said the Russian patrol ship Neustrashimy and a British frigate, HMS Cumberland, successfully rebuffed pirate attempts to seize the Danish ship Powerful off Somalia.
The British and Russians used helicopters to counter-attack the pirates, who had opened machine gun fire on Powerful and twice tried to seize it, Dygalo said.
It was not immediately clear when the incident occurred.
When asked about the incident, the British Ministry of Defense said a crew from the Cumberland had boarded a small boat on Tuesday that "they ... believe had been involved in an attack on the Danish-registered MV Powerful earlier in the day."
Ahead of boarding the small boat, or dhow, the British crew members tried several ways to stop it, "but they were unsuccessful," the Ministry of Defense's statement said.
The Cumberland then launched boats to circle the dhow, in another attempt to halt it. People aboard the dhow opened fire at these boats, and the Cumberland's crew members returned fire, the statement said.
Two alleged pirates were killed during the shooting. A third person, a Yemeni national, died later from injuries, despite care from the Cumberland's doctor, the Ministry said.
"It is unclear whether his injuries were as a result of the firefight or a previous incident."
The Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, has become a treacherous stretch for ships, particularly along the Somali coast. There have been 84 attacks and 33 successful hijackings off Somalia's coast this year.
Meanwhile, the Karagol is owned by Istanbul-based Y.D.C. Denizcilik, A.S. The company confirmed its ship had been hijacked, but could not provide any details.
The Karagol is the second Turkish ship in two weeks to be hijacked. On October 29, pirates in the same area off Yemen commandeered the Neslihan, a Turkish-owned freighter, carrying 77,000 tons of iron ore from from Canada to China, the ship's owner, Ya-Sa Shipping Industry and Trading, S.A., said.
CNN's David McKenzie and Andrew Carey contributed to this report.
|
[
"What number died?",
"What are countries doing about the pirates?",
"who repelled the attacks",
"what size was the crew",
"What did the ships do?"
] |
[
"Two",
"used helicopters to counter-attack the",
"Russian and British ships",
"14",
"repelled a pirate attack"
] |
question: What number died?, answer: Two | question: What are countries doing about the pirates?, answer: used helicopters to counter-attack the | question: who repelled the attacks, answer: Russian and British ships | question: what size was the crew, answer: 14 | question: What did the ships do?, answer: repelled a pirate attack
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian energy monopoly Gazprom said Thursday it has cut off supplies of natural gas to Ukraine after a payment deadline expired.
A gas-compressor and gas-holder station in Mryn, Ukraine. Gazprom said it had cut supplies to Ukraine Thursday.
Gazprom had been threatening the move, saying months of negotiations with Ukraine had failed to resolve the issue of outstanding payments. The company says Ukraine owes about $2 billion for past natural gas deliveries.
Ukraine also disputes the new price set by Gazprom for 2009 deliveries, which was initially more than double the price from 2008.
Gazprom has reassured the rest of Europe that its natural gas supply, which runs through Ukraine, will not be affected by the dispute with Kiev. Thursday, a Gazprom spokesman said on Russian state television the company had actually increased the deliveries to the rest of the continent.
"Gazprom will continue supplying gas for its consumers in Europe at full volume," the company's chief executive, Alexey Miller, said. "We have an effective transit contract."
Without natural gas, some Ukrainians could be in for chilly days and nights. The temperature at midday Thursday in Kiev was 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 degrees Celsius), with a forecast high of only 32 F (0 C) and snow predicted overnight. Watch a report on Gazprom's threats to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine »
Ukraine's state-controlled energy company, Naftogaz Ukrainy, said Thursday it is ensuring domestic natural gas needs are covered by taking gas from underground storage facilities.
"All of Ukraine's consumers are fully secured," the company said in a statement.
In Washington, the White House urged a resolution Thursday.
"The United States would like to see a restoration of normal deliveries," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. "The parties should be resolving their differences through good-faith negotiations, without supply cutoffs."
The frigid weather is of particular concern, the White House said. "We urge both sides to keep in mind the humanitarian implications of any interruption of gas supply in the winter," Johndroe said.
Naftogaz Ukrainy also disputed Gazprom's claim that it owes for past deliveries, saying Thursday it has paid its debt to Gazprom in full, though it declined to give a figure.
Another part of the dispute centers on Gazprom's price hike for 2009 gas deliveries. Gazprom had wanted to more than double Ukraine's payments, but Wednesday it offered a lower price.
Ukraine, which currently pays about $100 per 1,000 cubic meters, balked at the figure offered, saying it simply can't afford to pay the new price.
It is the second time in three years Gazprom has threatened to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine. The company made good on its threat on January 1, 2006, but turned the supply back on a day later.
Russia is the world's biggest producer of natural gas and supplies Europe with more than 40 percent of its imports -- mainly via the pipelines through Ukraine.
Naftogaz said in its statement Thursday that it would ensure the uninterrupted flow of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine, but only under existing arrangements. It indicated some gas deliveries to Europe could be halted in Ukraine if Naftogaz fails to reach a new agreement with Gazprom.
Although gas is still flowing to Europe, there are also concerns in Russia that the amount could be reduced if Ukraine siphons off some of the gas headed to the west.
Naftogaz said it will continue negotiating with Gazprom to address the issues.
|
[
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"What amount does the company say that Ukrain owes?",
"How much does Ukraine owe?",
"What is the name of the company that monopolizes Russia's gas supplies?",
"When were supplies cut by Gazprom?",
"What is the name of Russia's energy monopoly?",
"What did Gazprom say?",
"Who cut off gas supplies?",
"Who cut off gas supplies to Ukraine?",
"What does Ukraine owe?",
"What country had its gas supply cut off?"
] |
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"Ukraine",
"a day",
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"Gazprom",
"January 1, 2006,",
"Gazprom",
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"Russian energy monopoly Gazprom",
"Gazprom",
"$2 billion",
"Ukraine"
] |
question: What country does Gazprom claim owes it $2 billion for past natural gas deliveries?, answer: Ukraine | question: How long did Gazprom cut off the supply of natural gas to the Ukraine?, answer: a day | question: What amount does the company say that Ukrain owes?, answer: $2 billion | question: How much does Ukraine owe?, answer: $2 billion | question: What is the name of the company that monopolizes Russia's gas supplies?, answer: Gazprom | question: When were supplies cut by Gazprom?, answer: January 1, 2006, | question: What is the name of Russia's energy monopoly?, answer: Gazprom | question: What did Gazprom say?, answer: it had cut supplies to Ukraine Thursday. | question: Who cut off gas supplies?, answer: Russian energy monopoly Gazprom | question: Who cut off gas supplies to Ukraine?, answer: Gazprom | question: What does Ukraine owe?, answer: $2 billion | question: What country had its gas supply cut off?, answer: Ukraine
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian officials on Monday located a Russian cargo ship that has been missing for more than two weeks after it was believed to have been hijacked, a top official said.
The Arctic Sea had been missing since July 31.
The Arctic Sea was located 300 miles (483 km) from Cape Verde, an island nation a few hundred miles from the coast of western Africa, said Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.
The crew "is alive and well," he said.
"The crew members have been moved to our anti-submarine warfare ship Ladny where they are answering questions," Serdyukov said.
"The questioning aims to clarify all circumstances of how the ship disappeared and why did it not send any [emergency] signals."
The Arctic Sea, which sails under a Maltese flag, had not been heard from since July 31. It was carrying a 6,500-ton cargo of timber from Finland to Algeria when it reported trouble on July 24 off the coast of Sweden.
It was scheduled to arrive in North Africa on August 4.
On Friday, the ship was reported to be in international waters north of Cape Verde. The news came from Portugal's state news agency, which quoted Cape Verde's defense director, Pedro Reis.
The U.S. military also had a report last week that the ship had been seen a few hundred miles from Cape Verde, two military sources told CNN, but the United States had no independent verification of those reports. The U.S. military was not involved in the search.
At the time, Russia's ambassador to Cape Verde, however, denied that the Arctic Sea had been spotted near the island nation.
On July 24, the ship's 15-member crew had told authorities that eight to 12 people armed with guns and pistols boarded the vessel about 3 a.m. that day, masked and wearing uniforms with the word "police" written on them, the Malta Maritime Authority said.
"During [the attackers'] stay onboard, the members of the crew were allegedly assaulted, tied, gagged and blindfolded and some of them were seriously injured," the maritime authority said in a written statement.
Swedish police reached the ship by phone on July 31 and spoke with someone they believe to be the captain, police spokeswoman Maria Lonegard said. It was the last known communication with the vessel, which was believed to be off the coast of France at that time.
On Saturday Finnish police told CNN that a ransom demand had been issued to the ship's owners, Solchart Management, for the return of the vessel.
|
[
"Where was the crew transferred to?",
"On what date was the ship believed to have been hijacked?",
"What was the ship carrying?",
"What is the name of the ship?",
"What was the name of the cargo ship which was found weeks after disappearing?",
"What was the cargo ship carrying from Finland to Algeria?",
"was the crew hurt"
] |
[
"anti-submarine warfare ship Ladny",
"July 24,",
"6,500-ton cargo of timber",
"Arctic Sea",
"The Arctic Sea",
"of timber",
"\"is alive and well,\""
] |
question: Where was the crew transferred to?, answer: anti-submarine warfare ship Ladny | question: On what date was the ship believed to have been hijacked?, answer: July 24, | question: What was the ship carrying?, answer: 6,500-ton cargo of timber | question: What is the name of the ship?, answer: Arctic Sea | question: What was the name of the cargo ship which was found weeks after disappearing?, answer: The Arctic Sea | question: What was the cargo ship carrying from Finland to Algeria?, answer: of timber | question: was the crew hurt, answer: "is alive and well,"
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian space officials say the crew of the Soyuz space ship is resting after a rough ride back to Earth.
A South Korean bioengineer was one of three people on board the Soyuz capsule.
The craft carrying South Korea's first astronaut landed in northern Kazakhstan on Saturday, 260 miles (418 kilometers) off its mark, they said.
Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said the condition of the crew -- South Korean bioengineer Yi So-yeon, American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko -- was satisfactory, though the three had been subjected to severe G-forces during the re-entry.
Search helicopters took 25 minutes to find the capsule and determine that the crew was unharmed.
Officials said the craft followed a very steep trajectory that subjects the crew to gravitational forces of up to 10 times those on Earth.
Interfax reported that the spacecraft's landing was rough.
This is not the first time a spacecraft veered from its planned trajectory during landing.
In October, the Soyuz capsule landed 70 kilometers from the planned area because of a damaged control cable. The capsule was carrying two Russian cosmonauts and the first Malaysian astronaut. E-mail to a friend
|
[
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"Where did the Soyuz capsule land?",
"What distance from the target was the capsule?",
"What happened during the first landing?",
"What was the capsule carrying?",
"what is soyus caplsule",
"Where did it land?",
"who is south korean first astronaut"
] |
[
"two Russian cosmonauts and the first Malaysian astronaut.",
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"northern Kazakhstan",
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"two Russian cosmonauts and the first Malaysian astronaut.",
"Soyuz space ship",
"northern Kazakhstan",
"Yi So-yeon,"
] |
question: What was the capsule carrying?, answer: two Russian cosmonauts and the first Malaysian astronaut. | question: What did the capsule contain?, answer: South Korea's first astronaut | question: What country was the capsule from?, answer: Russia | question: Where did the Soyuz capsule land?, answer: northern Kazakhstan | question: What is the name of the capsule?, answer: Soyuz | question: Who was the capsule carrying?, answer: two Russian cosmonauts and the first Malaysian astronaut. | question: Where did the Soyuz capsule land?, answer: northern Kazakhstan | question: What distance from the target was the capsule?, answer: 260 miles (418 kilometers) | question: What happened during the first landing?, answer: landed in northern Kazakhstan on Saturday, 260 miles (418 kilometers) off its mark, | question: What was the capsule carrying?, answer: two Russian cosmonauts and the first Malaysian astronaut. | question: what is soyus caplsule, answer: Soyuz space ship | question: Where did it land?, answer: northern Kazakhstan | question: who is south korean first astronaut, answer: Yi So-yeon,
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- The Russian Orthodox Church enthroned a new leader Sunday at Moscow's spectacular Christ the Savior Cathedral in a ceremony attended by Russian leaders and Christian delegations from around the world.
Patriach Kirill is the first new leader of the Russian Orthodox Church since the collapse of communism.
Patriarch Kirill, 62, becomes first new leader of the church since the fall of communism, and the first enthroned in the Cathedral since it was rebuilt at the end of the 1990s.
Russian first lady Svetlana Medvedeva was the first person to receive the Eucharist from the new Patriarch, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.
Russian Orthodox Church leaders chose Kirill Tuesday to replace Patriarch Alexy II, who died in December.
Kirill, who became acting head of the church after Alexy died, is seen as a modernizer. He chaired the church's department for external relations starting in 1989.
Kirill becomes the 16th Patriarch since the position was created in 1589. The appointment is for life.
He met Pope Benedict XVI recently, one of the highest-level meetings between Roman Catholic and Orthodox leaders since the two churches split more than 1,000 years ago.
The late Pope John Paul II was repeatedly denied permission to visit Russia.
Kirill said before he was elected Tuesday that the Russian Orthodox Church should work with other Christian faiths to support "those partners who are ready to oppose, together with us, the marginalization of religion, to speak out for believers' rights and to build one's life according to one's own principles, to defend the underlying meaning of morality in the life of an individual and society."
Alexy, 79, died December 5 after 18 years at the head of the church. He is credited with reviving the denomination after years of communist rule.
|
[
"Who has Kirill met ?",
"Who is the new leader?",
"Who became first new leader of church?",
"When did Alexy II die?",
"Date that Alexy 2 died?",
"When did Patriarch Alexy II die?",
"What economic system is mentioned?",
"Who became the first new leader of church since fall of communism?",
"Who did he meet?",
"Which Pope did Kirill meet with?",
"Who has Patriarch Kirill met?",
"Who died after 18 years as head of the church?"
] |
[
"Pope Benedict XVI",
"Patriach Kirill",
"Patriach Kirill",
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"December 5",
"December 5",
"communism.",
"Patriach Kirill",
"Pope Benedict XVI",
"Benedict XVI",
"Pope Benedict XVI",
"Patriarch Alexy II,"
] |
question: Who has Kirill met ?, answer: Pope Benedict XVI | question: Who is the new leader?, answer: Patriach Kirill | question: Who became first new leader of church?, answer: Patriach Kirill | question: When did Alexy II die?, answer: December. | question: Date that Alexy 2 died?, answer: December 5 | question: When did Patriarch Alexy II die?, answer: December 5 | question: What economic system is mentioned?, answer: communism. | question: Who became the first new leader of church since fall of communism?, answer: Patriach Kirill | question: Who did he meet?, answer: Pope Benedict XVI | question: Which Pope did Kirill meet with?, answer: Benedict XVI | question: Who has Patriarch Kirill met?, answer: Pope Benedict XVI | question: Who died after 18 years as head of the church?, answer: Patriarch Alexy II,
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- The Russian parliament approved a constitutional amendment Friday to extend the presidential term from four to six years.
Vladimir Putin was barred constitutionally from seeking a third consecutive term as president.
There is widespread speculation in Russian media that the change is aimed at paving the way for a return to the Kremlin by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who remains a popular and powerful figure since leaving the president's office in May.
The Kremlin maintains the amendment -- along with other proposed changes to the terms in office for elected officials -- is necessary to ensure the stability of future Russian governments.
President Dmitry Medvedev announced the measures just two weeks ago, in his first state-of-the-nation speech on November 5.
The lower house of the Russian parliament had its third and final reading Friday before putting the measures to a vote. It passed by a vote of 392 to 57, with those against representing the Communist Party faction. There were no abstentions.
Further approval is needed from the upper house of parliament and regional councils before the changes become law. The amendments will come into force when at least two-thirds of the nation's 83 regional parliaments and assemblies -- or 56 -- approve them.
Analysts have expressed concern about the rapid movement of the measures through parliament. They say the government may be seeking to capitalize on Putin's popularity amid the financial crisis, which has dented support for the current leadership.
The next Russian presidential elections are scheduled for 2012.
There is speculation in Russia that the new measures could set the stage for fresh elections, allowing Putin to sidestep a ban on a third presidential term and stand again for president.
-- CNN's Matthew Chance and Max Tkachenko contributed to this report.
|
[
"When did Medvedev announce the measures?",
"What did the Russian media speculate?",
"What did the Kremlin say?",
"What is the name of the Russian government, in general?",
"When are the next Russian elections?",
"What former Russian President was mentioned?",
"Why does Kremlin say an amendment is needed?",
"Who is the current Russian President?"
] |
[
"on November 5.",
"return to the Kremlin by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,",
"is necessary to ensure the stability of future Russian governments.",
"The Kremlin",
"2012.",
"Vladimir Putin",
"is necessary to ensure the stability of future Russian governments.",
"Vladimir Putin"
] |
question: When did Medvedev announce the measures?, answer: on November 5. | question: What did the Russian media speculate?, answer: return to the Kremlin by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, | question: What did the Kremlin say?, answer: is necessary to ensure the stability of future Russian governments. | question: What is the name of the Russian government, in general?, answer: The Kremlin | question: When are the next Russian elections?, answer: 2012. | question: What former Russian President was mentioned?, answer: Vladimir Putin | question: Why does Kremlin say an amendment is needed?, answer: is necessary to ensure the stability of future Russian governments. | question: Who is the current Russian President?, answer: Vladimir Putin
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- The head of a leading Russian human rights group accused the presidents of Russia and Chechnya of complicity in murdering their top activist in Chechnya.
Natalya Estemirova, pictured in 2007, had been openly critical of Chechnya's president, Ramzan Kadyrov.
"I am confident about who killed Natalya Estemirova. We all know this person. His name is Ramzan Kadyrov, President of the Chechen republic," Oleg Orlov, the chairman of the Russian human rights group Memorial said on the group's Web site Thursday.
"Ramzan was intimidating and insulting Natalya, and considered her his personal enemy. We don't know whether it was him personally who ordered her [murder] or it were his aides who wanted to please their boss. As far as [Russian] President [Dmitry] Medvedev is concerned, it seems that he doesn't mind having a murderer as head of one of the Russian regions."
Estemirova, 50, was kidnapped outside her home in Chechnya Wednesday, Orlov said, citing eyewitnesses, and found dead in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia later the same day.
Her body was riddled with bullets, Russian prosecutors said -- several shots to the abdomen, and one to the head.
The winner of three international human rights awards, she was a leading activist in the North Caucasus area who had been openly critical of Kadyrov and his methods.
Kadyrov vowed Thursday that he would personally oversee the investigation and assure her killers were punished.
"She couldn't have had enemies among reasonable people," he said in a statement on the Chechen government Web site. "Those who took away her life have no right to be called humans, they don't deserve any mercy, and should be punished as the most cruel criminals.
"I have no doubts whatsoever that those who ordered and conducted this crime will face trial," he said. "That is the very least that the government and society must do in commemoration of Estemirova."
Medvedev said Thursday the murder was "a very sad event," adding it was "absolutely clear... her murder is linked to her professional activities.
"Her type of professional activity is needed by any normal state. She did very useful things. She spoke the truth. She openly, sometimes harshly assessed some types of processes that occurred in our country, and this is the value of human rights workers, even if they are not comfortable," Medvedev said Thursday on a visit to Germany.
His host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, warned the killing could affect Russian-German relations.
"This is an unacceptable event, and especially if we want to intensify the relations between our two countries, it cannot remain unsolved," she said in a joint appearance with Medvedev.
Medvedev had earlier condemned the murder and said her killers should punished to the full extent of the law, his office said.
Estemirova shouted that she was being kidnapped, as she was forced into a white Lada automobile that had stopped on the road in front of her house on Wednesday morning, Orlov said.
An unidentified man grabbed her and shoved her into the car, Orlov told CNN.
Estemirova had spent years investigating human rights abuses in Chechnya, the restive Russian republic where Russian forces have fought two conflicts against separatists since 1991. Russia officially ended its military mission in Chechnya in April of this year.
The activist told CNN in 2007 she was investigating dozens of abductions and murders that had become the norm in Chechnya, where security forces were fighting a dirty war against separatist rebels.
She joins a growing list of journalists and activists killed after criticizing the Russian authorities, many of whose murders remain officially unsolved.
Top United States and European officials condemned the murder of Estemirova and demanded that the killers be brought to justice.
"Such a heinous crime sends a chilling signal to Russian civil society and the international community and illustrates the tragic deterioration of security and the rule of law in the North Caucasus over the last several months," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement.
"
|
[
"who was abducted outside her home in Grozny?",
"who condemned the murder?",
"Who was abducted?",
"Who is said the be involved in murder?",
"What condemn in Russia and Chechnya?",
"who says Chechen president was involved in murder?",
"Where Estemirova was kidnapped?"
] |
[
"Natalya Estemirova,",
"Medvedev",
"Estemirova,",
"Ramzan Kadyrov,",
"human rights abuses",
"Natalya Estemirova,",
"Chechnya"
] |
question: who was abducted outside her home in Grozny?, answer: Natalya Estemirova, | question: who condemned the murder?, answer: Medvedev | question: Who was abducted?, answer: Estemirova, | question: Who is said the be involved in murder?, answer: Ramzan Kadyrov, | question: What condemn in Russia and Chechnya?, answer: human rights abuses | question: who says Chechen president was involved in murder?, answer: Natalya Estemirova, | question: Where Estemirova was kidnapped?, answer: Chechnya
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- They headed to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow after news broke that Michael Jackson had died. And they're still coming.
Alexandra Belayeva, left, and Zhenya Iordanskaya visit the Michael Jackson memorial in Moscow.
Young Russian fans, some of whom don't even speak English, bring homemade signs, pictures and drawings of Jackson, Russian religious icons, candles, teddy bears -- all signs of how much they loved the singer.
"At first I couldn't believe it had happened," 23-year-old Zhenya Iordanskaya said. "I thought it was another rumor. My friend told me about it, and then I saw it on TV, on every channel. I was really in shock. And I still can't believe it."
Iordanskaya was standing in the rain Sunday with her friend Alexandra Belayeva, 20, looking at the shrine Jackson's fans have erected along the fence in front of the Embassy.
Iordanskaya says she was 8 when she first heard "Black or White."
"I didn't understand English, but the faces of all the different people really inspired me. And the fact that he dealt with all these issues, you really have to give him credit for that," Iordanskaya said.
Belayeva says she became a fan about three years ago.
"The way he lived his creative live really inspired me," she said. "I really got into him as a person. Because you can really see the soul of a person in their creativity, can't you? It was such a shame that people put him down so much."
Belayeva says she's still in shock over Jackson's death at his California home on June 25. "When I heard he had died, I really couldn't believe it. He was so close to us. Not one of us, but so close. He was unbelievably kind.
"It's so sad to lose a person like him. It's also so sad that he was so alone at the end of his life. People didn't understand him. But at least they recognized his genius during his life. Sometimes that doesn't happen."
Iordanskaya and Belayeva love to dance, and when they saw "Dangerous," they knew they had to try it out. "We studied his moves in that for days! We practiced. We really loved it!"
I ask the women to name their favorite Jackson songs. They roll their eyes. Where do you start? Iordanskaya starts with "Liberian Girl." "Also 'Earth Song.' "
"It's really powerful," she said, "the energy and the lyrics!"
On a rainy, cold day in Moscow, Iordanskaya and Belayeva say they still cry thinking that Jackson is no longer on Earth.
In the garden of flowers and mementos that sprouted almost overnight in front of the U.S. Embassy, next to eight flickering votive candles that make you feel as if you are in a Russian church, one fan has written a poem: "You're an angel flying into the distance, you're an angel, a carefree angel, flying into the distance."
|
[
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"What did young Russian fans erect?",
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"Where did Russian fan place a memorial?",
"Where was the memorial erected?"
] |
[
"\"I thought it was another rumor. My friend told me about it, and then I saw it on TV, on every channel. I was really in shock. And I still can't believe it.\"",
"shrine",
"23-year-old",
"Michael Jackson memorial in Moscow.",
"shrine",
"Michael Jackson",
"along the fence in front of the Embassy.",
"Moscow."
] |
question: What did zhenya say?, answer: "I thought it was another rumor. My friend told me about it, and then I saw it on TV, on every channel. I was really in shock. And I still can't believe it." | question: What was put up?, answer: shrine | question: What is Zhenya Iordanskaya's age?, answer: 23-year-old | question: What includes homemade drawings?, answer: Michael Jackson memorial in Moscow. | question: What did young Russian fans erect?, answer: shrine | question: What star died this week?, answer: Michael Jackson | question: Where did Russian fan place a memorial?, answer: along the fence in front of the Embassy. | question: Where was the memorial erected?, answer: Moscow.
|
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Two satellites, one Russian and one American, have collided some 800 kilometers (500 miles) above Siberia, the Russian and U.S. space agencies, said Thursday.
Debris from the collision poses no threat to the International Space Station.
The collision on Tuesday produced two large debris clouds, NASA said. The satellites collided at 10 kilometers (6 miles) per second, producing 500-600 new pieces of space debris, the U.S. Strategic Command said.
That debris is not believed to pose a threat to the International Space Station as long as the clouds continue moving in a lower orbit, according to NASA and the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos.
"There is some elevated risk, but it is considered to be very small to the ISS and to the other satellites that NASA has in orbit," NASA spokeswoman Beth Dickey told CNN. She said experts were still assessing the effects of the debris.
Mikhail Martirosov, from Russian mission control center, told Interfax news agency that the real threat from the debris will become obvious next week, once experts can calculate the trajectory of the fragments' descent.
"We have not received a warning of the possible danger to the ISS. The fragments may descend to the ISS orbit in several years, although I do not rule out that some fragments may go down within several days," Martirosov said.
The Russian satellite was launched in 1993 and had been out of service at the time of the collision, Roscosmos said.
The U.S. satellite was part of the Iridium global mobile communications system and is owned by a consortium headed by Motorola, the space agency said. It was launched in 1997.
Iridium said in a statement Wednesday it "expects to implement a network solution by Friday," and will "move one of its in-orbit spare satellites into the network constellation to permanently replace the lost satellite" within the next 30 days.
CNN is "one of the larger non-government users" of Iridium, said Arnie Christianson, operations manager for CNN Satellites and Transmission.
"We do rely on it for communication in high-risk areas like Iraq, Afghanistan, and other remote locations," he said.
"Because of this collision, there may be a slightly longer hole in the coverage from one satellite to the next, but only in a very small area and for a very small amount of time. This is a collision, not an internal failure of the satellite or the system."
The satellite crash may result in "brief, occasional outages" that may slightly disrupt service, Iridium said in the statement, adding "this event is not the result of a failure on the part of Iridium or its technology."
Christianson questioned how U.S. government, which tracks all space junk larger than a football, didn't see this coming. But he said the system will continue to work without any noticeable problems.
A representative of Iridium could not immediately be reached for comment.
NASA's Dickey said a collision like this one is very rare.
"This is the first impact between two intact satellites traveling at hypervelocity," she said. "There have been some other occasions when things have accidentally collided in space, but they have been parts of rockets or parts of satellites and (produced) a very small cloud."
Major Regina Winchester, of the U.S. Strategic Command, said: "Space is getting pretty crowded. The fact that this hasn't happened before -- maybe we were getting a little bit lucky."
Winchester said Strategic Command tracks more than 18,000 pieces of manmade objects in space every day.
"Any time there's an event that creates more debris, it's a concern," she said. "All countries who have assets in space are going to be concerned simply because when there's more debris, there's a higher chance it's going to hit something."
CNN's Yuri Pushkin in Moscow and Melissa Gray in London contributed to this report
|
[
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"Where did the satellites collide?"
] |
[
"The collision on Tuesday produced two large debris clouds,",
"500-600",
"Two satellites,",
"Two satellites,",
"impact between two intact satellites traveling at hypervelocity,\"",
"impact between two intact satellites traveling at hypervelocity,\"",
"800 kilometers"
] |
question: what says NASA?, answer: The collision on Tuesday produced two large debris clouds, | question: How much debris was there?, answer: 500-600 | question: What collided?, answer: Two satellites, | question: what was collied?, answer: Two satellites, | question: What was the frist of its kind?, answer: impact between two intact satellites traveling at hypervelocity," | question: What is believed to be the first of its kind?, answer: impact between two intact satellites traveling at hypervelocity," | question: Where did the satellites collide?, answer: 800 kilometers
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MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Two sentences inscribed above the refurbished entrance hall of Moscow's Kurskaya metro station are causing great agitation for survivors of Russian labor camps.Yuri Fidelgoldsh, who had five ribs removed after imprisonment six decades ago, is one of the offended survivors.
This slogan at a Moscow metro station has stirred controversy: "Stalin reared us on loyalty to the people."
"Stalin reared us on loyalty to the people," says the inscription above the pristine marble floors of the metro station. "He inspired us to labor and to heroism."
Fidelgoldsh, now 82, doesn't use the metro station much, but he has been there to see the restoration. When he invokes the name "Stalin," he gets angry. "For people who were imprisoned, punished and whose parents were killed, this is still in their hearts," Fidelgoldsh says.
Kremlin critics are outraged by the restored motto at the station. They say it's the latest attempt by the government to rehabilitate the image of Joseph Stalin, the late Soviet leader largely responsible for the division of Europe, the deaths of nearly 20 million people and the creator of the Eastern Bloc.
"I have no positive emotions towards Stalin," Fidelgoldsh adds. "He's a college dropout who went into politics and became a leader of a party which fit his needs. He didn't exactly impress me with his 'great' mind." Watch report on the rehabilitation of Stalin's image »
The phrase at the metro station came from the original Soviet national anthem, written in 1944 by Sergey Mikhalkov. During the de-Stalinization process that began under Nikita Khrushchev after Stalin's death in 1953, statues and other vestiges of his immense cult of personality were removed. In 1977, Mikhalkov rewrote the anthem to delete references to Stalin, and the metro station removed the original inscription of his words.
The entrance hall to the station underwent extensive renovation over the past year, complete with new columns and polished marble floors. It's located on the main metro line around the city's center, through which tens of thousands of commuters pass every day.
On a recent day, a woman named Nadia said she had no problem with the slogan honoring Stalin. She grew up after the fall of the Soviet Union and during the prosperous Putin years. "I think we shouldn't be ashamed because this is a part of our history. We have to somehow accept the history," said Nadia, who didn't want to give her last name.
The Kremlin declined comment for this story. Pavel Suharnikov, the press director for Moscow Metro, said, "We do not wish to discuss this matter anymore, but I will say that I don't see any political motivation behind the restoration of Kurskaya."
Travelers at the metro station first saw the words hailing Stalin at the start of 1950, when the station opened as one of the grand post-World War II constructions. It was contracted by Stalin himself.
"This metro station was built by prisoners of gulags who were in there for no reason, just because. They were the ones building this station. I think all of this is simply wrong," says Valeri M. Shevchenko, a musician, whose father suffered at the hands of Stalin's regime.
"They came in the morning, Stalin's police, took everyone outside and shot my grandfather in front of his family. My grandmother and her eight children, including my father who was 8 at the time, were sent to work camps. Only three children survived."
As Shevchenko looks around the metro station today, he shakes his head.
Irina Sherbakova, Moscow director of the Russian-based International Memorial Society, says this new "re-Stalinization" is a step back for democracy in Russia. "It's clear that our nation has declined to accept democracy and individual freedoms, as a principle."
The Memorial Society is a community of dozens of human rights organizations in different regions of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Georgia that formed in 1990.
|
[
"what is the reasoning for this",
"Which subway station was restored?",
"Who does the slogan hail?"
] |
[
"\"This metro station was built by prisoners of gulags who were in there",
"Moscow's Kurskaya",
"\"Stalin"
] |
question: what is the reasoning for this, answer: "This metro station was built by prisoners of gulags who were in there | question: Which subway station was restored?, answer: Moscow's Kurskaya | question: Who does the slogan hail?, answer: "Stalin
|
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