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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A 43-year-old woman convicted in the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on Wednesday ended her hunger strike after authorities agreed to review her demand for early release. Nalini Sriharan received a death sentence in 1991 for plotting to murder former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Nalini Sriharan, who has been in jail for 18 years, went on a fast Monday, said Jaya Bharathi, superintendent of Vellore prison in southern India. Convicted of plotting the murder of Gandhi in a suicide bomb attack in 1991, she received a death sentence along with her husband and two others. Sriharan's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on a mercy petition by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of the slain former prime minister. The other three remain on death row. In India, a lifer becomes eligible for early release after serving 14 years, Bharathi said. Authorities would consider setting up an advisory board on Sriharan's demand, Bharathi added. "She ended her fast today and had her breakfast and lunch," Bharathi told CNN. India accused Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels of ordering the killing of Rajiv Gandhi, who had sent Indian peacekeepers to the restive island nation while in power.
|
[
"What have authorities agreed?",
"How long has she been in jail?",
"How many years has Sriharan been incarcerated?",
"What did Sriharan start on Minday?",
"How long has the prisoner been in jail?",
"What age is the prisoner?",
"Is the case of Sriharan being reviewed?",
"What is the name of the prisoner?",
"What method is Sriharan using to get early release?"
] |
[
[
"to review her demand for early release."
],
[
"18 years,"
],
[
"18"
],
[
"Nalini Sriharan, who has been in jail for 18 years, went on a fast Monday,"
],
[
"18 years,"
],
[
"43-year-old"
],
[
"authorities agreed to review her demand for early release."
],
[
"Nalini Sriharan"
],
[
"hunger strike"
]
] |
Authorities have agreed to review case of 43-year-old prisoner Nalini Sriharan .
Sriharan started a hunger strike on Monday to seek early release from jail .
She has been in jail for 18 years, convicted of plotting murder of Rajiv Gandhi .
Former Indian PM Gandhi was killed in a suicide bomb attack in 1991 .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A Maoist group has claimed responsibility for the killing of a Hindu leader, whose death sparked a wave of Hindu-Christian riots in southern India.
Indian nuns protest against the recent violence which has seen Christians attacked.
Sabyasachi Panda, the head of the Communist Party of India-Maoist, told reporters of two private television stations that his group was behind the Hindu leader's death, the country's national news agency said Sunday.
The leader, Laxmananda Saraswati, preached the tenets of Hinduism to the tribal people of the state. And Panda said Maoists had earlier warned him to desist from "such works" or face consequences, PTI said.
Panda said the Maoists killed Saraswati because he was "spreading social unrest" in the tribal area, the news agency said.
The Indian government has consistently claimed the shooting death may have been the work of Maoist rebels.
But hardline Hindu groups blamed the state's Christian minority for Saraswati's death.
He and four others were killed in August when 20 to 30 gunmen barged into a Hindu school and began shooting.
Afterward, police arrested five Christians as suspects in the case.
The hardliners held up the arrests as proof of Christian complicity. They took to the streets in anger, rampaging through predominantly Christian neighborhoods, ransacking shops and torching houses.
A Christian orphanage was set on fire. A 20-year-old woman, who was teaching children inside, burned to death.
Christian resident fought back, and the clashes spread.
The communal violence left churches and temples razed to the ground. More than 20 people died, and hundreds were arrested.
Even after the Maoists' claim of responsibility, some fundamentalist Hindu groups blamed Christians for the death.
The hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council rejected the claim saying the communist group -- known as 'Naxals' -- did not have a religious agenda.
"Have the Maoists started fighting in the name of God now?" VHP leader Subansh Chauhan was quoted as saying by CNN-IBN, CNN's sister network.
The rebels, who claim to be fighting for the poor and the dispossessed, have been battling the government in an insurgency that has resulted in thousands of casualties since the late 1960s.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called Naxalism India's biggest security threat. Last year, more than 800 people were killed in Naxal-related violence across the country, according to local media reports.
CNN's Bharati Naik contributed to this report.
|
[
"What group claims responsibility for killing Hindu Leader?",
"What has India's PM called the Maoists?",
"Where were the riots?",
"What has Indias PM called the Maoists?",
"What was referenced as being the country's biggest security threat?",
"Who claimed responsibility for the killing?",
"Who claimed responsibility for killing the Hindu leader?",
"What has sparked riots in southern India?"
] |
[
[
"the Communist Party of India-Maoist,"
],
[
"biggest security threat."
],
[
"southern India."
],
[
"biggest security threat."
],
[
"Naxalism"
],
[
"Maoist group"
],
[
"Communist Party of India-Maoist,"
],
[
"the killing of a Hindu leader,"
]
] |
Maoist group claims responsibility for killing of Hindu leader .
His death sparked a wave of Hindu-Christian riots in southern India .
India's PM has called the Maoists the country's biggest security threat .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A Pakistani man using "colonel" as a title is one of about three dozen people wanted over November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, but his connections with the Pakistani army have not been established, Indian prosecutors say.
Police patrol in New Delhi last year following warnings of possible attacks using hijacked aircraft, officials said.
"This is all a matter of investigation," special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told CNN Thursday when asked if India thought he had links to the Pakistani army.
Neither is it clear whether the "colonel" belonged to the Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, which is blamed for the Mumbai siege, Nikam said.
But India, the public prosecutor added, had "ample evidence" of his involvement in the November attacks.
Authorities say Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving suspect accused of taking part in the Mumbai siege, faces a multitude of charges, including murder and attempted murder.
Speaking outside Qila Court in Mumbai, Nikam said Kasab didn't attend the hearing for security reasons. The next hearing is set for March 9.
A 21-year-old Pakistani, Kasab was one of 10 men accused of participating in the coordinated sieges on buildings such as the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and Oberoi-Trident hotels, Mumbai's historic Victoria Terminus train station and the Jewish cultural center, Chabad House.
Indian forces killed nine suspects. More than 160 people, including many foreigners, died during the three days of attacks that began November 26.
Authorities said Kasab was trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, which was banned in Pakistan in 2002 after a terrorist attack on India's parliament. The group denied responsibility.
Nikam said on Wednesday that the 50-page document describing the charges against Kasab also contains the names of 35 other suspects being sought in the crimes, many of whom are thought to be members of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
The prosecutor said his office hopes to finish the trial for Kasab in three to six months. He has been in police custody since November 28.
Also charged Wednesday were two men accused of helping to plan the violence, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, according to the prosecutor.
|
[
"How many suspects did the Indian forces kill?",
"What title did the Pakistani man use?",
"what Pakistani man using \"colonel\" as a title is wanted over?",
"what was he using",
"what Indian prosecutors say man's connections with?"
] |
[
[
"nine"
],
[
"\"colonel\""
],
[
"November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai,"
],
[
"\"colonel\" as a title"
],
[
"Pakistani army have not been established,"
]
] |
Pakistani man using "colonel" as a title is wanted over Mumbai attacks .
Indian prosecutors say man's connections with Pakistani army not established .
Authorities say only surviving suspect faces charges, including murder .
Indian forces killed 9 suspects; over 160 people died in November attacks .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A dilapidated building collapsed in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people who had defied orders to vacate the structure, a police spokesman told CNN. Rescue workers clear away debris after a building collapsed Wednesday in Mumbai, India. Another 26 people were injured and hospitalized, the spokesman said. Mumbai city officials had told residents living in the old building to leave it because of structural concerns. The chief minister of Maharashtra state, Vilasrao Deshmukh, visited the building hours after the collapse to pay his respects to the victims. Last July, another building collapse in Mumbai -- formerly Bombay -- killed 26 people.
|
[
"What is wrong with the building?",
"What were officials warning people about?",
"How many people are injured?",
"How many people were injured?",
"Who came to pay respects to the victims?",
"What was the number of people injured",
"Who paid their respects to the victims"
] |
[
[
"dilapidated"
],
[
"had told residents living in the old building to leave it because of structural concerns."
],
[
"26"
],
[
"26"
],
[
"Vilasrao Deshmukh,"
],
[
"26"
],
[
"Vilasrao Deshmukh,"
]
] |
Officials had warned people to leave building due to structural concerns .
At least 26 people injured as dilapidated building collapses .
Chief minister of Maharashtra state pays his respects to victims .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A high court in northern India on Friday acquitted a wealthy businessman facing the death sentence for the killing of a teen in a case dubbed "the house of horrors." Moninder Singh Pandher was sentenced to death by a lower court in February. The teen was one of 19 victims -- children and young women -- in one of the most gruesome serial killings in India in recent years. The Allahabad high court has acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher, his lawyer Sikandar B. Kochar told CNN. Pandher and his domestic employee Surinder Koli were sentenced to death in February by a lower court for the rape and murder of the 14-year-old. The high court upheld Koli's death sentence, Kochar said. The two were arrested two years ago after body parts packed in plastic bags were found near their home in Noida, a New Delhi suburb. Their home was later dubbed a "house of horrors" by the Indian media. Pandher was not named a main suspect by investigators initially, but was summoned as co-accused during the trial, Kochar said. Kochar said his client was in Australia when the teen was raped and killed. Pandher faces trial in the remaining 18 killings and could remain in custody, the attorney said.
|
[
"What was the amount of children murdered?",
"When was Pandher sentenced to death?",
"The court aquitted Moninder Singh Pandher of what crime?",
"who was acquitted",
"who was sentenced",
"What was Moninder Singh Pandher acquitted for?",
"Who was sentenced to death in February?",
"how many people died",
"How many children and young women were murdered?"
] |
[
[
"19"
],
[
"February."
],
[
"rape and murder"
],
[
"Moninder Singh Pandher"
],
[
"Moninder Singh Pandher"
],
[
"the killing of a teen"
],
[
"Moninder Singh Pandher"
],
[
"19"
],
[
"19"
]
] |
Court acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher for the killing of a teen .
14-year old was one of 19 children and young women murdered .
Pandher and a domestic employee sentenced to death in February by lower court .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A mob killed a Hindu man in the Indian state of Orissa Thursday as another group attacked a church in another part of the state's troubled Kandhamal district, authorities said Friday. Christian activists stage a peace march in Mumbai, India earlier this month. Krishan Kumar, Kandhamal's top administrative official, told CNN the Hindu man was hacked to death at Raikia. Orissa state, which is dominated by tribal people, borders the Bay of Bengal in east-central India, and Kandhamal is located in the center of the state, which has been racked by Hindu-Christian violence. Praveen Kumar, Kandhamal's superintendent of police, said an investigation is under way in both incidents, and did not say whether any suspects were being sought. Twenty-three civilians, excluding police, have died in the Hindu-Christian violence in Kandhamal this month, according to the administrator. "Arrests are continuing," Praveen Kumar said when asked how many people have been held so far in connection with the violence. The latest attacks occurred on a day when India's federal government called upon the state administration to take "effective, focused and firm measures" to control the conflicts. On Thursday, federal Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta asked the Orissa government to ensure effective deployment of paramilitaries in the state. -- CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"cause of death",
"What has been racked by Hindu-Christian violence?",
"How many civilians have died?",
"Where was the violence?"
] |
[
[
"hacked to"
],
[
"Orissa state,"
],
[
"Twenty-three"
],
[
"the Indian state of Orissa"
]
] |
Orissa state in east-central India has been racked by Hindu-Christian violence .
23 civilians have died in the state's troubled Kandhamal district this month .
Latest attacks follow calls for state to take firm measures to control conflict .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A portion of a partially built bridge for New Delhi's metro rail network collapsed Sunday, killing five people and injuring 15, authorities said. A crane clears away wreckage from a collapsed carriageway on Sunday in New Delhi, India. The crash occurred when a metal beam supporting pillars gave way, Delhi Metro Rail Corp. spokesman Anuj Dayal told CNN. Concrete slabs came crashing down, burying workers beneath, officials said. The dead included one site engineer, said Mohammad Akhlaque, police sub-inspector. The man in charge of building the Metro system offered to quit the project Sunday. "I take full moral responsibility for this accident. And having taken this moral responsibility, I have decided to resign as the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation," Elattuvalapil Sreedharan told a news conference. Sreedharan, 77, however, noted that Sunday's crash would set the metro project back by three months. New Delhi launched its metro system six years ago, a project that cut through India's bureaucratic red-tape that usually holds back big infrastructure programs. Construction on new lines has been proceeding at a frenzied pace as the city gets ready to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Hailed as a relief in India's traffic-congested capital, the metro has a tarnished safety record. Part of a another bridge being built to extend the rail system collapsed last October, pinning a bus underneath and killing its driver.
|
[
"what collapsed?",
"Where were five people killed?",
"How many were injured?",
"what caused the collapse",
"how many were killed",
"What happened to the bridge?",
"what was being built"
] |
[
[
"A portion of a partially built bridge for New Delhi's metro rail network"
],
[
"New Delhi, India."
],
[
"15,"
],
[
"metal beam supporting pillars gave way,"
],
[
"five"
],
[
"beam supporting pillars gave way,"
],
[
"bridge"
]
] |
Five killed, 15 injured when partially built bridge collapses in New Delhi .
Bridge was being built for city's metro rail network .
Collapse occurred when a metal beam supporting pillars gave way, official says .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A train collision in northern India killed at least 13 people early Wednesday. Indian Railway Protection Force personnel look at a damaged carriage after the collision Wednesday. The death toll remained uncertain. Railway officials said 13 people were killed and 15 injured in the crash. But the top administrative official of Mathura, where the collision occurred, put the number of dead at 21, with about as many injured. The Goa Express slammed into the stationary Mewar Express apparently because the driver overshot a signal to stop, said Anant Swaroop, spokesman for India's northern railway. Indian Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered an inquiry into the crash, according to CNN's sister station in India, CNN-IBN. The Goa Express, bound for New Delhi from the western coastal state of Goa, was running on the same track as the Mewar, which shuttles between New Delhi and Udaipur, in western Rajasthan state. Both trains have stops in Mathura, about 90 miles south of New Delhi. Rescuers had to cut trapped passengers from a wrecked car of the Mewar Express. The car had a special compartment for women, disabled passengers, cargo and train guards, said Aditya Verma, a senior police official in Mathura. Bannerjee said victims' relatives would receive compensation of about $10,000, according to CNN-IBN. Several other trains that go through the Mathura station had to be diverted. Trains are the most widely used mode of transportation for national travel in India. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh in New Delhi contributed to this report.
|
[
"what time did the accident happen",
"How many people were injured ?",
"Trains collided apparently because driver overshot what?",
"How many people were killed?",
"what did the driver do",
"according to railway official how many people died",
"how many were killed?"
] |
[
[
"early Wednesday."
],
[
"15"
],
[
"a signal to stop,"
],
[
"13"
],
[
"overshot a signal to stop,"
],
[
"said 13"
],
[
"at least 13 people"
]
] |
NEW: Railway officials say 13 people killed, 15 injured after trains collided .
NEW: Mathura official, where the collision occurred, put the number of dead at 21 .
Goa Express, apparently on the same track, hit Mewar about 5:30 a.m.
Railway spokesman: Trains collided apparently because driver overshot stop signal .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Air India took two pilots and two cabin crew off-duty over allegations that they had a fist fight during an international flight with 106 passengers aboard, the state-run airline said Monday. Faced with tough competition from private carriers, Air India has struggled with financial and image crises. The scuffle allegedly took place on flight from the United Arab Emirates to New Delhi, while the plane flew over Pakistan. An investigation had been launched into what Air India spokesman Jitender Bhargava called "charges and counter-charges." In a police complaint made on landing Saturday, a 24-year-old flight attendant alleged a molestation attempt. But pilots Ranbeer Arora and Aditya Chopra alleged that the molestation claim was an attempt to deflect attention from misbehavior by a male purser. Have you ever experienced poor crew behaviour on a flight? "All the four have been de-rostered and an inquiry committee is examining versions of each of them," Bhargava said. Faced with tough competition from private carriers, Air India has struggled with financial and image crises. Rats have been spotted on two Air India international flights in less than a month, according to news reports. An investigation in May revealed that the carrier had loaded a flight three passengers beyond capacity. Several employees were de-rostered as a result. "Privatize Air India before it's too late," warned a column in the Hindustan Times newspaper Sunday. "As long as the government runs Air India, it will continue to strangle it," columnist Vir Sanghvi wrote.
|
[
"What does the flight attendant allege happened?",
"What was the flight destination?",
"where did the scuffle take place",
"Which company has struggled with financial and image crises?",
"who has struggled with financial and image crises",
"What air carrier has struggled with financial and image crises?",
"who alleged a molestation attempt"
] |
[
[
"a molestation attempt."
],
[
"New Delhi,"
],
[
"on flight from the United Arab Emirates to New Delhi,"
],
[
"Air India"
],
[
"Air India"
],
[
"India"
],
[
"a 24-year-old flight attendant"
]
] |
Scuffle allegedly took place on flight from United Arab Emirates to New Delhi .
24-year-old flight attendant alleged a molestation attempt, which pilots refute .
Air India has struggled with financial and image crises .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An Indian paramilitary trooper shot dead six colleagues and fled his military camp with an AK-47 rifle in the remote northeastern state of Manipur, a spokesman for his unit said Thursday. Indian Assam Rifles paramilitary soldiers on duty in the eastern state of Manipur. "He shot dead one junior commissioned officer in a fit of rage after having an altercation with him and then turned the gun on five other troopers (who arrived at the scene)," said Shamsher Jung, the spokesman for the Assam Rifles. Authorities launched a manhunt for the trooper. The Assam Rifles are stationed in Manipur, on the India-Myanmar border, to combat some 30 active insurgent groups that are believed to be operating there. The rebels want a separate homeland and have accused the Indian government of exploiting the region's natural resources, while doing little in return to help the indigenous people who live there. In the last decade, thousands have died in separatist violence. -- CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"What was wrong with the trooper?",
"Who shot the officer?",
"Trooper was apart of what?",
"Where were they shot?",
"Who did he shoot?",
"Who had shot who in the event?",
"Where was he stationed?"
] |
[
[
"fit of rage"
],
[
"An Indian paramilitary trooper"
],
[
"paramilitary"
],
[
"remote northeastern state of Manipur,"
],
[
"six colleagues"
],
[
"An Indian paramilitary trooper"
],
[
"Manipur,"
]
] |
Trooper shot one junior commissioned officer in a fit of rage, spokesman said .
He then turned his gun on five other troopers who arrived on the scene .
Trooper part of Assam Rifles, stationed in Manipur on India-Myanmar border .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An Indian woman accused of being a witch was tied to a tree and beaten by a mob, with television footage of the incident aired in India on Friday. Villagers tied the woman to a tree after a man accused her of practicing black magic. Nishant Tiwari, a police official in northeastern India, said a journalist who filmed the beating called him Thursday to report the incident, which took place in the village of Dumaria in central eastern Bihar state. He arrived to find the woman tied to a tree, her hair partially cut and her complexion ruddy from being slapped. She had no serious injuries. "I was appalled at what I saw because people should be more socially responsible than to do this," Tiwari said. Authorities arrested six people, including the man who admitted to hiring her services as a witch. They were due to appear before a magistrate on Friday. Ram Ayodhya, who could face up to seven years in prison for his role in the attack, told police he was justified in beating the woman, Tiwari said. Graphic content warning: Villagers beat woman » Ayodhya said he paid her to use magic and prayer to improve his wife's health. When his wife's condition deteriorated, Ayodhya accused her of performing black magic, Tiwari said, and a crowd soon gathered and tied her to the tree. The woman seen being attacked is expected to testify when the suspects appear before the magistrate. Tiwari said he was disturbed by the fact that a journalist filmed the incident before contacting authorities. "The media filmed the incident, then called the police -- instead of the police first," Tiwari said. CNN's partner network, CNN-IBN, reported that the incident took place close to the local police station. It reported that there had been other such occurrences of mob justice in the state. In Bhagalpur district in August 2007, a man caught trying to snatch a woman's chain was beaten up, with police looking on, and later tied to a motorcycle and dragged around by a police officer. In September, in Lucknow's Wazirganj area, an angry mob beat a man to death after a 2½-year old girl was allegedly found sexually assaulted and murdered in his house. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Who was accused of being witch?",
"Who admitted to hiring her services as a witch?",
"Who called the police?",
"what was accused India?"
] |
[
[
"An Indian woman"
],
[
"Ram Ayodhya,"
],
[
"journalist"
],
[
"being a witch"
]
] |
Indian woman accused of being witch is tied to a tree and beaten by a mob .
Journalist filmed incident, aired on Friday, and then called the police .
Police say woman's hair partially cut and she was slapped, but no serious injuries .
Six arrested, including the man who admitted to hiring her services as a witch .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- At least 43 people are feared dead after a massive mudslide swept away three hamlets in northern India, authorities said Sunday. Two small villages were completely destroyed Saturday while one was partially knocked down, said Manoj Pande, a senior disaster management official in Pithoragarh district. Rescuers have pulled 15 bodies from the debris and many more may have been swept into the river, Pande said. More than 2.9 million people in India have been affected by floods since June, according to federal officials. Yearly monsoon rains sweep across the subcontinent from June till September. Though they bring much-needed relief to often-parched farmlands, they also leave a trail of landslides, home collapses and often fatal floods.
|
[
"What were affected by recent mudslides in India?",
"since what month have been afected the millions of people in India?",
"how many hamlets were afected by the recent mudslide in India?",
"What is feared of the 43 people?",
"Who have been affected by floods since June?",
"been affected by floods since June, officials say"
] |
[
[
"2.9 million people"
],
[
"June,"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"dead"
],
[
"More than 2.9 million people in India"
],
[
"India"
]
] |
Three hamlets affected by recent mudslide in India .
At least 43 people are feared dead .
Millions in India have been affected by floods since June, officials say .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- At least 441 people have died in floods in India from this season's monsoon rains, federal authorities said in their latest report.
An Indian child plays in a flooded street in Mumbai earlier this month.
Flooding has affected more than 1.5 million people in parts of India, said the disaster management division of the federal home ministry.
The country's main weather office has warned of more heavy rain in western and central parts of India.
Monsoon rains sweep across the subcontinent from June till September. Though they bring much-needed relief to often-parched farmlands, they also leave a trail of landslides, home collapses and floods that can kill.
In neighboring Pakistan, torrential monsoon rains left more than three dozen people dead and broke a 32-year record over the weekend.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"Were there anyone injured",
"what is the count of dead"
] |
[
[
"441 people have died"
],
[
"At least 441"
]
] |
7 die as bus carrying 40 passengers sinks in overflowing canal in eastern India .
7-year-old girl and her mother among the dead .
Bus driver ignored warnings from his passengers about flooding in canal .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- At least 441 people have died in floods in India from this season's monsoon rains, federal authorities said in their latest report. An Indian child plays in a flooded street in Mumbai earlier this month. Flooding has affected more than 1.5 million people in parts of India, said the disaster management division of the federal home ministry. The country's main weather office has warned of more heavy rain in western and central parts of India. Monsoon rains sweep across the subcontinent from June till September. Though they bring much-needed relief to often-parched farmlands, they also leave a trail of landslides, home collapses and floods that can kill. In neighboring Pakistan, torrential monsoon rains left more than three dozen people dead and broke a 32-year record over the weekend. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"who was among the dead",
"How many died in the accident?",
"What was the total number of fatalities?"
] |
[
[
"441 people"
],
[
"441"
],
[
"441"
]
] |
7 die as bus carrying 40 passengers sinks in overflowing canal in eastern India .
7-year-old girl and her mother among the dead .
Bus driver ignored warnings from his passengers about flooding in canal .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Authorities were carrying out raids at medical stores in India's western Gujarat state for bogus drugs and recycled syringes after a hepatitis B outbreak left 32 people dead, officials said Saturday. Hepatitis-B patient Mahir Husain, center, is comforted at The Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, Wednesday. Five medical practitioners were also arrested for violations, said Malayappan Thennarasan, the top administrator of the state's Sabarkantha district. One of those arrested is being held for allegedly reusing injection syringes, Thennarasan said. Health authorities have recorded 111 cases of hepatitis B infection in the district over the past two weeks, he added. "Of them, 32 have died," he said. Health officials have launched an awareness campaign in the district, Thennarasan said this week. Hepatitis B is a contagious liver disease resulting from infection with the hepatitis B virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It usually spreads through blood, semen, or other bodily fluids, often through sexual contact or sharing needles or syringes with an infected person, the CDC says. The disease can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, chronic illness resulting in long-term health problems or death, according to the CDC.
|
[
"What caused the outbreak?",
"how many people died?",
"what Officials record 111 cases of the disease?",
"where The victims died in the state of Gujarat in western?",
"how many cases are there?"
] |
[
[
"bogus drugs"
],
[
"32"
],
[
"Health authorities"
],
[
"The Civil Hospital,"
],
[
"Health authorities have recorded 111"
]
] |
An outbreak of contagious liver disease hepatitis B kills 32 people in India .
The victims died in the state of Gujarat in western India in the past two weeks .
Officials record 111 cases of the disease in the Sabarkantha district .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Doctors say an encephalitis outbreak has killed 130 people -- mostly children -- in northern India since January. The outbreak of acute encephalitis -- an inflammation of brain tissue -- is mostly concentrated in eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh, said V.S. Nigam, the state's nodal officer for tackling the disease. He told CNN that 640 patients had tested positive for the infection, including 30 with Japanese encephalitis, which is spread by mosquitoes. Acute encephalitis can be spread in various ways, including a bacterial or viral infection; the ingesting of toxic substances; and complications of a disease. The disease has mostly struck children up to 15 years old, Nigam added.
|
[
"What is an inflammation of brain tissue called?",
"where have these people been killed",
"who many people have been killed",
"Where did the outbreaks occur?",
"what outbreak has killed 130 people",
"What parts of Uttar Pradesh was the outbreak concentrated in?",
"What caused the outbreaks?"
] |
[
[
"Acute encephalitis"
],
[
"northern India"
],
[
"130"
],
[
"in northern India"
],
[
"an encephalitis"
],
[
"eastern"
],
[
"mosquitoes."
]
] |
Encephalitis outbreak has killed 130 people in northern India since January .
Outbreak is mostly concentrated in eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh .
Encephalitis, an inflammation of brain tissue, mostly affecting children under 15 .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Expanded testing across India in the past three years shows a 2,000 percent jump in the number of HIV cases among children, the country's health minister announced Wednesday. An HIV-positive Indian child at a government treatment center. More than 14,000 children get free care. In November 2006, health authorities counted 2,253 children in India with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Ghulam Nabi Azad told parliament. The number went up to a "cumulative total" of 52,973 in May this year, he said. The huge increase in the number of confirmed cases may be due to the expanded testing for the virus. India, home to more than a billion people, currently has 217 facilities for HIV/AIDS treatment and 5,155 counseling and testing centers. The minister insisted that overall, HIV prevalence had decreased in India from 0.45 percent in 2002 to 0.34 percent in 2007. At present, 758,698 HIV-positive patients are being treated under the country's AIDS control program, Azad said. More than 232,908 AIDS patients, including 14,474 children, are receiving free treatment at the designated facilities, he added. Authorities say mother-to-child transmission is a major source of infection among children. Last year, 19,986 pregnant women among more than 4 million tested were found to be HIV-positive, said Azad. Of them, 10,179 received treatment to prevent transmission to their babies.
|
[
"In which country has there been this increase?",
"What may the increase be due to?",
"What is a possible reason for the increase in confirmed cases?",
"What group has had a 2000% increase in HIV?",
"Where was testing done?",
"What jumped 2000 percent?"
] |
[
[
"India"
],
[
"expanded testing for the virus."
],
[
"expanded testing"
],
[
"children in India"
],
[
"across India"
],
[
"HIV cases among children,"
]
] |
Expanded testing across India shows 2,000 percent jump in child HIV cases .
Increase in confirmed cases may be due to the expanded testing .
Number up from 2,253 in 2006 to 52,973, according to statistics .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Facing intense government pressure, Indian oil workers agreed to call off a three-day strike and go back to work, the Oil and Petroleum Ministry announced.
Long queues at gas stations have become a common sight across India in recent days.
The workers ended the strike Friday, after the government threatened to suspend, fire or arrest workers who did not return to their jobs.
The impact of the strike had been felt across all major cities in India, including Mumbai and New Delhi, where motorists waited in long lines to purchase fuel. Police had been called in to maintain order at many stations.
Power plants that rely on gas ran out, causing power cuts, and airlines were forced to delay flights.
Some 45,000 workers walked off the job at the government-controlled oil companies Wednesday after the government refused their demands for higher pay.
India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram had called on workers to end the strike immediately, saying it was "placing an intolerable burden on the people."
He had said the army could be called in if the crisis deepened.
Meanwhile, a separate nationwide strike by truck operators entered its sixth day, with some truck operators saying arrested strikers had to be released before talks could take place, the Press Trust of India reported.
Five All India Motor Transport Congress leaders were arrested Friday on charges of disrupting the supply of commodities, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.
"We will not give up our agitation and will not hold any talks with the government until we are released unconditionally," AIMTC Secretary-General S. Venugopal told the news service.
The AIMTC is demanding a reduction in diesel and tire prices, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.
On Saturday, the transport minister, Thiru T.R. Baalu, said the government was "ready to discuss" the truck operators' demands, the news service reported.
However, he warned the government could suspend or revoke workers' permits, according to a summary of his remarks released by the government.
-- CNN's Sara Sidner and Bharati Naik contributed to this report.
|
[
"How many workers walked off the job at govt.-controlled companies Wednesday?",
"Government had refused their demands for what?",
"Workers ended strike after govt. threats to what?",
"Who were protesting?",
"Where was the strike?",
"Whad government had refused their demands",
"What workers ended the strike"
] |
[
[
"45,000"
],
[
"higher pay."
],
[
"suspend, fire or arrest"
],
[
"Indian oil workers"
],
[
"in India,"
],
[
"India's"
],
[
"Indian oil"
]
] |
Workers ended strike after govt. threats to suspend, fire or arrest workers .
Impact of the strike had been felt across all major cities in India .
45,000 workers walked off the job at govt.-controlled companies Wednesday .
Government had refused their demands for higher pay .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Flashback to 1984: As a child, I am glued to my family's black-and-white television set for our daily dose of evening entertainment and news on India's national broadcaster. India holds its first rocket launch from a fishing village in southern India on November 21, 1963. But this is no ordinary newscast: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is speaking via videolink with astronaut Rakesh Sharma, who is aboard a space station. Indian pride soared as Squadron Leader Sharma, an Indian Air Force pilot, became the first in the nation to explore the celestial realm, part of a joint mission with what was then the Soviet Union. I don't remember what show it was, but it etched India's "astronomical feat" in the minds of those who watched it, including a 10-year-old like me. But the Indian connection to space was much older than that milestone. In the country's space calendar, November 21, 1963, is a key date: It marks the first rocket launch from a fishing village in southern India. Nike-Apache, a two-stage sounding rocket imported from the United States, took off that day from Thumba, a site that eventually became a favorite location for similar experiments by international scientists. So far, there have been some 2,200 sounding-rocket launches from that facility, according to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center. But the South Asian nation's space program has been far more expansive -- the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has more than 60 events that it lists as "milestones" since 1962-63, which includes the successful use of polar and geosynchronous satellite launch vehicles. See India's space odyssey in photos » Fast forward to 2008: The country launches its first unmanned mission to the Moon in what is being seen as the 21st-Century, Asian version of the space race between the United States and the USSR -- but this time the two nations involved are India and China. In September of that same year, a Chinese astronaut took a spacewalk, his country's first. A month later, India sent Chandrayaan-1 -- Chandrayaan means "moon craft" in Sanskrit -- on a two-year mission to take high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the lunar surface, especially the permanently-shadowed polar regions. The craft, carrying payloads from the United States, the European Union and Bulgaria, will search for evidence of water or ice and attempt to identify the chemical composition of certain lunar rocks. Nonetheless, India maintains competition does not drive its space program. Vikram Sarabhai, seen as the father of India's space program, made this case for government funding of the program in the 1960s: "We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically-advanced nations in the exploration of the Moon or the planets or manned space-flight," Sarabhai said, according to ISRO's Website. "But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society," said Sarabhai, in what the agency described as a "vision" for India's space endeavors. Earlier this year, the Indian government increased the federal budget for space research to around $1 billion from some $700 million, ISRO spokesman S. Satish told CNN, as scientists propose to send astronauts into space by 2015 on solely Indian missions. ISRO was also studying the feasibility of sending a manned craft to the Moon by 2020, Satish said, adding that plans for unmanned Mars missions in the coming years have not been finalized. The space agency dropped a TV-sized probe on the Moon last November that it said sent sufficient signals to the mother craft before a crash landing. But the country's space ambitions are not limited to public research endeavors, Satish said. "We have just entered the commercial satellite launch market," he said, including what ISRO noted is now the
|
[
"How many events does the Indian space group list?",
"Which asian countries are involved in a space race",
"When does India launch it s first unmanned mission?",
"when did india launch its first rocket",
"When did India make its first rocket launch?",
"When did India launch its first unmanned mission to the moon?",
"when will india launch its first mission to the moon",
"How many milestones did the Indian space group list?"
] |
[
[
"60"
],
[
"India and China."
],
[
"2008:"
],
[
"November 21, 1963."
],
[
"November 21, 1963."
],
[
"2008:"
],
[
"November 21, 1963."
],
[
"more than 60"
]
] |
India made its first rocket launch on November 21, 1963 .
Indian space group list more than 60 events it considers "milestones"
India launches its first unmanned mission to the moon in 2008 .
The South Asian nation is seen as being in an Asian space race with China .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Flight attendant Sheela Joshi is 5 feet, 4 inches and 148 pounds. Air India has strict weight parameters that all attendants must meet. When they don't, the airline grounds them. Her employer, Air India, says she is too fat to fly. Joshi, 50, has been an air hostess -- as they are still called in India -- for the national airline for 26 years. But she's been grounded because the airline has done away with its wiggle room on weight. Until two years ago, Air India allowed an attendant's weight to vary within 6.6 pounds (3 kilograms) of a specified limit. It has since put in place strict weight parameters that all attendants must meet. When they don't, the airline grounds them without pay until they shed the excess pounds. The airline says that someone who is Sheila's age, height and weight should weigh 143 pounds (65 kilograms). She misses the mark by 5 pounds. "It's very demoralizing," Joshi told CNN. "And ... it's quite humiliating." "Weight is always on my mind," she added. "They can tell you, 'You look overweight. Please go.'" Joshi and 12 other grounded attendants sued the airline for weight discrimination. Air India fought back, saying the employees knew the job requirements when they signed up and didn't express concern. Watch airline defend its position » Furthermore, it said, appearance and physical fitness are vital parts of an attendant's job. "(A) safety concern is also there," said Air India's lawyer, Rupinder Singh Suri. "Because it's a high action job. And in case of emergencies, the person has to accelerate and move at a very, very fast pace." Weight used to be a consideration for airlines in the United States, as well. Then, a series of weight-discrimination lawsuits forced carriers to do away with it. Now "most airlines want candidates with weight proportionate to height," according to the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Outlook Handbook. In the India case, the airline hasn't deemed any of the attendants medically unfit -- just over the weight limit. Their attorney contends the move is actually about getting rid of older, well-compensated women in favor of younger ones who will do the job for less money. "They have spent their entire life working for Indian airlines," said lawyer Arvind Sharma. "They were small girls when they came in now. They are 45-plus and they feel bad." The Delhi High Court recently sided with Air India in the case. Joshi's attorney has vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, Joshi and some of her colleagues say they aren't taking any chances. They are going on diets to get airborne again.
|
[
"what is weight limit in india",
"What forced U.S. carriers to do away with weight limits?",
"Until when did Air India allow an attendant's weight to vary within 6.6 pounds?",
"In what country arethe attendants not deemed medically unfit -- just over the weight limit?"
] |
[
[
"143 pounds"
],
[
"weight-discrimination lawsuits"
],
[
"two years ago,"
],
[
"India"
]
] |
Until two years ago, Air India allowed an attendant's weight to vary within 6.6 pounds .
Weight-discrimination lawsuits forced U.S. carriers to do away with weight limits .
In India, the attendants are not deemed medically unfit -- just over the weight limit .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Hundreds of Indian army troops were using helicopters and boats Wednesday to deliver supplies and rescue villagers stranded by the worst flooding in decades, after the Kosi River breached an embankment in Nepal to the north. The death toll in the hard-to-reach Bihar state in northeastern India has been difficult to determine. Bihar emergency management official K.K. Agarwal confirmed 10 deaths to CNN on Wednesday, but the news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported 55. Phone lines and electricity are out in the flooded areas. In the Supaul district city of Birpur, Mohd Rauffudin's hopes were fading. He told IBN -- a CNN partner station in India -- that while he was trying to stay afloat, he lost contact with his wife and children, as well as his nine brothers and his parents. "I wish the help had reached (us) on time. That way at least my children could have been safe," he said. A woman who called herself Ruby told IBN her baby has been sick for four days, she can't reach medical help and she has lost track of her family. "My child is so ill. I cannot do a thing about it. I wonder what I did wrong that my child must suffer," the mother said. The flooding began when the river burst through an embankment in Nepal more than a week ago, swallowing villages and destroying about 225,000 homes, officials and UNICEF India said. Water flowed so forcefully from the breach that the river changed course, making a new channel about 75 miles (120km) east of its river bed, flooding areas unaccustomed to water that high. Watch survivors find safety on roofs » Agarwal said the disaster affected about 2 million people and 725 villages in Bihar, India's poorest state. Ninety-five relief shelters had been set up, 44 health-care camps and 22 shelters for animals, he said. Army spokesman Lt. Col. A. K. Mathur said 400 troops were involved in rescue operations, and the military had dispatched at least 20 rescue boats. Three army helicopters were dropping thousands of food packets, he said. PTI reported earlier in the day that bad weather had prevented Indian air force choppers from conducting relief drops in the worst-hit districts of Bihar: Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Madhepura. Officials told CNN it was the worst flooding in Bihar in 80 years. Watch more on people stranded » The Kosi is known to Indians as the "River of Sorrow" because of its flooding during the monsoon season, which lasts from June to September. The river flows into the Hindu-revered Ganges River. Video has shown residents huddled atop low-rise buildings, standing in waist-high water in the streets and trying to escape in boats. The flooding has submerged roads and railway tracks, and cut off electricity.
|
[
"what was the tragedy",
"how many people died",
"In what country did this disaster take place?",
"what supplies are delivered",
"How many homes were reported destroyed by flooding?",
"What did the troops use to deliver supplies?",
"how many shelters were set up?",
"how many homes were destroyed?"
] |
[
[
"worst flooding in decades,"
],
[
"55."
],
[
"India"
],
[
"food packets,"
],
[
"225,000"
],
[
"helicopters and boats"
],
[
"22"
],
[
"225,000"
]
] |
Indian army troops use helicopters, boats to deliver supplies, rescue villagers .
NEW: Survivor says he lost wife, children, parents, nine brothers .
India says more than 2 million affected, 225,000 homes destroyed by flooding .
Ninety-five relief shelters and 44 health-care camps set up .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India Friday announced it has banned import of Chinese toys for six months. The move was announced by India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade of the Commerce Ministry. The ministry notification gave no reason for the six-month ban effective immediately. In 2007, there were recalls in the United States of Chinese-made toys over concerns of excessive amount of lead paint. Also that year, China suspended export of a bead toy that was contaminated with a "date rape" drug, Chinese media reported. Some children who swallowed the beads vomited and lost consciousness.
|
[
"What did India say?",
"What was the reason",
"What year were the recalls on Chinese products?",
"Which country banned imported toys from China?",
"How long was the ban for?",
"When did this happen?"
] |
[
[
"it has banned import of Chinese toys for six months."
],
[
"concerns of excessive amount of lead paint."
],
[
"2007,"
],
[
"India"
],
[
"six months."
],
[
"2007,"
]
] |
India say it has banned import of Chinese toys for six months .
No reason given for embargo .
Move follows 2007 recalls in the U.S. on Chinese products .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India launched its first lunar mission on Wednesday, with hopes of achieving high-resolution images of the moon's topography and diving into the international space race. The spacecraft carrying India's first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, lifts off in Sriharikota on Wednesday. The unmanned lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1, or "moon craft" in ancient Sanskrit, came at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday (8:50 p.m. ET) from the Sriharikota space center in southern India. The two-year mission seeks high-resolution imaging of the moon's surface, especially the permanently shadowed polar regions, according to the Indian Space Research Organization. It will also search for evidence of water or ice and attempt to identify the chemical breakdown of certain lunar rocks, the group said. Despite the numerous missions to the moon over the past 50 years, "we really don't have a good map of the moon," said Miles O'Brien, CNN chief technology and environment correspondent. "The goal is to come up with a very intricate, three-dimensional map of the moon." The Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads from the United States, European Union countries Germany, Britain, Sweden and Bulgaria, and India plans to share the data from the mission with other programs, including NASA. Watch the launch of India's first lunar mission » ISRO said on its Web site that the mission would lay the groundwork for future lunar missions and "probe the physical characteristics of the lunar surface in greater depth than previous missions by other nations." "It will also give us a deeper understanding about the planet Earth itself or its origins," a statement on the Web site said. "Earlier missions did not come out with a full understanding of the moon and that is the reason scientists are still interested. This will lay the foundation for bigger missions and also open up new possibilities of international networking and support for planetary programs." Until now, India's space launches have been more practical, with weather warning satellites and communiations systems, The Associated Press cited former NASA associated administrator Scott Pace as saying. To date, only the U.S. Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China have sent missions to the moon, according to AP. Critics of the mission have questioned its $80 million price tag, saying the money should have been spent by the government to improve education and fight poverty. But, "there are scientists that would argue that there are plenty of things we don't know about the moon ... and India might have the know-how" to find answers, said CNN's Sara Sidner in New Delhi. The United States and the Soviet Union dominated the field of lunar exploration from the late 1950s. The United States is preparing for its own mission slated for next spring -- the first U.S. lunar mission in more than a decade, according to NASA. Soviet spacecraft were the first to fly by, land on and orbit the moon. Luna 1, launched on January 2, 1959, and sped by the moon two days later. Luna 2 was launched on an impact mission on September 12, 1959, striking the surface two days later. Luna 9 launched on January 31, 1966, becoming the first craft to successfully land on the moon and send back data, touching down on the surface on January 31, 1966, and transmitting until February 3, 1967, when its batteries ran out. Luna 10 was launched March 31, 1966, entered lunar orbit on April 3, and operated for 56 days. But the United States' Apollo missions were the first manned missions to reach the moon, culminating with six missions that set down on the surface. The first, Apollo 11, left earth on July 16, 1969, and landed astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the lunar surface on July 20 while command module pilot Michael Collins orbited above. The astronauts returned safely to earth on July 24. Most recently India's fellow Asian nations, China and Japan, put lunar orbiters in place. Japan launched the Kaguya orbiter in October 2007, followed by China
|
[
"What follows Japan and China's missions to the moon?",
"What does Chandrayaan mean in Sanskrit?",
"What does the two-year mission seek?",
"What is carrying payloads",
"Chandrayaan-1 follows which countries missions to the mooon?",
"How long is the mission?",
"One of the countries Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads from?",
"What does Chandrayaan mean?"
] |
[
[
"India"
],
[
"\"moon craft\""
],
[
"high-resolution imaging of the moon's surface,"
],
[
"The Chandrayaan-1"
],
[
"China and Japan,"
],
[
"two-year"
],
[
"United States,"
],
[
"\"moon craft\""
]
] |
NEW: Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads from the U.S., EU and Bulgaria .
Two-year mission seeks high-resolution, 3-D imaging of the moon's surface .
Chandrayaan-1 follows Japan and China's missions to the moon .
Chandrayaan means "moon craft" in ancient Sanskrit .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels to "release" civilians, who it said numbered about 70,000 in Sri Lanka's war zone.
A Sri Lankan soldier poses in front of a Tamil Tigers emblem in the rebel group's former military headquarters.
India is ready to help evacuate them, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Indian parliament.
"Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now. The LTTE were reportedly using them as human shields," he said, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers.
"As the conflict enters what may be the final phase of military operations, the LTTE would best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all civilians and laying down arms," Mukherjee added.
He noted that some civilians had either been caught in cross-fire or "stopped and even killed" by Tamil rebels as they tried to escape.
Government troops and the Tamil Tigers are locked in a battle over the rebels' remaining territory in northern Sri Lanka's Vanni region.
The rebels have been fighting for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the region as government forces have advanced and rebels have been pushed into a smaller and smaller patch of land.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"What did India estimate?",
"What do the Tamil Tigers want?",
"What is India urging Tamil Tiger rebels to do?",
"Number India estimates are trapped in the region by the conflict?",
"How many are estimated to be trapped?",
"What does India urge?",
"What is happening to 70,000 people?",
"Who did India urge to allow civilians to leave?",
"What other country is communicating with the Tamil Tigers?",
"Who locked in battle?"
] |
[
[
"\"Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now."
],
[
"an independent homeland for the country's ethnic"
],
[
"\"release\" civilians,"
],
[
"70,000"
],
[
"vary, but 70,000 or so are"
],
[
"urged Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels to \"release\" civilians,"
],
[
"trapped"
],
[
"Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels"
],
[
"India"
],
[
"Government troops and the"
]
] |
India urges Tamil Tiger rebels to allow civilians to leave Sri Lankan war zone .
Sri Lankan troops, Tamil fighters locked in battle for control of rebels' territory .
India estimates up to 70,000 are trapped in the region by the conflict .
Tamil Tigers have been fighting for independent homeland since 1983 .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels to "release" civilians, who it said numbered about 70,000 in Sri Lanka's war zone.
A Sri Lankan soldier poses in front of a Tamil Tigers emblem in the rebel group's former military headquarters.
India is ready to help evacuate them, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Indian parliament.
"Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now. The LTTE were reportedly using them as human shields," he said, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers.
"As the conflict enters what may be the final phase of military operations, the LTTE would best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all civilians and laying down arms," Mukherjee added.
He noted that some civilians had either been caught in cross-fire or "stopped and even killed" by Tamil rebels as they tried to escape.
Government troops and the Tamil Tigers are locked in a battle over the rebels' remaining territory in northern Sri Lanka's Vanni region.
The rebels have been fighting for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the region as government forces have advanced and rebels have been pushed into a smaller and smaller patch of land.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"where was the conflict",
"Who has been fighting for independent homeland since 1983?",
"What is the estimate of people trapped in the region by conflict?",
"What is India urging the Tamil Tiger rebels to do?",
"when Tamil Tigers have been fighting for independent?"
] |
[
[
"Sri Lanka's war zone."
],
[
"The rebels"
],
[
"70,000"
],
[
"\"release\" civilians,"
],
[
"since 1983."
]
] |
India urges Tamil Tiger rebels to allow civilians to leave Sri Lankan war zone .
Sri Lankan troops, Tamil fighters locked in battle for control of rebels' territory .
India estimates up to 70,000 are trapped in the region by the conflict .
Tamil Tigers have been fighting for independent homeland since 1983 .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India's child-rights watchdog has sought a report from police investigating allegations by a tabloid that the father of a "Slumdog Millionaire" child star tried to sell her to an undercover reporter, the watchdog's leader told CNN. Rubina Ali has backed her father over newspaper allegations he offered her to an undercover reporter. "We have sought a report from them and will take a decision after seeing it," said Shantha Sinha, who heads the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Meanwhile, authorities in Mumbai have recorded the statements of Rafiq Qureshi; his "Slumdog" daughter, Rubina Ali; and his former wife, Khurshida Begum, senior police inspector Prakash Salunke told CNN. Qureshi has denied allegations made in Britain's News of the World that he tried to sell 9-year-old Rubina for £200,000 ($290,000), Salunke said. In her statement, the child-actor favored her father, according to the police. Qureshi's former wife, whom he divorced several years ago, endorsed the allegations leveled against him by the British newspaper. Police are investigating, Salunke said. "Slumdog Millionaire" won eight Oscars this year, including best picture. Director Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches movie tells the story of a tea-boy at a Mumbai call center who earns a spot in the Indian version of the quiz show "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" He raises the suspicion of the show's host when, despite the lack of a formal education, he begins to answer the increasingly difficult questions with ease. The movie is set largely among the poverty-stricken districts of Mumbai, which is home to Rubina and other "Slumdog" child stars in real life.
|
[
"What allegations is the father denying?",
"What are Indian police investigating?",
"What is the father of Rubina Ali being accused of?"
] |
[
[
"that he tried to sell 9-year-old Rubina for £200,000 ($290,000),"
],
[
"allegations by a tabloid"
],
[
"tried to sell her to an undercover reporter,"
]
] |
Indian child-rights watchdog requests police report on alleged offer to sell child star .
Father of "Slumdog's" Rubina Ali, 9, alleged to have offered her to undercover reporter .
Father has denied allegations in UK newspaper; Indian police are investigating .
"Slumdog Millionaire" used real children from poor neighborhoods of Mumbai .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India's financial capital of Mumbai was put on a high-tide alert with officials expecting a water rise of up to 197 inches (5 meters). High tides lash the coast near the Gateway of India in Mumbai on Thursday. Sea tides are expected to rise 5 meters Friday, 4.9 meters Saturday and 4.7 meters Sunday, according to a bulletin by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. "We have installed water pumps along the coast and advise the people to avoid beaches," said Jagtab, an official at the disaster management control room. Floodgates may also be closed in case the threat mounts, he added. High tides are also forecast from August 19 to 23. At least 467 people have died in floods in India from this season's monsoon rains, federal authorities said in their latest report. Flooding has affected about 1.7 million people in parts of India, according to the disaster management division of the federal home ministry. The country's main weather office has warned of heavy rains in western and central parts of India.
|
[
"When we're high tides also forecast?",
"what is the name of india's financial capital",
"Up to what did officials expect a water rise of?",
"What has been put on high-tide alert?",
"will sea tides also rise by a large amount",
"To how high were sea tides expected to rise?",
"to what extent will the water rise be",
"What do the officials expect to happen with the water?",
"What is expected of the sea tides?"
] |
[
[
"from August 19 to 23."
],
[
"Mumbai"
],
[
"197 inches (5 meters)."
],
[
"India's financial capital of Mumbai"
],
[
"are expected to"
],
[
"5 meters Friday, 4.9 meters Saturday and 4.7 meters Sunday,"
],
[
"197 inches (5 meters)."
],
[
"rise of up"
],
[
"to rise 5 meters Friday, 4.9 meters Saturday and 4.7 meters Sunday,"
]
] |
India's financial capital of Mumbai put on a high-tide alert .
Officials expect a water rise of up to 197 inches (5 meters)
Sea tides expected to rise 5 meters Friday, 4.9 meters Saturday, 4.7 meters Sunday .
High tides also forecast from August 19 to 23 .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India's lower house of parliament elected a woman as its speaker Wednesday, a first in the male-dominated chamber's history. Meira Kumar was nominated by the ruling Congress party. Meira Kumar is also a member of the "untouchable" Dalit class, the lowest rung in the centuries-old caste system in the country. The speaker conducts the proceedings of the house. She will preside over 543 elected members, of which 58 are women. Kumar, 64, was elected to the position unopposed. She was nominated by the ruling Congress party but also had the backing of the alliance led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Women play a prominent role in the politics of India, the world's largest democracy. The South Asian country of 1.1 billion people has a female president, Pratibha Devisingh Patil. And four of the country's political parties, including the Congress Party, are led by women. Hindus believe there are five main groups of people. The last group is the Dalits. They're considered impure and are often forced to work in menial jobs. They drink from separate wells and use different entry ways to come and go from buildings. Dalits number about 250 million in India, about 25 percent of the population, according to the Colorado, U.S.-based Dalit Freedom Network. India's constitution outlaws caste-based discrimination, and barriers have broken down in large cities. Prejudice, however, persists in some rural areas of the country. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"How many members have Dalit Class?",
"What is the lowest rung?",
"How many elected members are women?",
"How many elected members?",
"What will she preside over?",
"What is Kumar's age?",
"Meira Kumar is a member of what class?",
"what is her age",
"Who is a member of the the Dalit class",
"Meira is a member of what?",
"What amount of members will she preside over?",
"What age is Meira Kumar?",
"Mrs. Kumar will preside over how many members?",
"What age is Mrs. Kumar?"
] |
[
[
"250 million in India, about 25 percent"
],
[
"\"untouchable\" Dalit class,"
],
[
"58"
],
[
"543"
],
[
"543 elected members, of which 58 are women."
],
[
"64,"
],
[
"Dalit"
],
[
"64,"
],
[
"Meira Kumar"
],
[
"\"untouchable\" Dalit class,"
],
[
"543 elected"
],
[
"64,"
],
[
"543"
],
[
"64,"
]
] |
Meira Kumar a member of the Dalit class -- lowest rung in centuries-old caste system .
She will preside over 543 elected members, of which 58 are women .
Kumar, 64, was elected to the position unopposed .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian authorities Tuesday filed a police complaint against Continental Airlines for frisking a former president of the country as he was to travel to New York in April. Former president APJ Abdul Kalam was exempt from body checks, officials said. Civil aviation officials in New Delhi accused Continental of gross violation of Indian security rules that prohibit pre-embarkation body checks on certain dignitaries like a former president. The police complaint followed a probe that had established that APJ Abdul Kalam was subject to frisking before he boarded a flight from New Delhi to New York on April 21, the Indian civil aviation ministry said in a statement. The ministry also alleged the airline did not respond to its show-cause notice in connection with Kalam's body checks. In its police complaint, Indian civil aviation authorities accused the airline staff of "willful violation" of their directions on exemptions from pre-embarkation frisking. Continental, however, insisted it followed standard American air-safety procedures. "TSA (Transportation Security Administration) requirements impose a final security check in the aerobridge just before boarding the aircraft. "This procedure is followed by all carriers flying to the U.S. from most of the countries in the world and there is no exemption to this rule," it said in a statement.
|
[
"What is the name of the former Indian president?",
"what do officials say?",
"who files complaint against Continental?",
"Who was exempt from body checks?",
"Which air safety procedures does Continental insist it followed?",
"who followed standard U.S. air-safety procedures?",
"What did Indian authorities do?",
"Who filed a complaint against Continental?",
"What company has a complaint filed against it?",
"What is the name of the former president?",
"who does not follow the rules",
"What was the complaint for?",
"Who is Abdul Kalam?"
] |
[
[
"APJ Abdul Kalam"
],
[
"Former president APJ Abdul Kalam was exempt from body checks,"
],
[
"Indian authorities"
],
[
"APJ Abdul Kalam"
],
[
"American air-safety"
],
[
"Continental,"
],
[
"filed a police complaint against Continental Airlines"
],
[
"Indian authorities"
],
[
"Continental Airlines"
],
[
"APJ Abdul Kalam"
],
[
"Continental"
],
[
"frisking a former president"
],
[
"Former president APJ"
]
] |
Indian authorities file complaint against Continental for frisking former president .
Former president APJ Abdul Kalam was exempt from body checks, officials say .
Continental, however, insists it followed standard U.S. air-safety procedures .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian police swiftly handled a "security scare" at New Delhi's major airport early Friday amid heightened concern in the wake of last week's terror attack in which gunmen killed 179 people in Mumbai.
An Indian soldier joins the beefed up security detail at New Delhi airport.
New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said police responded to reports of gunfire at Indira Gandhi International Airport but found no casualties or damage. Bhagat said there was "no terror threat."
"And there's no cause of panic," he added.
Uday Banerjee, the head of India's Central Industrial Security Force, told reporters at the airport that something sounding like gunshots was heard, but no one saw anything and no bullet casings were found.
Indian authorities stepped up security at the nation's airports on Thursday after receiving intelligence reports that terrorists might be planning an air attack.
At Indira Gandhi, four armed police stood guard at each entrance, and people waiting for arriving passengers were not allowed inside. Watch what triggered the security scare there »
"There have been intelligence inputs about some terrorist activity, and therefore security has been tightened (at airports)," civil aviation spokesperson Moushmi Chakraborty told CNN. Watch heightened anxiety after the attacks »
Police beefed up security at all airports including in the capital New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, Chakraborty said.
A spokesman for the Indian Navy, Cmdr. Nirad Sinha, also confirmed to CNN that security officials had received warnings about an airborne attack. Watch more on increase in security »
The Press Trust of India, a nonprofit newspaper cooperative, said that reports had suggested that terrorists could have sneaked into the country to carry out strikes on the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition. The mosque -- one of the largest in the Uttar Pradesh state -- was destroyed on December 6, 1992, by Hindu nationalists who believe it was built on the site of an existing temple.
On Wednesday India's defense minister met with the chiefs of the army, air force and navy and discussed what the ministry in a news statement called "possible terror threats from air."
The officials also discussed the country's coastal security plans and how to tighten security along the military line of control dividing the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan to "prevent infiltration of terrorists," the statement said.
India ranks among the countries where terrorism is most common, according to the U.S. State Department.
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh and Sara Sidner contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who discussed the country's security plans?",
"Where was security raised?",
"India's top military officials discuss what?",
"Who said that there was no cause of panic?",
"Why was security raised?",
"What might happen on December 6?",
"Where was security raised in India?"
] |
[
[
"India's defense minister"
],
[
"New Delhi airport."
],
[
"\"possible terror threats from air.\""
],
[
"Rajan Bhagat"
],
[
"terrorists might be planning an air attack."
],
[
"terrorists could have sneaked into the country to carry out strikes"
],
[
"New Delhi airport."
]
] |
NEW: "There's no cause of panic," says New Delhi police spokesman .
Security raised at all the nation's airports amid intelligence on terrorist activity .
Press Trust of India: Reports suggest possible strike on December 6 .
India's top military officials discuss country's security plans .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian police swiftly handled a "security scare" at New Delhi's major airport early Friday amid heightened concern in the wake of last week's terror attack in which gunmen killed 179 people in Mumbai. An Indian soldier joins the beefed up security detail at New Delhi airport. New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said police responded to reports of gunfire at Indira Gandhi International Airport but found no casualties or damage. Bhagat said there was "no terror threat." "And there's no cause of panic," he added. Uday Banerjee, the head of India's Central Industrial Security Force, told reporters at the airport that something sounding like gunshots was heard, but no one saw anything and no bullet casings were found. Indian authorities stepped up security at the nation's airports on Thursday after receiving intelligence reports that terrorists might be planning an air attack. At Indira Gandhi, four armed police stood guard at each entrance, and people waiting for arriving passengers were not allowed inside. Watch what triggered the security scare there » "There have been intelligence inputs about some terrorist activity, and therefore security has been tightened (at airports)," civil aviation spokesperson Moushmi Chakraborty told CNN. Watch heightened anxiety after the attacks » Police beefed up security at all airports including in the capital New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, Chakraborty said. A spokesman for the Indian Navy, Cmdr. Nirad Sinha, also confirmed to CNN that security officials had received warnings about an airborne attack. Watch more on increase in security » The Press Trust of India, a nonprofit newspaper cooperative, said that reports had suggested that terrorists could have sneaked into the country to carry out strikes on the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition. The mosque -- one of the largest in the Uttar Pradesh state -- was destroyed on December 6, 1992, by Hindu nationalists who believe it was built on the site of an existing temple. On Wednesday India's defense minister met with the chiefs of the army, air force and navy and discussed what the ministry in a news statement called "possible terror threats from air." The officials also discussed the country's coastal security plans and how to tighten security along the military line of control dividing the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan to "prevent infiltration of terrorists," the statement said. India ranks among the countries where terrorism is most common, according to the U.S. State Department. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh and Sara Sidner contributed to this report.
|
[
"Where was security raised?",
"When is the possible strike supposed to occur?",
"Who discussed the country's security plans?",
"Who discussed country's security plans?",
"Who reported that there might be an attack on Dec 6?",
"What caused security to be raised?",
"Who said that there was no cause for panic?",
"When do reports say there could be a strike?"
] |
[
[
"New Delhi airport."
],
[
"the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition."
],
[
"India's defense minister met with the chiefs of the army, air force and navy and"
],
[
"India's defense minister"
],
[
"Press Trust of India,"
],
[
"last week's terror attack in which gunmen killed 179 people in Mumbai."
],
[
"New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat"
],
[
"on the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition."
]
] |
NEW: "There's no cause of panic," says New Delhi police spokesman .
Security raised at all the nation's airports amid intelligence on terrorist activity .
Press Trust of India: Reports suggest possible strike on December 6 .
India's top military officials discuss country's security plans .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian tourism authorities will be holding English classes for auto-rickshaw drivers in New Delhi as the city prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Auto-rickshaw drivers are being taught English ahead of the Commenwealth Games. More than 40,000 natural gas-fueled auto-rickshaws, or motorized three-wheeled taxis, run on the Indian capital's dilapidated roads, according to the city government statistics. The city is expected to host around 100,000 tourists during the Commonwealth Games scheduled from October 3-14 in 2010. About 9,000 athletes and officials of 52 Commonwealth countries are likely to participate. Some 8,000 auto-rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in the training program that will involve classes in yoga, life skills, first aid, spoken English and psychometric tests, federal Tourism Secretary Sujit Banerjee announced Tuesday. Each trainee will be paid Rs 200, or about $4, daily for attending the program spread over 200 sessions for a year. Indian auto-rickshaw drivers have often been accused of overcharging, refusing short trips and misbehavior. Traffic authorities have in the past opened a range of avenues for passengers to lodge their complaints -- such as on help lines, via text messages or simply calling a telephone number printed on the three-wheeled cabs. "The India image that we strive to convey to a foreign tourist depends, to a large degree, on how good the taxi/auto-rickshaw (driver) that he or she meets is in his demeanor and conduct," Banerjee remarked.
|
[
"What is the course of study for the 8,000 auto-rickshaw drivers who will be enrolled in the training program?",
"How many auto-rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in the training program?",
"In what city will the Commonwealth Games be expected to host 100,000 tourists?",
"What is going to be at the city?",
"What is the number of tourists expected during the Commonwealth Games?",
"How many tourists is the city expected to host during the commonwealth games?",
"On what date will more than 40,000 auto-rickshaws ply the roads of the Indian capital?",
"What is the number of drivers being enrolled in the training program?",
"How many auto-rickshaws ply roads of indian captial?",
"How many rickshaws ply the roads of Indian capital?",
"How many tourists are expected during the Commonwealth Games?",
"How many rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in the training program?",
"What is the capital of India?",
"How many rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in training?",
"Where will auto-rickshaws ply roads?",
"When are the Commonwealth games?",
"How many tourists are expected for Commonwealth Games?"
] |
[
[
"yoga, life skills, first aid, spoken English and psychometric tests,"
],
[
"Some 8,000"
],
[
"New Delhi"
],
[
"Commonwealth Games in 2010."
],
[
"100,000"
],
[
"around 100,000"
],
[
"October 3-14 in 2010."
],
[
"8,000"
],
[
"40,000"
],
[
"More than 40,000"
],
[
"100,000"
],
[
"8,000"
],
[
"New Delhi"
],
[
"8,000"
],
[
"New Delhi"
],
[
"2010."
],
[
"100,000"
]
] |
More than 40,000 auto-rickshaws ply roads of Indian capital .
City expected to host 100,000 tourists during Commonwealth Games .
8,000 auto-rickshaw drivers will be enrolled in training program .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- More than a dozen trucks loaded with fruits, spices and other goods Tuesday crossed the line dividing Kashmir as India and Pakistan opened a symbolic trade route in the disputed region for the first time in more than 60 years. Kashmiris watch as Indian trucks cross into the border town of Chakothi in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. To cheers and band music, the first trucks rumbled from the Pakistani side across a white bridge to a brightly decorated trade center festooned . Apple-laden Indian trucks heading the other way were also warmly welcomed. It is hoped the move will ease tensions in the troubled Himalayan region, which has been a conflict flashpoint between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan who both lay claims to the territory. "Today, we have regained our lost market," said Ghulam Rasool Bhat, president of the Kashmir fruit growers' association. Watch more about the historic day » "We are sending the sweet Kashmir apple as the first consignment. This is sure to sweeten the relation between the two neighbors. The beginning of the trade between the two Kashmirs will further improve the relations and lead to a peaceful resolution of the bitter problem," he said. The trucks were subjected to thorough security checks before they crossed the bridge, one of the few crossing points in the heavily militarized 742-kilometer (460-mile) Line of Control, the de facto frontier that divides the region. Kashmir has been a major source of dispute between India, and Pakistan since the two countries were partitioned at the end of British rule in 1947. Muslim Kashmiris sided with Pakistan to the north, while the Hindu south joined India. For the past 18 years, Kashmir has been wracked by a bloody separatist campaign. Authorities say up to 43,000 people have died, but rights groups and non-governmental organizations put the death toll at twice that. Violence had dropped off since the countries began a peace process in 2004, but it surged after the state government in Indian-controlled Kashmir announced plans in June to donate land for a Hindu shrine. Muslim protests following the decision prompted a government U-turn that triggered Hindu demonstrations calling for it to be restored. Subsequent violence left 40 dead and hundreds wounded. It is hoped Tuesday's route opening will bolster the peace agreement and combat lingering mistrust between India and Pakistan. A bilateral cease-fire has been holding in the region for more than four years. A bus service connecting the divided Kashmir began amid much fanfare in 2005 but struggled under the weight of elaborate security checks and stifling bureaucracy. "This is a great emotional moment, as it brings to mind my grandfather, who used to drive lorries on this road," said Muzhar Hussain Naqvi, who drove the leading Pakistani truck. CNN's Sara Sidner and Mukhtar Ahmad contributed to this report
|
[
"What is the name of the source of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947?",
"Kashmir has been a source of dispute between which countries?",
"The trade route was the first in how many decades?",
"What is a source of dispute between India and Pakistan?",
"How long has it been since there's been a trade route between the two sides?",
"What is the name of the strip of land where there is a heavy military presence?",
"What is the strip of occupied land known as?",
"Who signed the 2004 peace accord?",
"What is happening for the first time in six decades?",
"What is the number of decades since the trade route was open?",
"When did the dispute begin?",
"How long has Kashmir been a source of bitter dispute?",
"Trade route between the two sides the first in how many decades?",
"How long has Kashmir been a point of dispute?",
"What is the strip of land known as?",
"What nations are in conflict over Kashmir?",
"When was the peace accord between the South Asian rivals?",
"What area is occupied by a strong military presence?",
"What is the trade meant to bolster?",
"What is a source of a bitter dispute?"
] |
[
[
"Kashmir"
],
[
"India and Pakistan"
],
[
"more than 60 years."
],
[
"Kashmir"
],
[
"60 years."
],
[
"Kashmir"
],
[
"Kashmir"
],
[
"Kashmir"
],
[
"India and Pakistan opened a symbolic trade route in the disputed region"
],
[
"60 years."
],
[
"end of British rule in 1947."
],
[
"more than 60 years."
],
[
"more than 60 years."
],
[
"60 years."
],
[
"Kashmir"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"2004,"
],
[
"Line of Control,"
],
[
"the peace agreement"
],
[
"Kashmir"
]
] |
Trade route between the two sides the first in six decades .
A heavy military presence occupies strip of land known as the Line of Control .
Kashmir a source of bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 .
Trade meant to bolster a 2004 peace accord between the South Asian rivals .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police in India have charged 63 people with murder in the beating death of a company boss who fired them. Labor minister Oscar Fernandes was criticized for saying Chaudhary's death was warning to management. The 63 were among 137 people police had rounded up by Wednesday -- two days after a mob of fired employees attacked L.K. Chaudhary, the chief executive of an Italian car parts manufacturing company. The others were charged with disturbing the peace in the Monday incident in Noida, located in the outskirts of the capital New Delhi. More arrests are likely, said R. K. Chaturvedi, the senior superintendent of police in Noida. The former employees of Graziano Transmissioni had gone to meet with company management over their reinstatement, said Noida police Inspector Manoj Pathak. The meeting turned violent, and the mob attacked Chaudhary with iron rods, Pathak said. On Tuesday, India's labor minister, Oscar Fernandes, drew sharp criticism after he said Chaudhary's death should serve as a warning to management, according to CNN's sister network in India, CNN-IBN. "The workers should be dealt (with) with compassion and should not be pushed so hard that they resort to whatever that had happened in Nodia" CNN-IBN quoted Fernandes as telling reporters. The minister later apologized, telling CNN his comments had been taken out of context. He said the murder of the boss could never be justified. The Italian Embassy said the company had, for several months, been facing "violent forms of protest by self-proclaimed workers' representatives." "The situation had been repeatedly brought to the attention of the competent Indian authorities, both at central and local level," it said in a statement. Business groups condemned the killing with the Confederation of Indian Industry calling it "tragic, unwanted and gory." "Such instances of industrial violence cannot be a solution to any problem and must not be tolerated," said Salil Singh, chairman of the group that promotes industrial growth. Meanwhile, authorities sought to appease businesses that police were aggressively investigating the case. "The legal course will be followed and all culprits brought to book," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said. "This stray tragic occurrence would not be allowed to mar India's position as an investment-friendly destination." CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"WHo was murdered?",
"How many people have been charged with murder in India?",
"What kind of a company was it?",
"What is the name of the murdered boss?",
"What did the labor minister apologize for?",
"Who did the employees attack?",
"How many people were charged with murder?",
"Where did the people work?",
"How many did police arrest?",
"Who was attacked by a mob of fired employees?",
"What company were they fired from?",
"Did India's labor minister apologize for his statement?",
"what did the mob do",
"where did the police charge 63 people",
"What crime were the 63 people charged with?",
"for what did the minister apologize",
"What was the apology issued by India's labor minister?",
"What type of company was run by the chief executive who was attacked?",
"What were the sixty-three people charged with?",
"In India, how many people did police charge with murdering their company boss?",
"What number of people were charged?"
] |
[
[
"L.K. Chaudhary,"
],
[
"63"
],
[
"Italian car parts manufacturing"
],
[
"L.K. Chaudhary,"
],
[
"his comments"
],
[
"company boss"
],
[
"63"
],
[
"Graziano Transmissioni"
],
[
"137"
],
[
"L.K. Chaudhary,"
],
[
"Graziano Transmissioni"
],
[
"later apologized,"
],
[
"attacked L.K. Chaudhary,"
],
[
"India"
],
[
"murder in the beating death of"
],
[
"his comments"
],
[
"comments had been taken out of context."
],
[
"Italian car parts manufacturing"
],
[
"murder"
],
[
"63"
],
[
"63"
]
] |
Police in India charge 63 people with murdering company boss who fired them .
Mob of fired employees attacked chief executive of Italian car parts company .
India's labor minister apologizes for saying death is warning to management .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police tightened security Wednesday in India's Punjab for the funeral of a preacher whose killing in Vienna, Austria sparked violent protests in the Sikh majority state last week.
The body of Rama Sand lies in state in Vienna before being transported to India.
Top-ranking officers are camping in Jalandhar district, where Rama Nand will be cremated Thursday, said Parag Jain, Punjab's inspector-general of police.
"Security arrangements are elaborate," he told CNN.
Nand's body is due to arrive from Vienna early Thursday in Sachkhand Ballan, a monastery dedicated to Guru Ravidass, a 14th-century low-caste Hindu spiritual figure.
Guru Ravidass' writings are predominantly found in the primary Sikh scriptures called the Guru Granth Sahib, placed in the sect temples as in the Sikh houses of worship.
Sect head Niranjan Dass, who was injured in the Vienna assault, will also be arriving Thursday, Sachkhand Ballan secretary S.R. Heer said.
The sikh guru's death led to widespread violence across the Punjab region, which resulted in the army and federal security forces being called in to restore order.
Thousands took part in demonstrations across the Doaba region, where protesters attacked public transportation, knocking out train service in some areas. They also blocked a national highway to Jammu, CNN sister network CNN-IBN reported.
A number of businesses were ransacked as well. Police reported one death.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, appealed for calm, in a statement.
"There is no place for violence in a secular society like India's and certainly no excuse whatsoever for the violation of the sacred premises of a (Sikh temple) for narrow sectarian or other purposes," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
|
[
"Who was killed",
"what caused widespred violence",
"what will come in on thursday",
"who was shot dead in temple",
"What is due to arrive"
] |
[
[
"Rama Sand"
],
[
"The sikh guru's death"
],
[
"Nand's body"
],
[
"Rama Sand"
],
[
"Nand's body"
]
] |
Tensions ease in Punjab after widespread violence over Sikh guru's death .
Sant Rama Nand shot dead in temple in Vienna, Austria; another guru wounded .
Nand's body is due to arrive from Vienna early Thursday .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- President George W. Bush called India's prime minister Thursday to push a proposed nuclear partnership that sparked an unsuccessful no-confidence vote against the Indian leader this week, a White House spokesman said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won a confidence vote despite opposition to the nuclear deal. "Both leaders expressed their desire to see the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear issue move forward as expeditiously as possible," Gordon Johndroe said. The phone call took place two days after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh narrowly survived the no-confidence vote in the lower house of Parliament. The vote was sparked by concerns from the opposition that India was kowtowing to the U.S. The tentative deal was announced in 2006 and signed by Bush and Singh a year ago. Under the agreement, which will need to be approved by the U.S. Congress, India would have access to U.S. nuclear fuel and technology for its civilian nuclear power plants. That would happen even though New Delhi, which tested nuclear weapons in 1974 and 1998, has declined to join international non-proliferation agreements. In return, India has promised that it would not transfer the fuel and equipment to its weapons program, and it would allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect at least 14 of its 22 nuclear plants. The plan would also expand U.S.-Indian cooperation in energy and satellite technology. The plan was approved by India's Cabinet last year, and does not have to be ratified by the parliament. The leaders of India's two communist parties -- which hold about 60 seats in Parliament -- have accused Singh of surrendering India's sovereignty to the United States with the deal. A no-confidence vote would have forced Singh to resign, and required the government to hold early elections unless a new coalition could have been formed. The Congress Party-led coalition has governed India since 2004. Tuesday's 275-256 vote was so crucial to the survival of Singh's government that five members of parliament serving prison sentences were freed to cast votes -- under the watchful eyes of their jailers. Shortly after Singh survived the vote, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino praised the deal as "a good one for everybody." "It's good for India because it would help provide them a source for energy that they need, one that is nonpolluting and one that doesn't emit greenhouse gas emissions," she said. "And we think that we can move forward with this. If their legislature lets it move forward, then we can do the same here and then we'll be able to get this wrapped up."
|
[
"Who was freed to vote?",
"who president bush calls?",
"what did indian governemnet win",
"Who is President Bush calling on to push a nuclear partnership?",
"What were five parliament members freed from prison for?",
"What were the Indian people angry about?",
"what amount of parliament members were freed to vote?",
"What does President Bush call India to do?",
"What was there anger about?",
"what did bush propose",
"What was the final vote count?",
"When did Bush call?",
"How many serve prison sentences?",
"Who won confidence vote?",
"What were they voting for?",
"Who were freed to vote?",
"What did Bush want from Indian PM?",
"Who calls India's PM to push a proposed nuclear partnership?"
] |
[
[
"five members of parliament serving prison sentences"
],
[
"India's prime minister"
],
[
"confidence vote"
],
[
"India's prime minister"
],
[
"to cast votes"
],
[
"India was kowtowing to the U.S."
],
[
"five"
],
[
"proposed nuclear partnership"
],
[
"kowtowing to the U.S."
],
[
"nuclear partnership"
],
[
"275-256"
],
[
"Thursday"
],
[
"five members of parliament serving"
],
[
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh"
],
[
"proposed nuclear partnership"
],
[
"five members of parliament serving prison sentences"
],
[
"proposed nuclear partnership"
],
[
"President George W. Bush"
]
] |
President Bush calls India's PM to push a proposed nuclear partnership .
Indian government won confidence vote in face of anger over U.S. nuclear deal .
Five members of parliament serving prison sentences were freed to vote .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Tensions eased in the northern Indian state of Punjab on Tuesday, following widespread violence across the region after a Sikh guru was shot to death and another was wounded at an Indian temple in Vienna, Austria. Sikh demonstrators brandish sticks as they shout slogans during a protest in Amritsar. The situation was tense, but under control, Punjab's inspector general of police said Tuesday morning. The army and federal security forces were called in to restore order, added inspector general Parag Jain. Thousands took part in demonstrations across the Doaba region, where protesters attacked public transportation, knocking out train service in some areas. They also blocked a national highway to Jammu, CNN sister network CNN-IBN reported. A number of businesses were ransacked as well. Police reported one death. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, appealed for calm, in a statement. "There is no place for violence in a secular society like India's and certainly no excuse whatsoever for the violation of the sacred premises of a (Sikh temple) for narrow sectarian or other purposes," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Killed in Sunday's attack in Vienna was 57-year-old Sant Rama Nand. A second guru, Sant Niranjan Dass, 68, was seriously injured. His health has improved noticeably, according to the Indian Embassy, the Austria News Agency reported. Fifteen others were also wounded. "Sant Niranjan Dass is doing well," the embassy said. "He could soon be released from the hospital." Six people were arrested in connection with the attack, which occurred Sunday afternoon in Vienna's 15th district, police spokesman Schwaig Hofar told CNN. One suspect shot the two gurus, and five other attackers wielding knives assaulted people in the congregation during prayer, Hofar said. Four of the wounded were suspects, two of them in serious condition, he said. About 150 people were in the room when the violence took place, he said. Authorities are investigating what triggered the attacks, but Austrian Interior Minister Maria Fekter said Sikhs have lived "exceptionally peacefully" in Austria. CNN's Ben Brumfeld and Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"When did the violence begin?",
"Who was shot dead in Vienna?",
"What caused the tensions in Punjab",
"Where did the shooting take place?"
] |
[
[
"Sunday afternoon"
],
[
"a Sikh guru"
],
[
"a Sikh guru was shot to death and another was wounded at an Indian temple in Vienna, Austria."
],
[
"Indian temple in Vienna, Austria."
]
] |
Tensions ease in Punjab after widespread violence over Sikh guru's death .
Sant Rama Nand shot dead in temple in Vienna, Austria; another guru wounded .
Situation remains tense in Punjab, police say; also unrest in Doaba region .
Several businesses ransacked, one person reported dead, according to police .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The alleged surviving attacker from last month's Mumbai terror attacks is seeking help from Pakistani officials, India said Monday. Guests arrive at the reopening of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai. The suspect, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, wrote a letter to Pakistan's High Commission in India that was handed over to Pakistan's acting high commissioner in New Delhi on Monday evening, India's foreign ministry said. Asked about the statement, Pakistan's foreign ministry said the government in Islamabad "has so far not received any information or evidence relating to the Mumbai incident from the government of India." According to India's foreign ministry, Kasab, 21, stated in his letter that he and the other attackers were from Pakistan and asked for a meeting with Pakistan's High Commission. Indian authorities said Kasab had admitted he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai on November 26, sparking three days of battles with police and Indian troops in the heart of the city that is the hub of India's financial and entertainment industries. India said Kasab told investigators he and the others were trained for more than a year in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a banned Islamic militant group. The attacks left more than 160 people dead, as well as nine of the gunmen. Most of the deaths occurred at the Taj Mahal Palace and the Oberoi-Trident hotels, which reopened on Sunday -- three weeks after the attacks. CNN's Sara Sidner in New Delhi and Zein Basravi in Islamabad contributed to this report.
|
[
"when was the attack?",
"What did Kasak admit to?",
"what did officials say",
"Who does the surviving attacker seek help from",
"who wrote a letter",
"what did kasab admit",
"Who did Kasak write a letter to?"
] |
[
[
"November 26,"
],
[
"he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai"
],
[
"Kasab had admitted he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai on November 26,"
],
[
"Pakistani officials,"
],
[
"The suspect, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab,"
],
[
"he was one of 10 gunmen who attacked several targets in Mumbai"
],
[
"Pakistan's High Commission in India"
]
] |
Alleged surviving attacker from Mumbai terror attacks seeks Pakistani help .
Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab writes letter to Pakistan's High Commission .
India officials say Kasab has admitted he and other attackers were Pakistani .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The chairman of India's fourth-largest software-services provider resigned Wednesday after confessing to inflating the company's profits for years with "fictitious" assets and non-existent cash. Satyam Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju The news sent stocks of the Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer Services into free fall. Stocks plummeted more than 70 percent within hours after the revelation. The major stock index in India -- the BSE SENSEX -- fell 7.3 percent Wednesday. Satyam employs 53,000 people, operates in 65 countries and serves almost 700 companies, including 185 Fortune 500 companies. More than half of its revenue comes from the United States. Satyam Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju said the balance-sheet padding began several years ago to close "a marginal gap" between actual operating profit and one reflected in the company's accounting books. It continued through the years, he said. "It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten," Raju said in a letter to the company's board of directors. Raju said no board member was aware of what he was doing and he did not profit from the inflated accounts. The deception came to light after Raju tried to plug the hole by getting Satyam to buy his son's construction companies. The acquisition was "the last attempt to fill the fictitious assets with real ones," he wrote in his letter. The deal would have cost Satyam $1.6 billion -- but the company's board vetoed it. Stocks fell following the botched deal. Soon afterward, Raju came clean, saying he was doing so "with deep regret, and tremendous burden that I am carrying on my conscience." Analysts say Satyam is ripe for a takeover, and the government is expected to submit a formal report on the matter Thursday. -- CNN's Bharati Naik contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who is Satyam's Chairman?",
"What happened to the stocks of Satyam Computer Services?",
"How many countries do they operate in?",
"In how many countries does Satyam operates in?",
"How many people do they employ?"
] |
[
[
"B. Ramalinga Raju"
],
[
"plummeted more than 70 percent"
],
[
"65"
],
[
"65"
],
[
"53,000"
]
] |
News sent stocks of Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer Services plunging .
Satyam employs 53,000 people and operates in 65 countries .
Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju said balance-sheet padding began years ago .
Raju said no board member was aware of what he was doing .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The chief financial officer of India's Satyam Computer Services Ltd. was arrested Saturday, the third person taken into custody in a scandal that began when the company's chairman admitted inflating profits with "fictitious" assets and non-existent cash. Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju is shown Saturday being sent to prison in Hyderabad. Vadlamani Srinivas will appear Sunday before a special court, said A. Sivanarayana, additional director general of police in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, told CNN. Company founder B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother, Rama Raju, Satyam's managing director, were arrested Friday in connection with the scandal. In a letter written to investigators, B. Ramalinga Raju admitted that he and his brother were responsible for cooking the books at Satyam, according to CNN's sister network, CNN-IBN. Satyam, India's fourth-largest software-services provider, serves almost 700 companies, including 185 Fortune 500 companies, and generates more than half its revenues from the United States. It employs some 53,000 people and operates in 65 countries. B. Ramalinga Raju resigned Wednesday and confessed to padding company balance sheets. The practice began several years ago to close "a marginal gap" between actual operating profit and one reflected in the company's accounting books, he said, but continued for several years. "It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten," B. Ramalinga Raju said in a letter to the company's board of directors. He said no board member was aware of what he was doing and he did not profit from the inflated accounts. The deception came to light after he tried to plug the hole by getting Satyam to buy his son's construction companies. The acquisition was "the last attempt to fill the fictitious assets with real ones," he wrote in his letter. The deal would have cost Satyam $1.6 billion -- but the company's board vetoed it. Stocks fell following the botched deal. Soon afterward, B. Ramalinga Raju came clean, saying he was doing so "with deep regret, and tremendous burden that I am carrying on my conscience." After his confession, stocks of the Hyderabad-based company fell more than 70 percent, causing India's major stock index, the BSE SENSEX, to fall 7.3 percent Wednesday. The BSE SENSEX on Thursday deleted Satyam Computer Services from its indices. The company's interim chief executive officer said Thursday the company's immediate goal is to continue its operations uninterrupted. CNN's Bharati Naik and Harmeet Singh contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who is the chairman of the company?",
"What was the basis for the fraud charges.",
"Amount of people that the computer giant employs?",
"Who is the chairman?",
"How many countries does the computer giant operate in?",
"What was Satyam's chief financial officer arrested for?",
"What is balance sheet padding"
] |
[
[
"B. Ramalinga Raju"
],
[
"company's chairman admitted inflating profits with \"fictitious\" assets"
],
[
"53,000"
],
[
"B. Ramalinga Raju"
],
[
"65"
],
[
"scandal that began when the company's chairman admitted inflating profits with \"fictitious\" assets and non-existent cash."
],
[
"marginal gap\" between actual operating profit and one reflected in"
]
] |
Satyam's chief financial officer arrested in profit-fraud scandal .
Computer giant employs 53,000 people and operates in 65 countries .
Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju said balance-sheet padding began years ago .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The collective cry throughout India of "Jai ho" (May you win) received a resounding answer when composer A.R. Rahman took home two Oscars for the movie "Slumdog Millionaire."
Composer A. R. Rahman, "The Mozart of Madras," celebrates his double Oscar win -- for Best Score and one for the song "Jai Ho" from the film.
Rahman's wins -- one for the song "Jai Ho" and the other for Best Score -- were just two reasons for Indians to erupt in boisterous celebrations Monday morning.
"Slumdog," which was shot in the streets and slums of Mumbai bagged eight golden statuettes in total, including one for Best Sound Mixing. Indian Resul Pookutty shared it with fellow sound editors who worked on the film.
"This is the finest hour of Indian cinema in the global scenario," said Anand Sharma, the country's junior external affairs minister.
Indians crowded around television sets in dorm rooms, restaurants and homes, exhaling in relief as Rahman's name was announced as the winner. They high-fived each other, hugged, shrieked and wept.
"I cannot describe this feeling," said Nikhil Jyonti, a Mumbai resident. "I'm bursting with pride for India."
In the Mumbai slum of Dharavi, where many of the scenes in "Slumdog" were shot, a television was set out for the street children to watch the ceremony. Few in the teeming slum of one million people had heard of the Oscars, but they knew Rahman's win was a source of pride for the country.
Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches film tells the story of a tea-boy at a Mumbai call center who earns a spot in the Indian version of the quiz show "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" He raises the suspicion of the show's host when, despite the lack of a formal education, he begins to answer the increasingly difficult questions with ease.
The movie also won four Golden Globes and a host of honors at other award shows.
While the overwhelming sentiment was one of pride Monday, the movie has faced backlash from many Indian movie critics who took exception to its depiction of Mumbai's underworld without highlighting any of the city's achievements.
Among the most notable criticisms was one offered by Amitabh Bachchan, considered the most successful movie star in Bollywood history, and a former real-life host of the Indian "Millionaire."
The film," he said, "projects India as the third world's dirty underbelly ... and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots."
But most Mumabikers, still reeling from a terrorist attack in their city in November, embraced the movie while looking for something positive to root for.
They found that in Rahman, a composer who has consistently broken barriers in his musical scores for dozens of Bollywood hits and is known as the "Mozart of Madras." Rahman has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide -- more than the Beatles -- but has remained relatively unknown in Europe and the United States.
Director Spike Lee used one of his songs in his 2006 heist film, "Inside Man."
Many hope the Oscar win will bring Rahman greater exposure. Rahman and Pookutty, however, aren't the first Indians with Academy Awards to their names.
In 1992, legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray received an honorary award for his contribution to world cinema. And in 1982, Bhanu Athaiya shared an Oscar for costume design for the movie "Gandhi."
CNN's Saeed Ahmed and Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report
|
[
"What did A.R Rahman win?",
"Who did India celebrate at the Oscars?",
"What did Resul Pookutty win?",
"what did India celebrate last night",
"what Indian made documentary win",
"Where is A.R. Rahman from?",
"What did A.R. Rahman win at the Oscars?",
"what awards did Rahman win"
] |
[
[
"two Oscars"
],
[
"Composer A. R. Rahman,"
],
[
"Best Sound Mixing."
],
[
"double Oscar win"
],
[
"A.R. Rahman"
],
[
"India.\""
],
[
"Best Score and one for the song \"Jai Ho\""
],
[
"two Oscars"
]
] |
India celebrated composer A.R. Rahman winning two awards at last night's Oscars .
Rahman won Best Score and Best Song for the film "Slumdog Millionaire"
Indian Resul Pookutty also won Best Sound Design for "Slumdog Millionaire"
Indian-made documentary "Smile Pinky" won Best Documentary Short .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The death toll from an outbreak of hepatitis B in India's western Gujarat state reached 38 on Sunday as authorities prepared to begin a vaccination drive against the disease. Hepatitis-B patient Mahir Husain, center, is comforted at a hospital in Ahmedabad. Malayappan Thennarasa, the top administrator of the affected Sabarkantha district, told CNN the toll had climbed to 38 and that shots would be administered free of cost starting Monday. Health officials have recorded 125 cases of the infection in two weeks. Authorities were carrying out raids at medical stores for bogus drugs and recycled syringes. Police have so far arrested five medical practitioners. One of them was charged Sunday with attempted murder. The doctor is accused of reusing syringes, Thennarasa said. Hepatitis B is a contagious liver disease resulting from infection with the hepatitis B virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It usually spreads through blood, semen, or other bodily fluids, often through sexual contact or sharing needles or syringes with an infected person. The disease can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, chronic illness resulting in long-term health problems or death, the CDC said.
|
[
"Where did the victims die?",
"What disease killed 38 people?",
"how many recorded?",
"How many people died?",
"what state the victims died?",
"What is the recorded number of cases?",
"what was contagious?"
] |
[
[
"state"
],
[
"hepatitis B"
],
[
"125"
],
[
"38"
],
[
"Gujarat"
],
[
"125"
],
[
"hepatitis B"
]
] |
An outbreak of contagious liver disease hepatitis B kills 38 people in India .
The victims died in the state of Gujarat in western India in the past two weeks .
Officials have recorded 125 cases of the infection .
Doctor is facing attempted murder charge .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The father of a baby born with his heart protruding from his chest has told CNN about the 1100 km train journey he made to save his son's life. Chander Majhi's son was born with his heart outside his chest and faces complex surgery. Chander Majhi, 24, became a father last week but he had to leave his wife behind in hospital and make a train journey from a remote region along India's border with Nepal to the capital New Delhi. His son was born with his heart protruding from his chest, an extremely rare condition called ectopia cordis, which only affects five to eight cases in one million live births. The parents did not know about the defect until the child was born on August 25 at a government facility in Majhi's home state of Bihar in eastern India. "We didn't go for any (pre-natal) tests," Majhi told CNN. Doctors at the government facility referred him and the baby to New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Professor of cardiothoracic surgery at AIIMS, A.K. Bisoi, told CNN the baby was admitted to the hospital with dehydration and a severe infection which he probably suffered because of the arduous train journey. Doctors were surprised that the child had been able to survive despite so many complexities, he said. Doctors at the state-run AIIMS are now planning a complex surgery on Thursday for the boy, referred in their records as "baby of Vibha," his mother. His heart has been covered with a synthetic membrane and infected blood fully replaced from his body, said A.K. Bisoi, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at AIIMS. Surgeons may now plan a total circulatory arrest procedure that will also involve creating a home for the heart in the chest, said Bisoi. The baby, who suffers from immunodeficiency, will be put in a state where his blood will be cooled down to 18 degrees (64 Fahrenheit) for a half-an-hour stage of the operation, he explained. "We could carry it out in one go, if the child is able to tolerate. If not, we will do it in stages," he said. "We are working with hope," Bisoi remarked when asked about chances of success. And it was the same hope that drove Majhi to Delhi. "That is why I am here. There's hope. My child is a fighter," he said. In 2006, doctors in the U.S. state of Florida carried out a similar operation on Naseem Hasni who was born with his heart outside his chest. The operation was carried out immediately after Naseem was born by caesarean section at a Florida hospital. Doctors wrapped his heart in Gore-Tex, a waterproof, breathable fabric used in outdoor clothing and medical applications. His heart was then wrapped in a layer of his own skin, to substitute for his missing pericardium, the sac that encloses the heart. The heart was then slowly eased inside.
|
[
"What issues did the baby suffer from?",
"When will the baby have surgery?",
"What distance did the father travel?",
"In what area did the baby have to have the procedure?",
"What is wrong with the baby?",
"How far was the train journey?",
"What distance did he travel?",
"What is the chance of this happening?"
] |
[
[
"immunodeficiency,"
],
[
"Thursday"
],
[
"1100 km"
],
[
"heart"
],
[
"born"
],
[
"1100 km"
],
[
"1100 km"
],
[
"five to eight cases in one million live births."
]
] |
NEW: Father speaks about 1100 km train journey to save his son .
Newborn baby with heart protruding from his chest faces complex surgery Thursday .
The baby has severe infection and hole in his heart .
Doctors in New Delhi say only five to eight cases of this kind in one million live births .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The number of dead in devastating floods triggered by torrential rains in India has risen to at least 271, and about a million people have fled their homes, officials said Monday. An aerial view of a flood-affected area in Bijapur district in North Karnataka, India. At least 192 people have died in the southern state of Karnataka, its disaster-management secretary H.V. Parshwanath told CNN. More than 450,000 people there have been housed in 1,330 relief camps as authorities completed rescue operations in most of the flooded zones in the state, he said. "The focus is now mainly on relief," Parshwanath said, adding that rains have now eased in Karnataka. In neighboring Andhra Pradesh, authorities put the death toll at 51. Some 531,000 people have been evacuated to safety, with more half of them now sheltering in relief camps, said Dinesh Kumar, the commissioner of the state's disaster-monitoring department. India has deployed the military to help with relief and rescue in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. More than a dozen teams of naval divers have been sent to the two flood-hit states, the country's defense ministry said. Air force planes and helicopters have also been dropping food packets in the submerged regions. The military has been able to rescue 1,336 people so far, it added. Flood waters were now receding in two of the five worst hit districts of Andhra Pradesh, disaster official Kumar said. But floodwaters from a local river might submerge the remaining three, he warned. Flooding also killed at least 25 people in Maharashtra state, officials said. Three others died because of lightning strikes, said S.C. Mohanty, director of Maharashtra's disaster-management department. About 3,000 people have been displaced because of flooding, he told CNN. Thousands of people die each year in India during seasonal monsoon rains. More than 1,100 had been killed in monsoon-triggered flooding in different parts of the country as of last month, according to the disaster-management division of the federal home ministry.
|
[
"Where is Karnataka located?",
"What number of people have been forced to flee their homes?",
"where are refugees",
"What number of people are housed in relief camps?",
"How many people are known to have died in floods in India?",
"What is the death toll from floods in India?",
"What natural disaster has occurred?",
"How many people approximately are housed in relief camps?",
"What is the deathtoll?"
] |
[
[
"India."
],
[
"a million"
],
[
"1,330 relief camps"
],
[
"450,000"
],
[
"271,"
],
[
"271,"
],
[
"floods"
],
[
"More than 450,000"
],
[
"271,"
]
] |
Death toll from floods in India has now reached 271 .
Over a million people have been forced to flee their homes .
Over 450,000 people in southern state of Karnataka housed in 1,330 relief camps .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The wounds of partition festered again this week in India, resulting in the banning of a book and the expulsion of a respected politician. Protesters burn an effigy of Jaswant Singh over his book; the former foreign minister was ousted from his party. The home state of the father of Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi, forbade the sale and circulation of a new book it says spews revisionist history about the birth of secular but predominantly Hindu India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Written by Jaswant Singh, a former federal minister and senior member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the book calls Mohammed Ali Jinnah, considered by Indians the architect of the partition, a great man who is wrongly demonized. Jinnah went on to become the first governor general of Pakistan. In "Jinnah: India, Partition and Independence," Singh absolves the Pakistani leader as the man responsible for dividing the subcontinent, suggesting instead that it was another beloved independence leader, Sardar Patel, who played a major role. "The book wrongfully portrays the fateful partition of our nation," the Gujarat state government said in a statement. " Such a brainchild has no historic background at all. In the larger interest of society, the state government has decided to impose a ban on the book." The BJP accused Singh of deviating from the party's "core ideology". "We always respect freedom of expression but can never compromise our ideology," Sidharth Nath Singh, a party spokesman, told CNN. "You just can't eulogize Jinnah and accuse Sardar Patel instead." Singh, a widely respected politician known for his moderate views within the ranks of a conservative party, found it appalling that freedom of expression was threatened in the world's largest democracy. "The day we start banning books, we are banning thinking," Singh told reporters. He defended his work and said he did not understand the objection to his writings about Patel, who, as India's first home minister, banned the Hindu revivalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the mother organization of the BJP, after the assassination of Gandhi in 1948. "I don't know which part of the core belief I have demolished," Singh said. Nearly 350 years of British rule ended in 1947 when an agreement for independence was reached to give Muslims their own homeland. Indians think of Jinnah as the man who pushed a two-state notion based on religion as a prerequisite for freedom. In the days that followed, an estimated 1 million people died in a border-crossing exodus. Muslims fled from India into Pakistan while Hindus clamored to find new homes in India. The animosities fueled by that bloody birth -- including three wars fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir -- continue to haunt Indians, said journalist and author Tarun Tejpal. "This flashpoint played out in public is a reminder of those wounds," Tejpal said of the book dispute. As a book of history written by a politician, it might have been inconsequential, Tejpal said. But as a book about the partition, it was incendiary. "What happened 62 years ago continues to haunt us in a very bitter way," Tejpal said. "We can't seem to leave our baggage in the past." This isn't the first time that Pakistan's founder has caused trouble for a Hindu nationalist. BJP President Lal Krishna Advani was forced to temporarily step down in 2005 for praising Jinnah's secularism during a trip to Pakistan. Political observers say the Singh controversy reflects a battle for the soul of the BJP, beleaguered by electoral defeats and vicious infighting. Many in India view the BJP as a divisive force attempting to gain power by exploiting Hindu-Muslim tensions. Advani was charged in the 1992 demolition of the 16th-century Babri mosque in the central Indian city of Ayodhya, though he was later acquitted in that case. Journalist K.G. Suresh, a longtime observer of conservative politics in India, said the BJP is struggling to figure out how to stay electable,
|
[
"on what countries does the animosities took over?",
"What did the home state of Mahatma Gandhi ban?",
"according to the book who was the architect of the division",
"who was the leader the book suggested?",
"Who does the book suggest was behind the India-Pakistan partition?"
] |
[
[
"India and Pakistan"
],
[
"a new book it says spews revisionist history about the birth of secular but predominantly Hindu India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan."
],
[
"Mohammed Ali Jinnah,"
],
[
"Sardar Patel,"
],
[
"Mohammed Ali Jinnah,"
]
] |
Home state of Mahatma Gandhi bans revisionist history of India-Pakistan partition .
Book suggests independence leader Sardar Patel was the architect of the division .
Animosities over the partition continue to impact India and Pakistan .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Three weeks after an apparent misunderstanding sparked a confrontation, deadly Hindu-Christian riots continue unabated in the remote east Indian state of Orissa. Police officers chase away a protester in Mangalore, India, Monday. By Tuesday, about 20 deaths had been reported, said Praveen Kumar, the superintendent of police in the worst-affected Kandhamal district. The latest casualty is a police officer who died after an armed mob of about 400 to 500 mostly Hindus torched a police station in the district on Monday, Orissa state police said. Orissa's Director General of Police G.C. Nanda the policeman died when the mob opened fire at officers fleeing the burning building. The attack, he said, may have been in retaliation for arrests that police made in the ongoing communal fighting. Watch more about the riots in India » The attack came two days after police fired on a crowd to prevent it from attacking Christian residents. Between three and six people died in the shooting, CNN's sister network CNN-IBN reported. The violence spread to southern India over the weekend when vandals attacked 14 churches in an hour in the state of Karnataka Sunday, the network said. The Christian community in the Karnataka -- numbering about 2.5 million -- said right-wing Hindus are targeting them for opposing the violence in Orissa. By Tuesday, police had arrested about 140 people in connection with the riots, said Karnataka's Inspector General of Police A.M. Prasad. Sixty of them -- all Hindus -- were arrested for the church attacks, Prasad said. The rest, mostly Christians, were charged with disturbing the peace, he said. Orissa has historically been a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions. Some Hindu groups view the work of Christian missionaries in the state with suspicion. They accuse missionaries of bribing or forcing Hindus into converting. The seeds for the current conflict were planted on August 23, when Hindu leader, Laxmananda Saraswati, and four others were killed in Kandhamal after 20 to 30 gunmen barged into a Hindu school and began shooting, the Orissa chief minister's office said. The authorities have not determined who killed Saraswati, but after the incident they detained five people who are Christians, said Sukanta Panda, spokesman for the chief minister. The government says the killings may have been the work of Maoist rebels -- investigators have many unanswered questions -- but some hardline Hindus blamed a Christian minority. They took to the streets in anger, rampaging through predominantly Christian neighborhoods, ransacking shops and torching houses. They chopped down trees to block roads, making it difficult for police to reach trouble spots. A Christian orphanage was set on fire. A 20-year-old woman, who was teaching children inside, burned to death. Christian residents fought back, and the clashes spread. Authorities imposed a night curfew in many towns and deployed state and federal forces in the troubled areas, Kumar -- the police superintendent -- said. Both sides said the violence has left Christian churches and Hindu temples razed to the ground. This is not the first time the simmering anger has boiled over in the state with deadly consequences. In 1999, a Hindu mob burned to death an Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two children while they slept inside their car. And last Christmas, clashing groups killed four people and burned several churches in the same Orissa district -- Kandhamal. Maoist rebels, who claim to be fighting for the poor and the dispossessed, have been battling the Indian government in an insurgency that has resulted in thousands of casualties since the late 1960s. Some Christians accept the Maoist theory, saying the rebels have also struck against hard-line Hindus because they associate them as being closely aligned with the government. But Hindu groups insists that Christians were behind Saraswati's death. Unlike Orissa, Karnataka has until now been spared the large-scale clash between Christians and Hindus. But now, many in the Christian community fear their calm and prosperous state may become another battleground between the two religions, CNN-IBN said. CNN's Harmeet Singh contributed to
|
[
"What state was a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions?",
"What was the latest casualty?",
"Where has violence spread?",
"Who died after a Hindu mob torched a police station?",
"who was the latest casualty?",
"What state of India violence spread?",
"WHen did the attack happen?",
"What did the police fire upon?"
] |
[
[
"Orissa."
],
[
"is a police officer"
],
[
"southern India"
],
[
"officer"
],
[
"police officer"
],
[
"Orissa."
],
[
"Monday,"
],
[
"a crowd"
]
] |
Orissa state has historically been a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions .
Violence spread to southern India with churches attacked in Karnataka state .
Latest casualty was a policeman who died after a Hindu mob torched a police station .
Attack came 2 days after police fired on a crowd to prevent it attacking Christians .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Tibetan exile leaders, meeting in northern India to debate a potential new approach to Tibet's decades-long struggle for autonomy, have voted to stay with the Dalai Lama's current "middle way approach," according to a spokesman for the spiritual leader.
Some have sought Tibet's independence from China, but the Dalai Lama has sought autonomy.
"The majority of the people have spoken and have requested his holiness the Dalai Lama to continue with his middle way approach," said spokesman Tenzin Taklha.
The meeting was called after the Dalai Lama acknowledged he had failed in his efforts to convince China to restore the territory's autonomy. He did not attend the week-long conference in Dharamsala, a town in the hills of north India where he lives in exile. He called the meeting, he said, to offer the exiles an opportunity to discuss "the best possible future course of action" for Tibet.
Takhla said the Tibetans demonstrated that the Dalai Lama was their undisputed leader, and they hoped China would recognize him as such and negotiations toward a realistic solution could be held.
There was a small minority who said they wanted to demand Tibet's independence, Takhla said.
The "middle way" approach with Beijing is one in which Tibetans want a level of autonomy that will allow them to protect and preserve their culture, religion and national identity. In exchange, China could continue to claim Tibet as part of its territory.
Some in Tibet have advocated independence from China, but the Dalai Lama has long called for genuine autonomy.
Tibet is technically autonomous from the central Chinese government, but the Dalai Lama and others have said they favor real autonomy and resent the slow erosion of their culture amid an influx of Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China. Learn about Tibet's history of conflict »
The resentment spilled over in March, when Buddhist monks initiated peaceful anti-Chinese protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. The demonstrations began March 14, the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Beijing's rule that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
The protests soon turned violent, with demonstrators burning vehicles and shops. Some protesters advocated independence from China, while others demonstrated against the growing influence of the Han Chinese in Tibet and other regions of China with ethnic Tibetan populations. The subsequent crackdown left 18 civilians and one police officer dead, according to the Chinese government. Tibet's self-proclaimed government-in-exile put the death toll from the protests at 140.
China blamed the Dalai Lama and his followers for the March riots -- a charge he has consistently denied.
|
[
"Who did they back?",
"Who wnated Tibet's independence?",
"What does Lama seek?",
"What does a small minority demand for Tibet?",
"What do Tibetian leaders back?",
"What does the Dalai Lama seek from Bejing?",
"What does Dalai Lama seeks?",
"What does the minority want?",
"What do the Tibetan exile leaders back?"
] |
[
[
"the Dalai Lama"
],
[
"small minority"
],
[
"autonomy."
],
[
"independence,"
],
[
"the Dalai Lama's current \"middle way approach,\""
],
[
"autonomy."
],
[
"autonomy."
],
[
"Tibet's independence,"
],
[
"\"middle way approach,\""
]
] |
Tibetan exile leaders back Dalai Lama's current "middle way approach"
The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, seeks genuine autonomy from Beijing .
Small minority want to demand Tibet's independence, spokesman says .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Tibetan exile leaders, meeting in northern India to debate a potential new approach to Tibet's decades-long struggle for autonomy, have voted to stay with the Dalai Lama's current "middle way approach," according to a spokesman for the spiritual leader. Some have sought Tibet's independence from China, but the Dalai Lama has sought autonomy. "The majority of the people have spoken and have requested his holiness the Dalai Lama to continue with his middle way approach," said spokesman Tenzin Taklha. The meeting was called after the Dalai Lama acknowledged he had failed in his efforts to convince China to restore the territory's autonomy. He did not attend the week-long conference in Dharamsala, a town in the hills of north India where he lives in exile. He called the meeting, he said, to offer the exiles an opportunity to discuss "the best possible future course of action" for Tibet. Takhla said the Tibetans demonstrated that the Dalai Lama was their undisputed leader, and they hoped China would recognize him as such and negotiations toward a realistic solution could be held. There was a small minority who said they wanted to demand Tibet's independence, Takhla said. The "middle way" approach with Beijing is one in which Tibetans want a level of autonomy that will allow them to protect and preserve their culture, religion and national identity. In exchange, China could continue to claim Tibet as part of its territory. Some in Tibet have advocated independence from China, but the Dalai Lama has long called for genuine autonomy. Tibet is technically autonomous from the central Chinese government, but the Dalai Lama and others have said they favor real autonomy and resent the slow erosion of their culture amid an influx of Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China. Learn about Tibet's history of conflict » The resentment spilled over in March, when Buddhist monks initiated peaceful anti-Chinese protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. The demonstrations began March 14, the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Beijing's rule that sent the Dalai Lama into exile. The protests soon turned violent, with demonstrators burning vehicles and shops. Some protesters advocated independence from China, while others demonstrated against the growing influence of the Han Chinese in Tibet and other regions of China with ethnic Tibetan populations. The subsequent crackdown left 18 civilians and one police officer dead, according to the Chinese government. Tibet's self-proclaimed government-in-exile put the death toll from the protests at 140. China blamed the Dalai Lama and his followers for the March riots -- a charge he has consistently denied.
|
[
"What does the Dalai Lama seek?",
"Who is the spiritual leader of Tibet?",
"What do the Tibetan exile leaders back?",
"Who wants to demand Tibet's independence?",
"Who is the Tibet's spiritual leader?",
"What to Tibetan exile leaders support?",
"Who backs Dalai Lama's current \"middle way approach\"?",
"What are a small minority demanding?",
"Who want to demand Tibet's independence?"
] |
[
[
"autonomy."
],
[
"Dalai Lama's"
],
[
"the Dalai Lama's current \"middle way approach,\""
],
[
"a small minority"
],
[
"Dalai Lama"
],
[
"\"middle way approach,\""
],
[
"Tibetan exile leaders,"
],
[
"Tibet's independence,"
],
[
"China,"
]
] |
Tibetan exile leaders back Dalai Lama's current "middle way approach"
The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, seeks genuine autonomy from Beijing .
Small minority want to demand Tibet's independence, spokesman says .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will undergo a routine medical examination at a hospital in the Indian capital on Tuesday, his spokesman Tenzin Taklha told CNN Sunday.
The Dalai Lama with French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on a recent visit to France.
The check-up in New Delhi is likely to take several hours, but the Dalai Lama will not be admitted to the hospital, the spokesman said.
The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala, will travel to the Indian capital on Monday.
The 73-year-old Tibetan leader was hospitalized in Mumbai in August for abdominal discomfort.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will undergo a routine medical examination at a hospital in the Indian capital on Tuesday.
|
[
"Who will undergo a medical exam his week?",
"How long will the check up take?",
"He was admitted for tests because of what?",
"What country is the Dalai Lama associated with?",
"Who is the Tibetan spiritual leader?",
"What medical problems was the Dalai Lama having?",
"What type of comfort did the leader suffer?",
"In what city will the check-up take place?",
"Who will undergo a medical exam?",
"Where was the check-up?",
"Where did the Dalai Lama receive medical treatment?"
] |
[
[
"Dalai Lama"
],
[
"several hours,"
],
[
"abdominal discomfort."
],
[
"Tibetan"
],
[
"Dalai Lama"
],
[
"abdominal discomfort."
],
[
"abdominal discomfort."
],
[
"New Delhi"
],
[
"the Dalai Lama"
],
[
"in New Delhi"
],
[
"hospital in the Indian capital"
]
] |
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will undergo a medical exam this week .
Dalai Lama was recently admitted for tests after suffering abdominal discomfort .
The check-up in New Delhi is likely to take several hours .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will undergo a routine medical examination at a hospital in the Indian capital on Tuesday, his spokesman Tenzin Taklha told CNN Sunday. The Dalai Lama with French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on a recent visit to France. The check-up in New Delhi is likely to take several hours, but the Dalai Lama will not be admitted to the hospital, the spokesman said. The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala, will travel to the Indian capital on Monday. The 73-year-old Tibetan leader was hospitalized in Mumbai in August for abdominal discomfort. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will undergo a routine medical examination at a hospital in the Indian capital on Tuesday.
|
[
"Where the medical check be carried out?",
"What is likely to take several hours?",
"What was suffering the Dalai Lama?",
"What kind of treatment is the Tibetan Spirtual leader undergoing?",
"What happens to the Dalai Lama?",
"What tests did Dalai Lama receive?"
] |
[
[
"at a hospital"
],
[
"check-up in New Delhi"
],
[
"abdominal discomfort."
],
[
"a routine medical examination"
],
[
"undergo a routine medical examination"
],
[
"a routine medical examination"
]
] |
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will undergo a medical exam this week .
Dalai Lama was recently admitted for tests after suffering abdominal discomfort .
The check-up in New Delhi is likely to take several hours .
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Vimlendu Jha is the founder and head of Swechha -- We For Change Foundation which is based in India's capital, New Delhi. "For the rest of the world India is powerful, but for many residing in the countryside, India is still disempowered, hungry and naked." Swechha started out as an organization to combat the pollution of the city's main waterway, the river Yamuna. Today it deals with the environmental issues that affect several aspects of Delhi. Vimlendu leads volunteers and local children to key sites around the city to tackle the ecological problems, as well as to raise awareness of the issues. Follow his efforts in his blogs and video diaries. October 18, 2007 We traveled, along with 100-odd kids from one of New Delhi's most progressive schools, The Shri Ram School, to the rural part of our country, to Kempty Village in Uttaranchal. The purpose of the visit was to expose these young minds (ages 15-17) to the existence of another India. Most of us have an illusion of India becoming a powerful nation and it is on a phenomenal growth trajectory. We are not so much seen as a developing nation but a developed nation. One wonders what actually makes a country developed, when most of the parameters of development are skewed, as is the case of our country. For the rest of the world India is powerful, but for many residing in the countryside, India is still disempowered, hungry and naked. Up to 70 percent of Indians still live in villages. Most of the time these villages are neglected and are centers of poverty. Development around India's cities has brought a flood of people from the rural areas who come in search of jobs. This population comprises the "urban poor" which is more vulnerable than the rural poor. Imagine, India still has more than 260 million people (26 percent of the population) living below the poverty line. In the last 10 years, we have had at least 40,000 farmer suicides in the country -- indicative of the growing gap between the poor and the rich. The purpose of this trip was to learn, and unlearn, about village stereotypes or notions we live with. The village in Uttaranchal wasn't as extreme an experience as other remote villages of India, but it was indicative of the hardships that people live with. Another reason for the trip was to celebrate the simplicity and generosity of the villagers vis-à-vis we, the insecure urbanites, and also to understand their hardships, due to our over-consumption and false assumption that our wrongdoing does not necessarily influence the rural population -- when we know it does. For many students, it was a first-time, first-hand experience of a village. Some were overwhelmed with the beauty and many were saddened by the villagers' plight. The outing also gave them an opportunity to contribute in some way. Students worked in the fields, helped the villagers in agricultural work and breathed the clean air. It was a wonderful experience, aimed at understanding the gap between the two exisiting worlds; to bridge the gap between these two worlds. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Who took a group of children to see a village?",
"How did the children react to the plight of villagers?",
"What did he say was their reaction to the plight of the villagers?",
"What village were kids taken to see?",
"Where was the village located?",
"What did Vimlendu take a group of children to see?",
"What was his aim?",
"What was his intention?",
"What were the children saddened by?",
"Where had many of the children never been?"
] |
[
[
"Vimlendu Jha"
],
[
"Some were overwhelmed with the beauty and many were saddened"
],
[
"Some were overwhelmed with the beauty and many were saddened"
],
[
"Kempty"
],
[
"Uttaranchal"
],
[
"key sites around the city"
],
[
"understanding the gap between the two exisiting worlds;"
],
[
"combat the pollution of the city's main waterway, the river Yamuna."
],
[
"the villagers' plight."
],
[
"Kempty Village in Uttaranchal."
]
] |
Vimlendu takes a group of children to see a village in Uttaranchal .
His aim was to show them the differences between India's city and village life .
Many of the children had never been to an Indian village .
Vimlendu says they were "saddened by the villagers' plight"
|
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- While many now recognize the scientific explanation for a solar eclipse, the phenomenon is still marked with tradition and sometimes suspicion in Hindu-majority India. People test the "sky watching telescope" at the Gujarat Council of Science City in India. The "exceptionally long" eclipse that will cross half the planet Wednesday will be able to be seen by virtually all of the population of China and India. For beggars in India, the occasion means an extra day of receiving alms and food. The panhandler in Sandeep Jaggi's neighborhood normally visits the block every week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, as well as the days of a new and full moon. And because his patrons mark an eclipse with alms-giving, prayers and bathing, he rarely misses the chance to meet them on this day as well. "It's a family tradition and I follow it," says 34-year-old Jaggi. He will fill the beggar's small steel pail with mustard oil and coins and his disheveled sash with lentils. For others in the country, the eclipse is not a reason to celebrate, but a more ominous phenomenon. Send us your photos of the eclipse Most pregnant women hope to avoid giving birth during an eclipse. "None of the expectant mothers under my treatment are willing to have deliveries on Wednesday," Shivani Sachdev Gour, a gynecologist at New Delhi's Fortis La Femme hospital, told CNN. In fact, there are critically ill patients who do not want to be in the hospital on the day of the eclipse, she said. Indian astrologers even advise expectant mothers to stay indoors when this celestial event occurs. "It may not cause any physical harm to the baby, but it may affect the child's overall personality," said R.K. Sharma, who describes himself as a "remedial astrologer." A solar eclipse, he says, weakens the sun god temporarily because of an encounter with dragon Rahu and leaves some cascading results everywhere. "Bathing in holy rivers and ponds during this time thus helps protect health and develop positivism and greater will power," he explained. About 1.5 million people are expected at one such pond -- the Brahmsarovar, or the pool of Hindu god Brahma -- in northern India on Wednesday. "They offer prayers to the sun god and take holy dips during an eclipse," said Ashok Kumar Bansal, the sub-divisional magistrate of Kurukshetra, an ancient Hindu city. But the century's longest total solar eclipse is not just about the dragon-sun combat, it also means business for some. Travel firms in India have plans in place to cash in on the phenomenon. Cox and Kings India has a planeload of eclipse watchers heading for the eastern state of Bihar, one of the most preferred locations for sighting the event. The plane will hover over Gaya in Bihar and return to New Delhi the same day, company spokesman Thomas C. Thottathil told CNN. Passengers were given two options: to book a "sunside" seat facing the eclipse for about $1,640, or reserve an "earthside" seat for about $610, Thottathil added. "And it's a sold out flight now!" he said.
|
[
"Where do some critically ill patients not want to be during eclipse?",
"Pregnant women in India hope to avoid what during an eclipse?",
"What is marked with suspicion?",
"Eclipse weakens sun god because of an encounter with what?",
"Who hope to avoid giving birth during eclipse?",
"Eclipse weakens sun god because of encounter with what mythical beast?",
"What is marked with tradition and often suspicion in Hindu-majority India?",
"What is the reason these women are concerned?",
"What did the Astrologer says?",
"What people group has strong impressions of lunar activity?",
"What is the religious majority in India?",
"What group in India is concerned?"
] |
[
[
"in the hospital"
],
[
"giving birth"
],
[
"solar eclipse,"
],
[
"dragon Rahu"
],
[
"Most pregnant women"
],
[
"dragon Rahu"
],
[
"solar eclipse,"
],
[
"it may affect the child's overall personality,\""
],
[
"\"Bathing in holy rivers and ponds during this time thus helps protect health and develop positivism and greater will power,\""
],
[
"pregnant women"
],
[
"Hindu-majority"
],
[
"critically ill patients"
]
] |
Solar eclipse marked with tradition and often suspicion in Hindu-majority India .
Most pregnant women in India hope to avoid giving birth during eclipse .
Some critically ill patients do not want to be in hospital on day of eclipse .
Astrologer: Eclipse weakens sun god because of encounter with dragon Rahu .
|
NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) -- India has elected its first female president, official results show, in what supporters are calling a boost for the rights of millions of downtrodden women, despite a bitter campaign marked by scandal.
Pratibha Patil, 72, is India's first elected female president.
Pratibha Patil, the ruling coalition's 72-year-old nominee for the mainly ceremonial post, easily beat opposition-backed challenger and vice president, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, in a vote by the national parliament and state politicians.
"This a victory of the people," Patil told reporters after official results were announced Saturday. "I am grateful to the people of India and the men and women of India and this is a victory for the principles which our Indian people uphold."
Patil won about two thirds of the electoral college votes. There had never been any doubt she would win, given support from the ruling coalition.
The governor of the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan, she emerged on the national stage when the Congress-led coalition and its communist allies failed to agree on a joint candidate.
"This is a very special moment for us women, and men of course, in our country because for the first time we have a woman being elected president of India," Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi, India's most powerful politician, said.
Supporters hoped Patil's candidacy would help bring issues that plague women in India, like dowry-related violence, into the public spotlight. A woman is murdered, raped or abused every three minutes on average in India.
Her presidency also reflects the growing power of some women in India, where an increasing number are taking part in the workforce and in schools and hold senior positions in corporations.
After the results, Patil supporters took to the streets, singing and dancing as others lit fire crackers and beat large brass drums.
India has had a number of female icons in the past -- most famously Sonia Gandhi's mother-in-law, Indira, who was one of the world's first female prime ministers in 1966.
But hope Patil's presidency would spark only positive talk about women's influence in India evaporated when it emerged the bank for women she helped established was closed in 2003 because of bad debts and amid accusations of financial irregularities.
The employees' union has taken Patil and others to court, claiming loans meant for poor women were instead given to her brother and other relatives and not returned. She was also accused of trying to shield her brother in a murder inquiry.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has dismissed accusations against her as "mud-slinging", said on Saturday her victory was "a vote against the politics of divisiveness".
"All the allegations against me are motivated and have already been answered," Patil said in a statement last week.
Her campaign was marked by other mishaps as well.
She managed to offend many minority Muslims, and anger some historians, by saying Indian women first veiled their heads as protection against 16th century Muslim invaders.
Then she dismayed modern India by claiming she had experienced a "divine premonition" that she was destined for higher office from a long dead spiritual guru.
Critics also dug up a comment she was said to have made as Maharashtra's health minister in 1975, saying people with hereditary diseases should be sterilized. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Whom did India elect president?",
"What was marked by scandal?",
"What nation elected their first female president?",
"What is the victory being called?",
"Who was was the ruling coalition's nominee?",
"Who's supporters are calling the victory a boost for women's rights?",
"who is india's first female president?",
"who cares about womens rights?",
"Who is the president of India?",
"What is the name of the president elect?",
"What is Patil's first name?",
"What is her name?",
"What age is the new president?",
"Who did India elect as the first female president on Saturday?",
"What age was Patil at the time of the election?",
"Which country elected it's first female president?",
"What is Patil's age?",
"What is the age of President Elect Patil?",
"What kind of election campaign was it?",
"Who was the first female president of India?",
"what was the scandal?",
"Was the election campaign marked by scandal?",
"Who was the coalition's nominee?",
"what was the election campaign marked by?"
] |
[
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"a bitter campaign"
],
[
"India"
],
[
"of the people,\""
],
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"India"
],
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"Pratibha"
],
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"72,"
],
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"72,"
],
[
"India"
],
[
"72,"
],
[
"72,"
],
[
"bitter"
],
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"loans meant for poor women were instead given to her brother"
],
[
"a bitter campaign marked by scandal."
],
[
"Pratibha Patil,"
],
[
"scandal."
]
] |
India elects first female president, official results show Saturday .
Pratibha Patil's supporters are calling victory a boost for women's rights .
Bitter election campaign was marked by scandal .
72-year-old Patil was the ruling coalition's nominee for mainly ceremonial post .
|
NEW DELHI, India -- Police covered up the murder of a British teenage girl in Goa last month to protect the tourist industry, a state minister and local media said Monday. Scarlett Keeling stands on Anjuna beach in Goa a few days before her death. Officers had initially said Scarlett Keeling had drowned on Anjuna beach after taking drugs, but changed their story when the 15-year-old's mother protested and a second autopsy suggested she had been raped and murdered. A suspect in the case was arrested Sunday but Fiona MacKeown said she did not believe he was the man who killed her daughter. "This is a clear case of murder and it has gone out of proportion because the police tried to cover it up," Francisco X. Pacheco, Goa's Tourism Minister told Reuters.com. Indian media suggested the cover-up was an attempt to protect Goa's tourism industry. "They should have arrested this man a long time ago and this issue would have got diluted, but now because of the tainted image of some police officers in the case, things have gone out of hand," Pacheco said. Police said they were investigating allegations of a cover-up and the actions of junior officers. "There are certain things under my scrutiny and I have taken cognizance of all these issues, specially these officers," Kishan Kumar, a senior police officer overseeing the probe told Reuters. Keeling's mother said she also believed police were trying to cover up the truth behind her daughter's murder, and that they had arrested Samson D'Souza, 29, to make it look like they were making progress in the case. "We've had an awful lot of contact with people that have been in this situation before, and they've warned us to be careful (that) the police will try and find someone immediately to try and put a front on it that they're actually doing something," Fiona MacKeown told BBC radio on Monday. Kumar described D'Souza as a "local Anjuna boy" who was a bartender at Liu's, a beachfront bar. He said police had confirmed D'Souza's role in Keeling's rape and were now trying to find evidence that he killed the teenager. "We have sufficient evidence to show that he was involved in rape," Kumar told CNN. "So far as murder is concerned, we are investigating further." Scarlett and her family arrived in November for an extended vacation in Goa, known for its white sandy beaches and dance music scene. Beachfront shacks house the bars that fuel the nightlife. MacKeown said Scarlett was left in the care of a trusted male friend and his aunts while the rest of the family traveled to an adjoining Indian state, but she told the BBC that she has had no contact with the family since her daughter's death. The mother said Monday she sent a letter to Goa's chief minister asking for India's Central Bureau of Investigation to look into the case. Goa is popular with Western tourists but several tourists have died from drug overdoses in recent years while women have been attacked and sexually assaulted. The Times Of India said 126 foreigners have died in Goa over the last two years and in January this year a 30-year-old British woman was raped. E-mail to a friend CNN's Tess Eastment contributed to this report.
|
[
"what did the police do",
"What was the girl's name?",
"Who covered up the murder of a UK girl?",
"Where was the murder covered up?",
"Where did the killer find the UK girl?",
"What age was the murdered girl?",
"what did the mother say",
"What age was the girl?",
"What are the mother's reasons?",
"Who thinks police arrested wrong man?",
"what did the police cover up",
"What was the man's name?"
] |
[
[
"covered up the murder of a British teenage girl in Goa"
],
[
"Scarlett Keeling"
],
[
"Police"
],
[
"Goa"
],
[
"Goa"
],
[
"15-year-old's"
],
[
"said she also believed police were trying to cover up the truth behind her daughter's murder,"
],
[
"15-year-old's"
],
[
"police were trying to cover up the truth"
],
[
"Fiona MacKeown"
],
[
"the murder of a British teenage girl in Goa"
],
[
"Samson D'Souza,"
]
] |
Indian police covered up murder of UK girl in Goa, state's tourism minister said .
Police arrest one man over the death of the 15-year-old .
Mother of Scarlett Keeling says she thinks police have arrested wrong man .
|
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (CNN) -- A Yale University lab technician was arrested Thursday and charged with murder in the slaying of a graduate student whose body was found in the basement wall of an off-campus medical research building, police said. Raymond Clark, 24, was arrested and charged with murder, police said. His bond was set at $3 million. Raymond Clark was apprehended about 8:10 a.m. ET at a Super 8 motel in Cromwell, Connecticut, where he had spent the night after being released Wednesday following his submission to DNA testing. Bond for Clark has been set at $3 million, New Haven Police Chief James Lewis said. Hours after his arrest, Clark appeared in court and did not enter a plea. Standing with chains on his ankles and his palms on a table, he looked only at the judge and spoke only to acknowledge that his rights were read to him. A court date of October 6 was set. Lewis described the killing as an instance of "workplace violence" but did not elaborate. Watch chief, acquaintances talk about Clark » Annie Le's body was found in the basement wall of an off-campus medical research building Sunday. She had been strangled. Le, 24, a pharmacology student, was last seen alive September 8, the day she appeared in a surveillance video entering a four-story lab at 10 Amistad St., about 10 blocks from the main campus. Her body was found on what was to have been her wedding day. Lewis said the arrest "went smoothly." Watch the police chief announce the arrest » He could not release details about the charges or whether DNA results led police to arrest Clark, who initially was described as a person of interest in the case. "This arrest warrant has been sealed, so no further information can be released in order to comply with this court order," Lewis said. Clark could have been arrested Wednesday if he had declined to provide DNA samples and allow police to search his home, but he was released after complying, New Haven city spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said. Police had been monitoring the motel where Clark was staying. When asked about the arrest, Clark's attorney David Dworski referred CNN to the statement he released earlier: "We are committed to proceeding appropriately with the authorities with whom we are in regular contact." Two other search warrants also were executed Wednesday -- one on property belonging to Clark that was not named in the first warrant and a second for Clark's vehicle, which was being processed Wednesday evening, Lewis said earlier. He said Clark is a technician who does "custodial-type" work at the building. Clark answered police questions for a while but later retained an attorney and stopped, Lewis said. Yale President Richard Levin said while the school's administration is "relieved" by the news of Clark's arrest, "we must resist the temptation to rush to judgment." Clark, a lab technician at Yale since December 2004, had nothing in his employment history that "gave an indication that his involvement in such a crime might be possible," Levin said in a statement Thursday. Lewis said Clark and Le worked in the same building and passed in the hallway, but he refused to comment further on whether they knew each other. Investigators have collected about 250 pieces of evidence, Lewis said. Watch police discuss the investigation » Lewis earlier said police had reviewed about 700 hours of video and interviewed more than 150 people, some more than once. Watch a timeline leading up to Le's death » Authorities have not released information on what DNA evidence may have been found, although investigators said earlier that bloody clothing was found hidden above tiles in a drop ceiling in another part of the building. Police have not described the clothes that were found, nor said to whom they might have belonged. Teams of investigators at a Connecticut State Police lab worked through the weekend processing and examining the bloodstained garments. But Thomas Kaplan, editor in chief of the Yale Daily
|
[
"Who's body was found?",
"What is the court date?",
"What does the police chief describe the crime as?",
"What date is set for the court?",
"What is the bond set at?",
"What is the crime described as?",
"How much is the bond?",
"How much is the bond for Clark?",
"What is the court date set?"
] |
[
[
"Annie Le's"
],
[
"October 6"
],
[
"an instance of \"workplace violence\""
],
[
"October 6"
],
[
"$3 million."
],
[
"\"workplace violence\""
],
[
"$3 million."
],
[
"$3 million."
],
[
"October 6"
]
] |
NEW: Suspect appears in court, doesn't enter plea; October 6 court date set .
Bond for Raymond Clark set at $3 million, police say .
Police chief describes crime as a case of workplace violence .
Le's body was found on what would have been her wedding day .
|
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (CNN) -- A quiet rendition of "Amazing Grace" capped an emotional candlelight vigil Monday night for slain Yale University student Annie Le, whose body was found on what was to have been her wedding day. Students at Yale attend a candlelight vigil for Annie Le Monday night. Several hundred people turned out on the Yale campus for the vigil, crying and hugging each other. Le's roommate, Natalie Powers, said the 24-year-old graduate student in pharmacology "was as good a human being as you'd ever hope to meet." "She was also really tenacious and had a sense of humor that was never far away, and she was tougher than you'd think by just looking at her," Powers said. "That this horrible tragedy happened at all is incomprehensible. But that it happened to her I think is infinitely more so. It seems completely senseless." Connecticut state medical examiners announced Monday that the body found in a Yale medical research building over the weekend was that of Le, who had been missing for nearly a week. Her body was found Sunday hidden in a basement wall. Bloody clothes were found hidden above tiles in a drop ceiling elsewhere in the same building, investigators said. Le was last seen entering the building Tuesday morning. Thomas Kaplan, editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News, said Le "really had everything going for her." "She was a top scholar. She was very outgoing, a warm person," Kaplan said. "You know, she was diminutive in stature, but certainly not in personality. And that's what I think just makes this so sad for everyone, regardless of whether you knew her. It's just a tragedy." Le's death is being investigated as a homicide, but Connecticut medical examiners released no further information beyond the identification. A candlelight vigil in her honor was scheduled for Monday evening on the campus. A Yale professor said on Monday that the building has good security and only certain people can enter, let alone access certain areas. Professor Gary Rudnick, who interviewed Le when she applied for admission to the graduate program in pharmacology, said it gives him the sense that there could be a "murderer among us." No suspects are in custody, but investigators are questioning several people in the case, New Haven Police spokesman Joe Avery said. Watch a report about the case » Kaplan said Le's killing has left Yale students shocked and wary. "Only Yalies had access to that basement, and that seems to point to someone in our community being involved in this," Kaplan said. "That's what is so frightening." Authorities have not described the clothes that were found, nor said to whom they may have belonged. Teams of investigators at a Connecticut State Police lab worked through the weekend processing and examining the blood-stained clothes. Kaplan said a Yale police official told the newspaper the clothes were not what Le was wearing when she entered the building. At a meeting Monday for members of the campus community, Yale officials discussed security and provided an update on the investigation. A faculty member and a student who attended the meeting told CNN that Yale officials said police have narrowed down suspects. Security cameras captured video of Le as she entered the four-story lab building at 10 Amistad Street, about 10 blocks from the main campus, six days ago. After poring over hours of surveillance tapes, authorities said they had not found images of her leaving the building. Rudnick described security in the building as "very good." It had restricted access, and simply having a Yale ID card was not enough to get in, he said. Within the building, one had to have special access to enter certain areas, he said. Le was to be married Sunday on New York's Long Island to Jonathan Widawsky, a graduate student at Columbia University. "Annie has been planning this wedding for over a year with John, and she was very excited. She's been doing
|
[
"Whose remains were found?",
"What was her age?",
"Who says the tragedy is \"incomprehensible\"?",
"Where do they last seen?",
"When were the remains found?",
"Who are they questioning?",
"What was Le's age?",
"Where they found the remains of the student Annie?"
] |
[
[
"Yale University student Annie Le,"
],
[
"24-year-old"
],
[
"Powers"
],
[
"entering the building"
],
[
"in a Yale medical research building"
],
[
"several people in the case,"
],
[
"24-year-old"
],
[
"Yale medical research building"
]
] |
NEW: Roommate says horrible tragedy is "incomprehensible"
Grad student Annie Le's remains found Sunday in basement wall in building .
Le, 24, was last seen entering the building Tuesday morning .
Police: No suspects in custody, but investigators questioning several people .
|
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (CNN) -- Slain Yale University graduate student Annie Le was intelligent, driven and destined for greatness, said those who knew her. The body of Annie Le, 24, was found in the wall of a Yale University laboratory building Sunday. "She was also really tenacious and had a sense of humor that was never far away, and she was tougher than you'd think by just looking at her," Le's roommate, Natalie Powers, told a crowd of hundreds gathered on campus for the slain 24-year-old's vigil Monday. Le's body was found inside a wall at a Yale medical school building Sunday, the day she was to be married to her college sweetheart, Jonathan Widawsky, a graduate student at New York's Columbia University. She disappeared five days before her wedding. Watch timeline leading up to Le's death » Le and Widawsky attended the University of Rochester together, where Le majored in cell and developmental biology with a minor in medical anthropology. In a self-profile she wrote for the National Institutes of Health's undergraduate scholarship program, Le called her biology studies "interesting" but said she would like to pursue a research career in medical anthropology, "which has highlighted the severity of health issues in societies worldwide." She further wrote that she would one day like to work for the NIH or become a professor. Once at Yale, she majored in pharmacology and worked long hours in the lab where she was found dead this week. Watch how Le's body was found » Le was scheduled to finish her postgraduate program in 2013 and had recently decided the topic of her dissertation: the effects of certain proteins on metabolic diseases like diabetes, reported the Yale Daily News, the campus newspaper. "She was probably the most brilliant person I've ever met in my life," her high school friend, Laurel Griffeath, told NBC's "Today" show, "but what made her more amazing was that there was an intersection of intelligence and personality and ability." Le impressed her peers and teachers long before delving into complicated medical research. Originally from Placerville, California, Le graduated in 2003 from Union Mine High School, where she was named "best of the best" and "most likely to be the next Einstein," according to CNN affiliate WFSB-TV in New Haven. Principal Tony DeVille told Le's hometown newspaper, the Mountain Democrat, that she was "one of the bright spots in the school's history." But she didn't excel solely in academic situations. Friends and professors gush when speaking of Le's vibrant personality and her sense of humor. Le "was as good a human being as you'd ever hope to meet," Powers said at the vigil. Watch why police say killing not random » Griffeath said Le knew how to balance her social life and academic responsibilities as well. "She cared about people and she was funny, and she didn't sacrifice one part of her life for another like a lot of people kind of seem to," Griffeath said on "Today." Thomas Kaplan, editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News, described Le as "very outgoing, a warm person." "She was diminutive in stature, but certainly not in personality, and that's what I think just makes this so sad for everyone, regardless of whether you knew her," Kaplan said of the 4-foot-11 scholar. Friends describe Widawsky as the perfect match for Le. The portrayed a young couple deeply in love, constantly on the phone with each other and eager to exchange vows. Le tackled wedding planning with the same zeal she brought to her research, friends said. "She was just so excited about this wedding and everything from, you know, her flowers to her wedding dress and just certain details about it," Vanessa Flores, a friend and former roommate, told CNN. "We talked about this back in 2008. She was already thinking about the weather -- whether June,
|
[
"In what studies did Le excel?",
"Who was named most likely to be next Einstein?",
"who planned wedding with the same zeal?",
"In which building was the body found?",
"Where was the student's body found?",
"What subjects did Le excel in?"
] |
[
[
"cell and developmental biology with a minor in medical anthropology."
],
[
"Annie Le"
],
[
"Annie Le,"
],
[
"Yale University laboratory"
],
[
"in the wall of a Yale University laboratory building"
],
[
"academic situations."
]
] |
Annie Le named "most likely to be the next Einstein" in high school .
Friends: Le excelled in studies, including pharmacology, medical anthropology .
Grad student's body found in Yale building the day she was to be married .
Le planned wedding with the same zeal she brought to her research, friends say .
|
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (CNN) -- Raymond J. Clark III, charged with murder in the death of Yale graduate student Annie Le, was smart, amiable and loved his dog, say those who knew him. Raymond Clark III was arrested Thursday and charged with murder in the death of Annie Le. One researcher said he often went by the lab in the Yale School of Medicine building where Le was found strangled and stuffed in a wall. Lufeng Zhang worked with Clark, he said, and thinks the police may have the wrong man. "He's a nice man, always," he said. Clark, 24, the same age as Le, was a technician in the school of medicine's Animal Resources Center. While Le, who was pursuing a doctorate in pharmacology, conducted experiments on mice, Clark took care of the rodents and cleaned their cages. Police will not say whether Clark and Le were acquainted or why they homed in on Clark after Le went missing September 8, less than a week before she was scheduled to marry a Columbia University graduate student who was her college sweetheart. Watch police announce arrest » "They work in the same building, passed in the hallways," New Haven Police Chief James Lewis said of Le and Clark. "Anything beyond that, I won't talk about." Though details of the investigation are scant, police said they arrested Clark on Thursday and charged him with Le's murder after collecting more than 250 pieces of evidence. Clark was an honor student at Branford High School in suburban New Haven. He graduated in 2004, and according to the school's yearbook, he was a member of the Asian Awareness Club his senior year. High school friend Lisa Heselin remembers Clark "as a jokester, kind of a class clown," she said. "Everybody knew him. Everybody liked him." She and others who knew Clark in high school are shocked that he was arrested in connection with Le's murder, she said. Watch what acquaintances say about Clark » "They can't believe it, and then, of course, you're reminiscing, like, 'Oh my God, remember when we went over to his house and we all hung out?' You don't expect somebody you grew up with to be involved in something like this," Heselin said. Maurice Perry, who said he has been friends with Clark since first grade, told CNN on Thursday night that he doesn't believe his longtime pal is guilty. "This is not the Raymond Clark that I know," he said. "I've known him so long, I just can't picture him doing something like this." Asked if he ever knew Clark to be violent, Perry replied, "Not at all. I've known him to be outgoing, happy, athletic, fun. Violent, not at all." Most of his current neighbors in Middletown, about 30 miles northeast of New Haven, said they moved in after Clark or knew him only in passing. Many said he shared the second-floor apartment with his girlfriend and a dog. Police said he drove a Ford Mustang, which was seized as evidence. Neighbor Ashley Rowe described Clark as "decent" and said he asked a lot of questions when he spoke to people and wanted to know their full names and where they were from. Rowe also remembered the first time she met his dog. "His dog was very excited and he was just like, 'Oh, don't worry. He's friendly.' You could pet him," she said. "Pretty much, he just loved his dog and he walked around with his dog all the time." Police arrived at his apartment Tuesday night to collect DNA samples and released him into the custody of his lawyer early Wednesday. Neighbors say they didn't see him return to the apartment. See investigation's timeline » Clark was arrested early Thursday at a Super 8 motel in nearby Cromwell. There were reports that Clark was scheduled
|
[
"Who is charged with the murder of Annie Le?",
"What did the longtime friend of Raymond Clark III say?",
"What was Clark charged with?"
] |
[
[
"Raymond J. Clark III,"
],
[
"\"He's a nice man, always,\""
],
[
"murder in the death of Yale graduate"
]
] |
NEW: Longtime friend says Raymond Clark III "outgoing, happy, athletic, fun"
Another friend says she remembers him "as a jokester, kind of a class clown"
Clark charged with murder of Annie Le, who was found dead on her wedding day .
Girlfriend reportedly defended Clark on MySpace after "rumor of a fling" last year .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- The five remaining defendants in the racially charged "Jena Six" case will appear in court Friday and are expected to enter a plea, a spokesman for the district attorney's office said. Protesters converged on the small Louisiana town in September 2007 after the "Jena 6" were charged. Bill Furlow, spokesman for LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters, declined to say whether the defendants will plead guilty. "It's not a done deal until it's a done deal," he said. In December 2006, six African-American teenagers were charged with second-degree attempted murder and conspiracy in the beating of a white classmate. The incident followed months of racial tension in the community of about 3,000 people. Jena, Louisiana, is about 140 miles southeast of Shreveport in the north-central part of the state. The case drew national attention from civil rights groups, who argued that the charges were excessive. An estimated 15,000-plus demonstrators turned out for a rally on behalf of the teens: Carwin Jones, Jesse Ray Beard, Robert Bailey Jr., Bryant Purvis, Theo Shaw and Mychal Bell. The charges were eventually reduced. Bell pleaded guilty to battery in a juvenile court and moved to Monroe, Louisiana. In January, Bell said he had attempted suicide the month before by shooting himself in the chest but was recovering. Friday's hearing is set for 1:30 p.m.
|
[
"Which town was it?",
"What did the spokesman say?",
"Who was charged with beating a white classmate?",
"What was their crime?",
"How many teens were charged in december 2006?",
"How many people live in the town?",
"Who pleaded guilty to battery in juvenile court this year?",
"what happened before the incident took place",
"what is the population of the town",
"how many teens were charged in 2006",
"what were the 6 studetns races?"
] |
[
[
"Jena, Louisiana,"
],
[
"\"It's not a done deal until it's a done deal,\" he said."
],
[
"six African-American teenagers"
],
[
"second-degree attempted murder and conspiracy in the beating of a white classmate."
],
[
"six"
],
[
"about 3,000"
],
[
"Mychal Bell."
],
[
"months of racial tension in the community"
],
[
"3,000 people."
],
[
"six"
],
[
"African-American"
]
] |
"It's not a done deal until it's a done deal," spokesman says .
6 teens charged in December 2006 with beating a white classmate .
Incident followed months of racial tension in town of about 3,000 people .
One of the the "Jena 6" pleaded guilty to battery in juvenile court this year .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated coastal areas of Louisiana and Mississippi, residents say much of America has forgotten their plight. President Bush and first lady Laura Bush pause for a moment of silence Wednesday at a New Orleans school. But President Bush said Wednesday the federal government has been persistent in pushing recovery efforts. "I would like them to know that we still need all the help and caring and volunteers. We need it bad. People don't realize. They just don't realize," Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, resident Linda Fallon said. The beachfront communities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland, Mississippi, were nearly destroyed in Katrina's fury. Two years later, one-third of Bay St. Louis residents haven't returned. Business has moved inland. Watch the struggle to rebuild in Mississippi » "Without the people, we don't have a town. We don't have a city, we don't have a place apart," Bay St. Louis Mayor Eddie Favre said Tuesday. He predicted it would be at least seven years before the town is back to near-normal. A longtime resident, Diane Bourgeois, has moved 15 miles inland to an apartment and said she doubts she will rebuild. Her home was razed. When she asked why, she said, "I don't know, the memories. It will just never be the same. Can't risk it all again." David MacDonald, pastor of Calvary Independent Baptist Church in Bay St. Louis, said, "We get crews coming down, but they are thinning out as the months go on. "So it's trying to let the people know there is still a need down here, especially in the area of housing. And just the mental and spiritual needs that are down here -- just still overwhelming." In New Orleans, Bush participated in a moment of silence at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology to remember Katrina victims. He said that the U.S. government hasn't forgotten the Gulf Coast and that federal efforts to make post-Katrina improvements to levees and infrastructure were unyielding. "I hope people understand we're still paying attention. We understand," Bush said. Eighty percent of the the $114 billion allocated to the region for Hurricane Katrina repairs has been disbursed, he said. "We're still engaged," Bush said of federal agencies. The president, in his 15th visit to the region since Katrina hit, called the school "a place of hope." Bush said Katrina broke hearts but not "the spirit" of New Orleans citizens. But he alluded to the challenges faced across the region, citing teachers who commuted 30 miles to teach at the school. "This town is better today than it was yesterday," Bush said in praising the Gulf Coast rebuilding effort. But he said it would be even better tomorrow. He urged people across the country to pitch in to help the recovery, whether through donations or volunteer efforts or even moving to the area and joining its work force. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said his city's population increase -- citing 4,000 to 7,000 people a month -- is a good indication of the progress made since Katrina hit. On Wednesday, Nagin participated in the groundbreaking for a memorial to storm victims. "We ring the bells for a city that is in recovery; we ring the bells for hope that the promise that was made at Jackson Square will become a reality and will restore confidence in government at all levels," Nagin said, referring to the scene of Bush's vow in 2005 that the government would help the city and region recover. Katrina first made landfall on August 25 in South Florida as a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of near 81 mph. At one point, after moving west into the Gulf of Mexico, it reached Category 5 status, with maximum sustained winds of nearly 173 mph before making landfall on the Gulf Coast. Four days after its initial landfall
|
[
"When did Hurricane Katrina hit?",
"What percent of the $114 billion in federal rebuilding aid has been distributed?",
"What percent of the money has been distributed?",
"Who says that federal recovery is ongoing?",
"What portion of the federal rebuilding aid did Bush say was distributed?"
] |
[
[
"first made landfall on August 25"
],
[
"Eighty"
],
[
"Eighty"
],
[
"President Bush"
],
[
"Eighty percent of the the $114 billion"
]
] |
President Bush says federal recovery effort ongoing .
80 percent of of $114 billion in federal rebuilding aid distributed, Bush says .
Mississippi mayor says his coastal city still years away from full recovery .
Hurricane Katrina left 1,800 dead in five states in 2005 .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- A grand jury has indicted four people in the shooting death of a woman during what police say was a Ku Klux Klan initiation rite in the Louisiana woods, St. Tammany Parish prosecutors said.
Raymond "Chuck" Foster is reputed to be the leader of the Klan Group. He was among the four indicted.
Raymond "Chuck" Foster, 44, was indicted on second-degree murder charges Wednesday in the November death of Cynthia Lynch, 43, of Tulsa, Oklahoma. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, said Rick Wood, spokesman for the St. Tammany Parish district attorney's office.
"That's what he was charged with," Wood told reporters on Wednesday. "The grand jury agreed with that charge."
Two other men, including Foster's son, Shane Foster, were indicted on a count of obstruction of justice, and a woman, Danielle Jones, was indicted on one count of being an accessory after the fact.
Wood said Thursday Foster's case was assigned to one judge and the others' cases were assigned to another. Foster is scheduled to be arraigned March 3, he said, and the others are set for arraignment next week.
Eight people initially were arrested in the case. The remaining four were not indicted.
"Haven't seen one like this," Wood said Wednesday. "We've had a lot of high-profile cases, but not one like this. ... As (district attorney) Walter Reed said, it will be to the max. They will be prosecuted to the max."
Authorities said Lynch was recruited over the Internet and took a bus to Slidell, Louisiana, where she was met by two Klan members. They then went to a campsite in the woods near Sun, Louisiana, about 60 miles north of New Orleans, where they met other members of the group, police said.
During the initiation rite, members of the Klan group, which calls itself the Sons of Dixie, shaved Lynch's head, according to Capt. George Bonnett of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Jack Strain, who spoke to CNN in November.
After 24 hours of drills, including chanting and running with torches, she asked to be taken to town. An argument began, authorities said, and the group's leader, Raymond Foster, pushed Lynch to the ground and shot her without warning.
Lynch apparently wanted to leave because she was homesick, investigators found after talking to her family members.
After the shooting, "Foster, we believe, removed a knife from his pocket and rolled over the victim and began a process of trying to remove the bullet from her body ... because he was trying to destroy evidence where law enforcement would not be able to piece these things together," Strain said.
Police believe other members of the Sons of Dixie helped cover up the slaying on Foster's behalf, Strain said at the time, including burning some of Lynch's personal items.
"We're up to the challenge," Wood told reporters after the indictments were handed up Wednesday. "This office is ready to proceed and take care of business."
Authorities received the initial tip about the slaying from a convenience store clerk, after two group members went into the store and asked him if he knew how to get bloodstains out of their clothes. The clerk told them he did not, then called police after they left.
Officials tracked down those two members and arrested them, then arrested others at the campsite and Foster. All the members surrendered without incident, police said.
Investigators found Confederate battle flags, Ku Klux Klan banners, five Klan robes and an Imperial Wizard robe at the campsite, authorities said. Lynch's body was found under loose brush along a road several miles from the campsite.
Raymond Foster has a history of Ku Klux Klan activity dating back seven years, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a Montgomery, Alabama-based organization that tracks hate groups.
|
[
"who is reputed leader of klan?",
"Where is Cynthia Lynch from?",
"What is the KKK?"
] |
[
[
"Raymond \"Chuck\" Foster"
],
[
"Tulsa, Oklahoma."
],
[
"Ku Klux Klan"
]
] |
Police say Cynthia Lynch of Tulsa shot as she tried to leave KKK rite .
Raymond "Chuck" Foster is reputed leader of Klan group .
Foster, his son, two others accused in indictment of second-degree murder .
"They will be prosecuted to the max," spokesman for prosecutor said .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- As Hurricane Gustav neared Louisiana's coast Monday morning, forecasters warned that the storm could stall over Louisiana and northeast Texas for several days, which would "exacerbate the threat of heavy rains and inland flooding." Water from a canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, floods a road as Hurricane Gustav makes landfall Monday. Southern Louisiana's barrier islands and coast reported hurricane force winds and heavy rains from Gustav, which was centered about 80 miles south of New Orleans and about 20 miles south-southeast of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, at 8 a.m. CT. Power went out about 6 a.m. in the western part of downtown New Orleans and in the French Quarter 10 minutes later, CNN correspondents Chris Lawrence and Anderson Cooper reported. The eye of Hurricane Gustav made landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana, about 9:30 a.m. CT, the National Hurricane Center said. Gustav's top winds weakened to 110 mph, downgrading it to a Category 2 storm, the hurricane center said. Watch water overflow banks of Industrial Canal » Earlier predictions of a Category 4 storm, which would mean winds of at least 131 mph, and fresh memories of Katrina, which came ashore in 2005 with 127-mph winds, fueled the evacuation of 2 million residents from New Orleans and other parishes. But Gustav never regained the strength lost over Cuba, and by Monday morning hurricane center forecasters said its cloud pattern looked "a bit more ragged." Watch New Orleans man explain his sad reason for staying » The latest discussion published by the hurricane center forecasters said computer models show "Gustav or its remnants slowing to a crawl" over northeast Texas over the next three to five days. "Such slow motion would exacerbate the threat of heavy rains and inland flooding," the forecasters said. Watch water spill over canal levee » With hurricane-force winds extending 70 miles from the center, the islands and shoreline are already in reach of Gustav's fury. Sustained winds of 91 mph and gusts of 117 mph were measured in Southwest Pass, Louisiana, during the 4 a.m. hour, the hurricane center said. CNN's Ali Velshi was hunkered down in a house on Grand Isle, Louisiana, where only a handful of people remained. When high winds first kicked up about 3:15 a.m. Monday, the barrier island's electric power went out, Velshi said. A storm surge of at least 14 feet is expected there, he said.
|
[
"What made landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana?",
"What will it do to Texas?",
"What category storm was it?",
"what time did this occur?",
"What is stalling over northeast Texas?",
"What made landfall?",
"What downgrades it to a Category 2 storm?"
] |
[
[
"Hurricane Gustav"
],
[
"\"exacerbate the threat of heavy rains and inland flooding.\""
],
[
"2"
],
[
"8 a.m. CT."
],
[
"Hurricane Gustav"
],
[
"Hurricane Gustav"
],
[
"110 mph,"
]
] |
NEW: Eye of Gustav made landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana, about 9:30 a.m. CT .
Gustav stalling over northeast Texas would "exacerbate" inland flooding, warns NHC .
Hurricane Gustav's 110 mph winds downgrade it to a Category 2 storm .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- As floodwaters washed away homes in the Lower 9th Ward, Robert Green watched with horror as his mother got swept away in the storm. Robert Green stands on the porch of his family's FEMA trailer in front of his new home earlier this year. Four months later, Green and other family members found Joyce Green's remains in the splintered wreckage of the house where they left her. Robert Green's granddaughter Shanay also drowned the night Hurricane Katrina hit. Green spent almost the entire last four years living in a small FEMA trailer on his land, sharing his story with anyone who came through the Lower 9th. One of the people he met was Tom Darden, executive director of the Make It Right Foundation, Brad Pitt's nonprofit vision for building green, sustainable houses in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. Only a handful of homes have returned to the Lower 9th, one of the areas hardest hit by the killer storm. "We have 14 neighbors and feel crowded," Green said "But we have 3,000 houses that are gone, and we would love to see those houses come back." Darden and Pitt felt compelled to help provide Green and his family a second chance, and on July 9 Green officially became a proud homeowner once again. Getting a fresh start has helped Green and his family deal with the tragedy that turned their lives upside down and took away their loved ones. "That's what gave me the strength to endure all that we've been through," Green said. "People constantly coming by, volunteers constantly coming by. People that really care about us and let us know that we weren't in this alone. It gave us the hope that one day we would come back and be a community again." Watch as Green talks about his family's tragedies and life in New Orleans after Katrina » The Make It Right Foundation has built 15 homes in the Lower 9th so far; the group's goal is to have 150 built by the end of next year. Darden said the program is designed as a hand up, not a handout. "We ask the families to contribute as much as they can afford," he said. "On average that's been about $75,000, but we work with the families very closely to make sure that a family is not spending more than 30 percent of their income towards housing costs, and that's how we ensure they are affordable." Safety and energy efficiency are among the group's primary concerns. "[The houses] are all elevated at least above Katrina-level flooding. A family has the option to build even higher than that if they want. We've got hurricane-resistant features like impact-resistant glass, or a certain type of fabric that protects the windows," Darden said. See photos detailing the features of the Make It Right homes » Another of the driving forces instrumental in rebuilding the Lower 9th Ward in a sustainable fashion is Global Green, the American arm of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's Green Cross International. "Immediately after the storm, we saw a failure in government in every level: local, state and federal," said Matt Petersen, president of Global Green. "There's still so much work to be done that we can't wait, we can't rely on the federal government. "This is an era where I think the citizens of this great country need to take responsibility for our nation, and it starts right here. How we respond affects the future of our country." Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, knows mistakes were made in the efforts to get people back into their homes, both in the Lower 9th Ward and other devastated parts of New Orleans. "We have to be more flexible, we have to be more responsive, and make sure the programs don't just work in theory, but they will work for families," Donovan said. "We've been very focused in
|
[
"How many families did Brad Pitt's Make It Right nonprofit assist with housing?",
"What did the HUD secretary say?",
"Where does Robert Green live?",
"Who did Robert Green lose in the hurricane?"
] |
[
[
"15"
],
[
"\"We have to be more flexible, we have to be more responsive, and make sure the programs don't just work in theory, but they will work for families,\""
],
[
"Lower 9th Ward,"
],
[
"his mother"
]
] |
Robert Green lost his mother and a granddaughter in Hurricane Katrina .
Since then he has lived in a FEMA trailer in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward .
This year he moved into his new home thanks to Brad Pitt's Make It Right nonprofit .
HUD secretary: If it weren't for nonprofits, there would have been little or no progress .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- As the storm raged outside her hospital room four years ago, an equally consuming force hijacked Alesia Crockett's mind: deep depression. Alesia Crockett, who suffers from bipolar disorder, ended up in a hospital hours outside New Orleans. For days, Crockett lay in darkness and a tangle of sweaty hospital bed sheets, one among hundreds of desperate patients trapped inside Charity Hospital in 2005, while outside, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath battered the city. Crockett had been admitted to Charity's inpatient mental health unit after having a psychotic episode. She had struggled for years with bipolar disorder, an illness that causes her to volley between euphoria and profound depression. She said she barely remembers Katrina. "Most of the time, I was in a fog, but I do remember some things," Crockett said. "Where my room was, I could see thousands of people wandering, and I could see the waters rise." Crockett, and many other New Orleanians suffering from chronic mental illness -- and those with what is called "soft depression," or nonchronic mental illness -- say Katrina may have relented days after it hit New Orleans proper, but their mental health issues have not. "Four years later, everything is not all right in New Orleans," said Dr. Jan Johnson, a psychiatrist who treats Crockett. Watch more on New Orleans' mental health crisis » While mental health problems grow, the resources to treat those problems continue to wane. A report about mental health issues in New Orleans after Katrina, published in early 2008 in the journal Psychiatric Annals, lists the number of inpatient psychiatric beds in greater New Orleans at 487 before the storm. Since Katrina, that number has declined to 190. Most of the remaining beds are dedicated to patients unable to live independently. That leaves what the report's authors describe as a "paltry" 17 beds for acute mental health care in New Orleans. "The situation is unconscionable, atrocious. I can't use enough bad words to describe it," said Johnson, who is an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the Tulane University School of Medicine. "Patients are not getting care, they are sitting in emergency rooms for days, and that's just an inappropriate place for psychiatric patients." For two years following Katrina, after being rescued from Charity, Crockett's illness was controlled with medications. Then in 2007, she stopped taking them, and she had another episode. "She came to my clinic and was psychotic and really a danger to herself not able to care for herself," Johnson said. "And I had nowhere to hospitalize her." After leaving the clinic, Crockett bounced among three local hospitals before being transported to the closest medical center with an available psychiatric bed, several hours outside of New Orleans. "I can remember being in the back of an ambulance, and I kept thinking, 'This is taking so long,' " Crockett said. "I didn't know where I was going. I just remember seeing the sky turn from daytime to nighttime, and we still hadn't gotten there." Crockett is far from alone, Johnson says. "The system has been in horrible shape for a while," she said. "We had our problems even before the storm, but comparatively, we had it much better then. It's very frustrating." And the consequences of not finding a bed for acutely ill patients can be deadly. In January 2008, a New Orleans police officer was killed by a man suffering from psychosis due to schizophrenia, New Orleans police said. The officer, Nicola Cotton, approached 44-year-old Bernel Johnson for questioning about a rape. A struggle ensued, and Johnson overpowered and killed Cotton with her own gun, police said. As it turns out, Johnson was no longer under psychiatric care and was not taking his prescribed medication. Cotton's death trained a spotlight on the deplorable condition of the New Orleans mental health system -- for a moment -- said Rep. Neil
|
[
"How many psychiatric beds for inpatients did they have before the storm?",
"Who was slain by a mentally ill man?",
"how many beds before?",
"what spotlights the city's need?",
"what city faces a crisis?",
"What is New Orleans facing a crisis of?",
"what does new orleans continue to face?"
] |
[
[
"487"
],
[
"a New Orleans police officer"
],
[
"487"
],
[
"Cotton's death"
],
[
"New Orleans"
],
[
"mental health"
],
[
"mental health issues"
]
] |
New Orleans continues to face crisis of mental health needs, resources .
Study: Before storm, area had 487 inpatient psychiatric beds; now,190 .
Police officer's slaying by mentally ill man renewed spotlight on city's needs .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- At the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, some of the best music happens miles from the Fairgrounds, hours after the crowds have gone and the last of the crawfish bread has been consumed. Shamarr Allen, Mark Mullins and Ben Ellman sport the Midnite Disturbers T-shirts as they perform. It happens with the arrival of Midnite. At 1:18 a.m., Bonerama -- a brass-funk rock band lead by three trombones -- has just finished a 90-minute set that started with a soulful, passionate original tune written by bandleader Mark Mullins, and concluded with a cover of Jimi Hendrix' "Crosstown Traffic," complete with the trombones running through wah-wah pedals. Suddenly the crowd of about 75 clears out of the way as a dozen musicians parade in the room. Dressed in black shirts, they are the Midnite Disturbers, a Jazz Fest supergroup whose appearance is as infrequent as a lunar eclipse. Each member of the Midnite Disturbers fronts his own band, and the artists are rarely in the city at the same time. The band was started by New Orleans drummers and longtime friends Stanton Moore and Kevin O'Day. In the weeks following Katrina, O'Day had moved into Moore's house, where the two hit on an idea. "We realized we had never had our own band together, and we decided to invite all of the best horn players we know to play with us," O'Day said. Each artist has a name, printed in red, on his shirt, following the command "Listen to": Smokey Johnson ... Brian O'Neill ... Henry "Red" Allen. They're the band's predecessors and mentors. Although probably little known outside the Crescent City, they're the musicians who shaped New Orleans music: masters of their craft. Modern-day masters in their own right, the Midnite Disturbers live up to their name, splitting the night with their loud, hard, funky jams. There are up-and-comers Troy Andrews and Shamarr Allen, and veterans such as Mullins from Bonerama, Stanton Moore and Ben Ellman from Galactic. Their black shirts are drenched with sweat by the time they finish playing. "Its an honor to play with such veterans because it's confirmation that I'm doing my thing on a level to where people are noticing the hard work that I have been putting in," said trumpet player Shamarr Allen. "Playing with this kind of band keeps you on your toes. It's more interesting and challenging to try to understand everyone's musical approach and find a spot for yours to fit. "That's the beauty of it," he said. "How to sound good, have fun, listen to each other, entertain a crowd, and stay on the same page at the same time. It lets me know, if I'm not there yet, I'm on my way to being one of the big boys." The Midnite Disturbers will be at Jazz Fest -- of course -- holding down a 5:55 p.m. slot Saturday afternoon. And then, when it's over, they'll be gone -- ready to get together when the moon beckons.
|
[
"Are the disturbers scheduled to play Jazz Fest Saturday afternoon?",
"What kind of music does Midnite Disturbers play?",
"Where are the Midnite Disturbers from?",
"what style do they do",
"What group does brassy funk, New Orleans style, calling attention to influences?",
"who is an all star band",
"When is the Jazz Fest?"
] |
[
[
"The Midnite"
],
[
"Jazz"
],
[
"New Orleans"
],
[
"brass-funk rock"
],
[
"Midnite Disturbers"
],
[
"The Midnite Disturbers"
],
[
"Saturday afternoon."
]
] |
Midnite Disturbers is an all-star band of New Orleans musicians .
Group does brassy funk, New Orleans style, calling attention to influences .
Disturbers scheduled to play Jazz Fest Saturday afternoon .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Before a cheering crowd at a town hall meeting in New Orleans, President Obama fired back at critics who accuse him of accomplishing little in his nine months in office, saying "I'm just getting started." President Obama speaks at a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans on Thursday. "I never thought any of this was going to be easy," said Obama, speaking at the University of New Orleans in his first visit to the Gulf Coast city since taking office. He poked fun at his critics, asking, "Why haven't you solved world hunger yet? It's been nine months. Why?" "What'd I say during the campaign? I said change is hard," Obama said. "Big change is harder. ... I wasn't kidding about it being hard." "Those folks who are trying to stand in the way of progress ... let me tell you, I'm just getting started," he said. "I don't quit. I'm not tired. I'm just getting started." Before taking questions, Obama discussed the recovery effort in New Orleans, a city struggling to get back on its feet after Hurricane Katrina. "It has now been just over four years since that terrible storm struck your shores," the president said. "And [in] the days after it did, this nation and all the world bore witness to the fact that the damage from Katrina was not caused just by a disaster of nature, but also by a breakdown of government, that government wasn't adequately prepared and we didn't appropriately respond." Obama said that when he took office, he pledged to make Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts and disaster response top priorities of his administration. "So far, I'm pleased to report that we've made good progress," he said. "We've got a long way to go, but we've made progress." He said he has sent more Cabinet members to the Gulf Coast than any other region -- "not just to appearances, but to listen and to learn and help you move forward." Also, he said, his administration has helped eliminate red tape and turf disputes in order to get stalled programs moving, and freed up $1.5 billion in recovery funds. He said his administration is tackling "corruption and inefficiency" that has plagued the New Orleans Housing Authority for years -- remarks that drew applause from the crowd -- and has helped move families out of emergency housing, helping homeowners rebuild and helping renters find affordable options. The government has also invested in supporting health centers and recruiting primary care providers, nurses and other professionals to fill shortages left by the 2005 hurricane, he said. Watch bloggers debate Obama's handling of New Orleans » Before the meeting, Obama toured the Martin Luther King charter school -- the first charter school to reopen in New Orleans' Ninth Ward, the hardest-hit portion of the city. The president called the school "an inspiration for this city." However, "it's clear how far we have to go before we can call this recovery a real success," he said, adding that much remains to be done to repair roads, hospitals and schools and rebuild neighborhoods. "We will not forget about New Orleans," he said. "We're going to keep on working." He also touched on the economy and on health care reform. "Too many Americans have waited too long for this to happen," he said, drawing wild cheers from the crowd. "We are going to pass health care reform by the end of the year." Meeting the challenges faced by the nation, he said, "requires diligence and perseverance and patience ... it requires a renewed spirit of cooperation among our citizens." He took questions from the crowd on topics ranging from the school dropout rate to immigration. One man asked Obama, "Why is it four years after Katrina we're still fighting with the federal government for
|
[
"What was said at the university?",
"What did he say at the univerisity?"
] |
[
[
"\"I'm just getting started.\""
],
[
"\"I never thought any of this was going to be easy,\""
]
] |
NEW: "I never thought any of this was going to be easy," he says at university .
President not visiting other Gulf Coast areas damaged by Katrina in 2005 .
Some local Republicans have decried Obama's visit as too short .
But White House cites other visits by him, senior officials since storm .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Drumsticks in hand, Derrick Tabb has found a way to transform New Orleans children from troublemakers to tuba players. Derrick Tabb's program provides free tutoring, instruments and music instruction to more than 100 students. Tabb, wearing a gold chain and a baseball cap, doesn't look the part of a typical band teacher. But every weekday evening in the French Quarter, he beats out the rhythm on his music stand as students play their chosen instruments. In doing so, he gives them an alternative to New Orleans' rough streets. "I tell everyone I'm competing with the drug dealers," said Tabb, 34. His program, The Roots of Music, offers free tutoring, instruments and music education to more than 100 students. Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year Reformed class clown Terrence Knockum credits Tabb with changing his life. The 15-year-old tuba player joined the band eight months ago, when he was failing in school and "heading up the wrong road," said Tabb. Today, Knockum is the band captain. He hopes to make music his career and teach it himself one day. "Before, I was getting in trouble," Knockum said. "Now ... when I come here, I'm learning how to play the horn, be disciplined and, you know, just work hard." Tabb can relate. During a rebellious phase in junior high, his band teacher became his mentor and helped him get back on track. "He saved my life," recalled Tabb, a professional drummer with the Rebirth Brass Band, one of the city's most popular acts. Now Tabb, a New Orleans native, strives to keep young people on the straight and narrow in the city with the nation's highest murder rate, according to FBI statistics. "When all you've seen is the drug dealers and the killing, you know, they think that's cool," said Tabb, adding that many young people wind up in trouble because they have nothing else to do. The type of music support systems that helped Tabb years ago have been struggling since Hurricane Katrina; musicians scattered after the storm and budget cuts ended many school music programs. As a result, Tabb chose to target 9- to 14-year-olds with his program. "That's just the most vulnerable time of your life," he said. "If I catch them now, I can hold onto them for at least four or five years and guide them the way that we want to guide them." Students meet from 4-7 p.m. every weekday, year-round. They work with tutors on schoolwork, practice their music and eat a hot meal before heading home. Through funding from donations and sponsors, Tabb's group is able to provide bus transportation, instruments and food for free. He calls it his "no excuse" policy -- "you don't have no excuse why you're not here," Tabb said. With a 90 percent attendance rate, his formula seems to be working. Watch Tabb and The Roots of Music program in action » Tabb attributes the success in part to the nature of music. "You're constantly learning something new," he said. "That's what keeps the kids coming back every day." Since getting underway last year, The Roots of Music has already exceeded Tabb's expectations. The band marched in five Mardi Gras parades this season. The program also helped students improve their academic performances, with 85 percent having raised their grades in at least one class; some D and F students have become A students. And there are more than 400 children on the waiting list. Tabb said he's assembled a "dream team" of musicians to help teach the students, and he personally works with all the beginners. No previous musical experience is necessary -- many students don't even know the names of the instruments when they start -- but youngsters like 9-year-old Lauren Washington, who plays the flute, learn fast. "It
|
[
"what is provided by the program?",
"What are the benefits of the organization?",
"What did Derrick Tabb start?",
"What does the program do?",
"who started The Roots of Music?",
"who have marched in Mardi Gras parades?"
] |
[
[
"provides free tutoring, instruments and music instruction to more than 100 students."
],
[
"work with tutors on schoolwork, practice their music and eat a hot meal before heading home."
],
[
"His program, The Roots of Music,"
],
[
"provides free tutoring, instruments and music instruction to more than 100 students."
],
[
"Derrick Tabb"
],
[
"The Roots of Music"
]
] |
Derrick Tabb started The Roots of Music to help the city's young people .
The program provides free instruments, instruction, tutoring and food .
Students have marched in Mardi Gras parades, improved grades .
Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year at CNN.com/Heroes .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Hurricane Gustav didn't pack the wallop of Katrina three years earlier, officials said Monday, but they urged almost 2 million evacuees to stay away from the Gulf Coast for another day. A man walks past a storefront that collapsed as Hurricane Gustav passed through Lafayette, Louisiana, on Monday. "Tomorrow is not a day to start coming back to the city of New Orleans," Mayor Ray Nagin said Monday night. "Power lines are down all over the city; there's a significant number of homes and businesses that are without power," Nagin said. Still, he said, Gustav didn't do the damage feared a few days ago, a possible repeat of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. "I'd probably call Gustav, instead of the mother of all storms, maybe the mother-in-law or the ugly sister of all storms," Nagin said. Across Louisiana, more than 800,000 people were without electricity, and some may not see it restored for two weeks or more, Gov. Bobby Jindal said. At a news conference with Jindal, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff urged Gulf Coast residents who evacuated to stay away until damage could be assessed. But even those who fled faced hardships. About 2,700 people who took up short-term residence Monday in the Louisiana State University Agriculture Center in Alexandria were told that the buildings generator power was not reaching the plumbing system, meaning no showers and no flushing toilets, said John Barnett, head of the facilities. "It's really crowded, and everybody's just trying to do their best," said Kesha Harlow, who was there with her daughter, 8, and her son, 2 months. "We're just waiting for the storm to blow over." Gustav roared from the Gulf of Mexico into southern Louisiana on Monday as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 110 mph, bringing fierce winds and heavy rains from the Alabama-Florida border west into Texas. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, two people were killed when a tree fell on the house where they were staying after they had come from farther south to escape the storm, officials said. A man was killed in a similar incident in north Lafayette, Louisiana, officials said. Four hospice patients died while waiting for air ambulances to evacuate them from southern Louisiana, according to Richard Zuschlag, chairman and CEO of Acadian Ambulance. Gustav was blamed for more than 60 deaths in the Caribbean, including 51 in southwestern Haiti. At 10 p.m. CT, Gustav was a tropical storm with sustained winds of 60 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. In New Orleans, Gustav drove sheets of water over the protective levees around the Industrial Canal early Monday afternoon, but the walls appeared to hold up under the onslaught as the winds faded. Up to 6 feet of water spilled into an industrial park in the Upper 9th Ward late Monday morning, pouring through small gaps in the concrete flood walls before receding in the afternoon. Watch water spill over the levee » But as the storm eased, inspectors from the Army Corps of Engineers and parish levee boards went out to check on the earthen walls and have found nothing to raise alarm, said Col. Craig Gunter, a Corps of Engineers spokesman. iReport.com: See one reader's footage of the levee "The levees all held up," Nagin said. "I was hoping that this would happen, that we would be able to stand before America and before everyone and say we had some success with the levee system." With the water level in Lake Pontchartrain north of the city rising, the Army Corps of Engineers closed flood gates on the 17th Street Canal and the London Avenue Canal, two areas that caused some of the more severe flooding during Katrina. Official feared late Monday afternoon that a private levee south of New Orleans was in danger of failing, but water levels receded, and sandbagging efforts appeared to have paid off. "We have stopped the bleeding, and I am very encouraged by what we are seeing," Plaquemines
|
[
"Where you can watch breaking hurricane news live?",
"What is suggestion for 2 millions people there?",
"How many evacuees were urged to stay away while damage is assessed?",
"What was downgraded to tropical storm?",
"How many homes lose electricity?",
"What were evacuees encouraged to do?"
] |
[
[
"(CNN)"
],
[
"to stay away from the Gulf Coast"
],
[
"2 million"
],
[
"Hurricane Gustav"
],
[
"800,000 people"
],
[
"stay away from the Gulf Coast for another day."
]
] |
NEW: Gustav downgraded to tropical storm .
NEW: About 2 million evacuees urged to stay away while damaged assessed .
800,000 lose electricity, may take weeks to restore, Louisiana governor says .
Watch breaking hurricane news live on CNN.com .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- The Orleans Parish district attorney said he plans to look into deaths at a New Orleans hospital in the days following Hurricane Katrina, but stopped short of calling it an investigation. Staff at Memorial were accused of hastening four patients' deaths in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. "My office has not reopened an investigation into the deaths at Memorial hospital" after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, Leon Cannizzaro said in a statement released Friday. "As district attorney, I have a legal obligation to evaluate statements regarding possible criminal activity in this jurisdiction," the statement said. "I am making that kind of evaluation, but that does not constitute an investigation by this office." The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported in a story Saturday that Cannizzaro will interview New Orleans coroner Frank Minyard and possibly other pathologists on the coroner's staff regarding the deaths of Memorial Medical Center patients. But the newspaper quoted Cannizzaro as saying an investigation would involve convening a grand jury and bringing in witnesses to testify, and he does not at this time have plans to do that. After speaking with the coroner, the district attorney said he would decide whether a more in-depth investigation is necessary. Cannizzaro's spokesman, Christopher Bowman, said Monday the DA's office had no further comment beyond the Friday statement. According to the Times-Picayune, Cannizzaro's conversation with Minyard was prompted by an article in The New York Times last month that quoted two doctors as saying that they gave Memorial patients morphine and other drugs in the days after the hurricane struck, knowing they would die. Cannizzaro told the newspaper he would be "remiss in his responsibilities" if he did not talk to Minyard about information in the article. "That doesn't mean I am opening an investigation," he said. Katrina roared ashore near the Mississippi-Louisiana state line on August 29, 2005, rupturing three of New Orleans' protective levees and putting about three-quarters of the city under water. Then-Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti Jr. launched an investigation after officials from Lifecare, an acute-care facility operating on the seventh floor of Memorial, reported allegations that several seriously ill, mostly elderly patients had been euthanized by medical staff at Memorial as the floodwater rose around the hospital and conditions inside deteriorated. In 2006, Foti ordered the arrest of Dr. Anna Pou and two nurses, Lori Budo and Cheri Landry, on preliminary charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of four patients. Former Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan, who under Louisiana law was responsible for prosecuting crimes, gave Budo and Landry immunity in exchange for their testimony. In July 2007, the grand jury refused to indict Pou. Foti said his investigation revealed that the four patients -- ages 63, 68, 91 and 93 -- were given a "lethal cocktail" of morphine and midazolam hydrochloride, both central nervous system depressants. Pou, Landry and Budo all denied the charges, and their attorneys said they acted heroically, staying to treat patients rather than evacuate. In an interview with Newsweek magazine in 2007, Pou admitted giving the patients drugs. "If in doing so it hastened their deaths, then that's what happened," she said. "But this was not, 'I'm going to go to the seventh floor and murder some people.' We're here to help patients." The grand jury never heard testimony from five specialists who advised Foti that the patients were deliberately killed with overdoses of drugs after Katrina struck. All five were brought in by Foti's office to analyze the deaths, and concluded the patients were homicide victims. After the grand jury refused to indict Pou, Jordan called the case closed and said he would no longer pursue it. If Cannizzaro does decide an in-depth investigation is warranted, it could affect the outcome of a lawsuit in which CNN and The Times-Picayune are seeking the release of Foti's investigative file into the deaths. CNN was the first to report the allegations of euthanasia, six weeks after the hurricane. The case
|
[
"Who closed the case?",
"What was alleged at Memorial Hospital?",
"When were the first reports of allegations made?",
"What is being alleged occured at Memorial Hospital after hurricane Katrina?",
"Who reported the allegations six weeks after Katrina?",
"Who declined to file charges?"
] |
[
[
"Jordan"
],
[
"hastening four patients' deaths in the wake of Hurricane Katrina."
],
[
"six weeks after the hurricane."
],
[
"were accused of hastening four patients' deaths"
],
[
"CNN"
],
[
"Eddie Jordan,"
]
] |
Post-Katrina euthanasia was alleged at Memorial Hospital .
Grand jury declined to file charges and case was closed .
Different district attorney deciding whether to reopen investigation .
CNN first reported allegations six weeks after Hurricane Katrina .
|
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Two newlyweds are fighting for the dismissal of the justice of the peace who refused them a marriage license because they are of different races. A Louisiana justice of the peace refused to perform a marriage for Beth and Terence McKay. "We've retained an attorney, and we're in the process of taking the next steps in order to make sure that (the justice of the peace) loses his job," Beth McKay told CNN's "American Morning" on Monday. She and her husband, Terence McKay, stepped into the national spotlight when Keith Bardwell, a justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish's 8th Ward, refused them a license. They ultimately got a marriage license from another justice of the peace in the same parish. Despite a national uproar and a call by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for him to lose his license, Bardwell, 56, said he has no regrets. "It's kind of hard to apologize for something that you really and truly feel down in your heart you haven't done wrong," he told CNN affiliate WAFB on Saturday. He insisted he is not racist and does not treat black people differently. He said he does not perform mixed-race marriages because he is concerned about the children of such marriages. Bardwell did not return calls from CNN. Beth McKay, 30, said she was speaking with Bardwell's wife by phone about getting a marriage license and was "shocked" to be asked whether they are an interracial couple. Watch how justice's decision shocked couple » "She said, 'Well, what's the deal? Is he black, or are you black?' And so I answered her question, and then she just said, 'Well, we don't do interracial marriages.'" Terence McKay, 32, told CNN, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but he's absolutely wrong on all aspects of his stance." McKay added, "If it wasn't for interracial couples today, we wouldn't have our president. So for him to take that outlook, that's still like 1800s or something." "A lot of people have come up to us and said, 'You know, we're in interracial relationships as well,' not just black and white, and just encouraged us to stand up for our rights and to speak out against things like this," Beth McKay said. The incident "caught us completely off guard," said Terence McKay, "and we're just trying to live our lives." The National Urban League called for an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, saying in a statement that Bardwell's actions were "a huge step backward in social justice." The U.S. Supreme Court tossed out race-based limitations on marriage in the landmark 1967 Loving v. Virginia case. In the unanimous decision, the court said that "Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State."
|
[
"What was problem with getting marriage license?",
"Where were the couple from?",
"What was judge concerned about?"
] |
[
[
"because they are of different races."
],
[
"Louisiana"
],
[
"children of such marriages."
]
] |
Couple were denied marriage license because they are of different races .
Justice of Peace Keith Bardwell said he was concerned for kids of biracial marriages .
Louisiana couple eventually got married by different justice of the peace .
Beth, Terence McKay hire lawyer, want judge to lose job .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A New York hospital worker was suspended for failing to report the gunshot wound of NFL star Plaxico Burress, a hospital spokeswoman told CNN Monday.
New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress arrives at the 17th police precinct in Manhattan on Monday.
The spokeswoman, Kathy Robinson, gave no further detail on the New York Presbyterian Hospital employee.
"We can confirm that the individual at New York Presbyterian Hospital, who was responsible for failing to report the incident, has been suspended," hospital spokeswoman Robinson said.
Burress has garnered media attention recently for accidentally shooting himself with a gun he is accused of bringing into a crowded New York night club.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg slammed Burress on Monday, saying it would be an "outrage" if the Giants receiver isn't prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law" after the shooting with a gun that authorities say he owned illegally.
Burress, 31, was arraigned Monday on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. He could face up to 15 years in prison, the Manhattan district attorney's office said.
Alicia Maxey Greene, spokeswoman for the district attorney, said Burress is not expected to enter a plea until a court appearance in March.
Burress' attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said he expects Burress to plead not guilty.
Bloomberg, speaking at a news conference, made clear he wants Burress to face jail time.
Noting a law that automatically sentences an offender to at least 3 1/2 years for illegally carrying a loaded handgun, Bloomberg said, "It's pretty hard to argue the guy didn't have a gun and it wasn't loaded. You've got bullet holes in and out to show that it was there."
The mayor also lashed out at New York Presbyterian Hospital for failing to inform police about the incident. He called on the state attorney general to "go after" the hospital for a "chargeable offense."
The district attorney's office said the hospital is under investigation. The hospital said it also is investigating the incident and promised to cooperate with authorities.
In the incident Friday night, Burress suffered a wound to his right thigh and was treated and released from the hospital, the Giants said in a statement released over the weekend.
Sports Illustrated reported that Burress had accidentally shot himself with a gun he was carrying while at Latin Quarter, a sprawling nightclub in Manhattan.
Brafman said his client "understands the seriousness of the situation, and he's addressing it in a responsible fashion." Brafman also said Burress is "physically OK and mentally OK." He added that he does not know when Burress may be back on the field.
Bloomberg, who has long fought against illegal gun ownership, said public figures "make their living because of their visibility. They are the role models for our kids, and if we don't prosecute them, to the fullest extent of the law, I don't know who on Earth we would. It makes a sham, a mockery of the law."
Turning his ire to New York Presbyterian Hospital, which treated Burress, Bloomberg said officials "didn't do what they're legally required to do" -- inform the authorities of the incident.
"It's a misdemeanor. It's a chargeable offense, and I think that the district attorney should certainly go after the management of this hospital."
He also called on the hospital to fire those whose responsibility it was to alert the authorities. And Bloomberg added, "I would question why the management didn't have training in place and didn't discipline them immediately. It's just an outrage."
The hospital later Monday afternoon issued a statement acknowledging that "not reporting a gunshot wound is a clear violation of our policies and procedures."
"We take this very seriously, and are conducting a thorough investigation into why this gunshot wound was not reported to the police department in a timely fashion. Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken. We are in full cooperation with the mayor's office and the police department,"
|
[
"Who is the New York Mayor?",
"What is the Mayor accusing the hospital of?",
"What did Michael Bloomberg call for?",
"What is a clear violation of our policies?",
"Who is accused of having the gun?",
"Who is the mayor of New York City?",
"What did the mayor criticize?",
"What team did Plaxico Burress play for?"
] |
[
[
"Michael Bloomberg"
],
[
"failing to inform police about the incident."
],
[
"Burress to face jail time."
],
[
"\"not reporting a gunshot wound"
],
[
"Plaxico Burress"
],
[
"Michael Bloomberg"
],
[
"New York Presbyterian Hospital for failing to inform police"
],
[
"New York Giants"
]
] |
Plaxico Burress accused of taking gun into a crowded New York night club .
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants vigorous prosecution of NFL star .
Mayor also slams hospital, Giants for their response to the Burress incident .
Hospital: "Not reporting a gunshot wound is a clear violation of our policies."
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A four-story residential building collapsed Sunday in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, and at least four people suffered minor injuries, according to the New York City Fire Department. Firefighters and other personnel arrive in the Fort Greene neighborhood on Sunday. The cause of the midday collapse of the building on Myrtle Avenue between Ryerson and Hall streets was not immediately known. All residents of the building were accounted for, authorities said. Three people were given medical attention at the scene and a fourth person was taken to a Brooklyn hospital, said a fire department spokesman. It was not clear whether any of the injured lived in the building. The New York Department of Buildings said residents in six adjacent buildings were told to leave those structures as investigators worked to determine the cause of the collapse. Watch video of the rubble » A spokeswoman for that department confirmed that the owner of the collapsed building was cited in May after inspectors noticed several vertical cracks on an exterior wall. Watch video of the rubble That case was scheduled to be heard Monday by the city's Environmental Control Board, which handles citations issued by the buildings department.
|
[
"When was owner of building cited?",
"Residents of how many buildings told to leave?",
"What happened to the wounded",
"what collapses",
"Where did the building collapse occur?",
"Who is told to leave buildings",
"What did inspectors see"
] |
[
[
"May"
],
[
"six"
],
[
"a Brooklyn hospital,"
],
[
"A four-story residential building"
],
[
"of Brooklyn,"
],
[
"were"
],
[
"several vertical cracks on an exterior wall."
]
] |
Residential building collapses in Fort Greene area; 4 people have minor injuries .
Residents in six adjacent buildings told to leave those structures .
Owner of collapsed building cited in May after inspectors saw vertical cracks on wall .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A longtime employee and vault manager for a jewelry company in Long Island City, New York, stole millions of dollars worth of gold and gold jewelry from her employer over a six-year span, the Queens district attorney has alleged. Teresa Tambunting, 50, of Scarsdale, New York, is accused of stealing as much as $12 million from Jacmel Jewelry, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement Wednesday. At an arraignment Wednesday, she did not enter a plea to charges of first-degree grand larceny and first-degree criminal possession of stolen property, the district attorney's office said. She was released on $100,000 bail and will return to court May 19, the office said. Her attorney, David Kirby, did not return phone calls seeking comment. Tambunting, who worked for Jacmel for 28 years, has returned about $7 million worth of gold, but $4 million remains missing, according to Brown. "The defendant is accused of establishing a virtual mining operation in Long Island City which siphoned off millions of dollars' worth of the precious metal from her employer," Brown said. Police say Tambunting -- whose job responsibilities involved monitoring the vault in which fine gold, finished products and raw materials were stored -- confessed that for several months last year, she hid gold in makeshift slits in her purse. An inventory in January revealed that as much as $12 million in merchandise was missing, Brown said in the written statement. After an investigation, Tambunting arrived at the jewelry company's offices wheeling a suitcase containing about 66 pounds of gold, an estimated $868,000, the district attorney's office said. In February, about 450 pounds of gold was taken from her residence, the office said. Tambunting became vault manager in 1991, the office said. The dates of the alleged thefts were not immediately clear. The value of the gold returned fluctuates because of the rise and fall of gold prices. However, the charges are based on what Jacmel claims it lost: $3 to $12 million, according to the Queens district attorney. Jewelry manufacturer owners often find themselves in precarious circumstances when protecting their companies from thievery, said Benjamin Mark, who owned a jewelry manufacturing company in New York for 20 years. "Unless you have metal detectors where every single employee removes their shoes and belts, you can't be certain," said Mark, who now operates a one-man business. "Stealing jewelry is relatively simple." Jacmel Jewelry is one of the country's largest manufacturers and distributors of popular price jewelry, according to its Web site. It employs more than 1,000 people worldwide, according to its president, Jack Rahmey. Rahmey said he is cooperating with authorities. Tambunting faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
|
[
"For how many years has the vault manager been woring for Jacmel Jewelry ?",
"How many years in prison is she facing ?",
"how much money says the district attorney says he has returned",
"What did she confessed to the authorities ?",
"What did the district attorney say?",
"how many years in prison you can get if convicted",
"Where did the vault manager work?",
"Who hid gold in her purse?",
"How long did she work at Jacmel Jewelry for?",
"How many years in prison could she get?",
"How much gold did she return?",
"Who confessed to hiding gold in her purse?",
"Who worked for Jacmel Jewelry for 28 years?"
] |
[
[
"28"
],
[
"25"
],
[
"about $7 million worth of gold,"
],
[
"hid gold in makeshift slits in her purse."
],
[
"not enter a plea to charges of first-degree grand larceny and first-degree criminal possession of stolen property,"
],
[
"25"
],
[
"a jewelry company in Long Island City,"
],
[
"Teresa Tambunting,"
],
[
"28 years,"
],
[
"up to 25"
],
[
"about $7 million worth of"
],
[
"Teresa Tambunting,"
],
[
"Teresa Tambunting,"
]
] |
Vault manager worked for Jacmel Jewelry for 28 years .
Authorities say she confessed to hiding gold in her purse .
District attorney says she's returned about $7 million in gold .
She could get 25 years in prison if convicted .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A man accused of entering New York's LaGuardia Airport with a bag containing wires and batteries, sparking suspicion and leading to a large-scale evacuation, was ordered Saturday to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, a prosecutor said. LaGuardia Airport's Central Terminal is being treated as a crime scene. Scott McGann, 32, appeared in court after authorities said he walked into LaGuardia's Central Terminal Saturday morning with what was determined to be a fake bomb. The terminal was reopened after several hours. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said McGann was charged with placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in the first degree; placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in a transportation facility; and making terrorist threats. McGann appeared in court Saturday, but his arraignment was postponed, Brown said. McGann is being held without bail. "The defendant is clearly a very troubled young man," Brown said. "As a result, the Court has directed that he be examined to determine whether he has the capacity to understand the proceedings against him and assist in his defense." Earlier, officials said McGann wouldn't speak to his lawyer or anyone else. His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday. McGann allegedly arrived at a checkpoint in the terminal at about 4:50 a.m., carrying a backpack and refusing to answer security questions. Authorities said the officer at the checkpoint was informed that a suspicious package was attached to the bottom of McGann's backpack, and that McGann allegedly grabbed what appeared to be a trigger device with a red button connected to the backpack. McGann allegedly pressed the button several times before a Port Authority officer grabbed the trigger and the package away from him. The package turned out to be a device consisting of batteries, cylinders and electronic components that could have been used to make a bomb, Brown said, but the bomb squad found that it didn't not contain any explosives. McGann had a ticket on a United Airlines flight to Chicago and a seat on two other connecting flights with his final destination Oakland, California, according to a law enforcement official close to the investigation. Watch passengers talk about the confusion » McGann has three prior arrests in the New York area, the source told CNN. The most recent involved June charges of tampering with evidence and resisting arrest. He was also arrested twice in 2008, the source said. Port Authority spokesman John Kelly said McGann "was just acting crazy." The arresting officers described McGann to Kelly as "extremely disheveled and dirty," in a "near catatonic state" and "staring off into space," Kelly said. McGann had been homeless for at least a year. Authorities evacuated the terminal after 5:20 a.m., and allowed passengers back in to all areas except Concourse C by midmorning, Kelly said. The concourse was reopened shortly before 11 a.m., according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker. Watch the chaotic evacuation scene » Authorities had stopped flights from taking off or landing at the airport, but by a little after 9 a.m., flights resumed, Baker said. Central Terminal is one of four terminals in the airport, which is in the borough of Queens. It is about eight miles from Manhattan. The incident disrupted travel plans for many passengers, and caused American Airlines to cancel 16 flights, said an airline spokesperson. American Eagle, Continental Airlines and Southwest also reported delays. iReport: Watch crowds start moving back into the terminal CNN i-Reporter Jose Ojeda, 24, had been sitting on the tarmac on a plane headed to Chicago, Illinois, when the evacuation was ordered. "We were all ready to go," Ojeda, of Bronx, New York, said of his flight, which he said had been scheduled to leave at 6:10 a.m. "They didn't make any announcement other than, 'You need to evacuate,'" he said. "I thought it was standard procedure, but then once we got out of the plane, they kept pushing us back and back, out of the terminal out of the actual airport.
|
[
"Whcich airport was evacuated?",
"What charges does the suspect face?",
"what must the suspect undergo",
"What is the age of Scott McGann?",
"What resumed after the evacuation",
"What age is the suspect?"
] |
[
[
"York's LaGuardia"
],
[
"placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in the first degree; placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in a transportation facility; and making terrorist threats."
],
[
"a psychiatric evaluation,"
],
[
"32,"
],
[
"flights"
],
[
"32,"
]
] |
Suspect must undergo psychiatric evaluation before court appearance .
Scott McGann, 32, of New York, faces 3 charges, including making terrorist threats .
Man had bag stuffed with wires and batteries, appeared intoxicated, official says .
Flights resume at busy LaGuardia Airport after evacuation ends .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A new lawsuit alleges that convicted swindler Bernie Madoff financed a cocaine-fueled work environment and a "culture of sexual deviance," and he diverted money to his London, England, office when he believed federal authorities were closing in at home. A new lawsuit alleges Bernie Madoff financed a sex-and-drugs workplace with investors' money. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in New York's State Supreme Court, was brought on behalf of former investors and seeks unspecified punitive damages and compensation. Beyond that, it offers a look at what the plaintiffs' attorneys say was once Madoff's multimillion-dollar empire and what is now his world in a federal prison in North Carolina. Among the allegations in the 264-page lawsuit are that during the mid-1970s, Madoff began sending employees to buy drugs for company use. The complaint alleges that some employees and investors were aware of the drug purchases, and that BMIS [Bernard Madoff Investment Services] was known by insiders as the "North Pole" in reference to the excessive amount of cocaine use in the work place. Attorneys Joseph Cochett and Nancy Fineman filed the complaint based on an investigation, including a four-hour interview with Madoff in prison in July, that they conducted for former investors. They also allege that major financial institutions, including KPMG, the Bank of New York and JP Morgan Chase, were aware that Madoff was transferring stolen funds to his London office for personal purchases. According to the complaint, Madoff transferred funds to London to buy extravagant personal items. "In 2006 Madoff thought the end was near because the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] investigated. He realized he had to change things up so his focus shifted to London," Fineman said. "We know that KPMG were the auditors for the London branch and that money was used to buy yachts and Bentleys, they are supposed to look at related-party transactions. KPMG should have noticed these as a red flag." Officials of KPMG and the Bank of New York did not immediately respond to calls from CNN Wednesday evening for comment on the lawsuit. JP Morgan Chase spokesman Tom Kelly said, "We do not comment on pending litigation." The alleged illicit behavior outlined in the complaint did not stop at drug use and extravagant spending. Company parties consisted of topless entertainers, and some employees had affairs in places such as Madoff's own office, the lawsuit says. Madoff was fond of escorts and masseuses, and used money stolen from investors to pay them, according to the complaint. Madoff was convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme and defrauding thousands of investors. He pleaded guilty in March to 11 counts, including fraud, money laundering and perjury, and was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Prosecutors have said it was the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person, totaling billions in losses to investors. Before Madoff, 71, was transferred to Federal Butner Correctional Complex outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, he lived a life of luxury. The lawsuit states that he had multimillion dollar residences in Manhattan, Montauk on New York's Long Island; Palm Beach, Florida; and Cap d'Antibe, France. The complaint includes details of Madoff's drastically different life now in prison. He lives in a cell where he sleeps on the bottom bunk while up top sleeps his 21-year-old cellmate, who is serving time for drug crimes, according to the lawsuit. Madoff's recreational activities consist of walking around the prison track at night, and eating pizza cooked by a convicted child molester, the lawsuit says. Madoff now spends his time with infamous inmates, the lawsuit says, including Carmine Persico, a former organized-crime former boss, and Jonathan Pollard, a convicted spy for Israel. Many of his fellow inmates are in prison for drug and sex crimes, according to the lawsuit. Going after large financial institutions that allegedly allowed Madoff's scheme to flourish is the goal of Fineman and her associates. "Our goal of meeting with Madoff during the investigation is to get as much money back from responsible parties
|
[
"stolen money was used to pay for what?",
"Who sent employees to buy drugs for company use?",
"What are lawsuits seeking?",
"what did madoff do",
"When did the employees start buying drugs?",
"what is the lawsuit about",
"Who cooks Madoff's pizza now?",
"what does madoff do now"
] |
[
[
"personal purchases."
],
[
"Bernie Madoff"
],
[
"unspecified punitive damages and compensation."
],
[
"financed a sex-and-drugs workplace with investors' money."
],
[
"mid-1970s,"
],
[
"alleges Bernie Madoff financed a sex-and-drugs workplace with investors' money."
],
[
"a convicted child molester,"
],
[
"federal prison"
]
] |
Lawsuit seeks punitive damages, compensation on behalf of former investors .
Starting in '70s, Madoff sent employees to buy drugs for company use, suit alleges .
Lawsuit: Madoff used money stolen from investors to pay for escorts and masseuses .
Madoff now eating prison pizza cooked by a convicted child molester, lawsuit says .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A police officer chasing a theft suspect was fatally shot Thursday night by another officer after he failed to drop his weapon when ordered to, authorities said. Officer Omar Edwards, 25, was not wearing a bulletproof vest and did not fire a shot, authorities say. Authorities said Officer Omar Edwards, 25, was shot three times. The incident is under investigation. Edwards was in plainclothes and carrying a handgun as he chased the suspect past a police car. Authorities said the officer who shot him said he didn't realize Edwards was a police officer. Edwards had just left the Housing Bureau Station House on East 124th Street, said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly at a news conference Friday. As Edwards approached his vehicle, he saw a man rummaging through it. Edwards took out his gun -- a Smith and Wesson 9 mm -- and chased the alleged thief, 43-year-old Miguel Santiago, said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne. Meanwhile, a police cruiser with a sergeant and two officers, including Officer Andrew Dunton, had just turned onto 125th Street from 1st Avenue. Santiago ran in front of the unmarked vehicle as it approached halfway up the block and the vehicle stopped. The officer in the front passenger seat got out of the vehicle and shouted for Edwards to stop running and drop his weapon. According to Kelly, the officers reported that, after the command was given, Edwards turned toward Dunton with his gun in his hand. Watch Commissioner Kelly describe the shooting » Dunton fired his Glock 9 mm six times, hitting Edwards three of those times -- once in the left arm, once in the left side and once in the back, according to police. Emergency crews responding to the scene found Edwards wearing a police academy T-shirt under his clothes and found his police shield and ID in his front left pants pocket, according to Browne. Edwards, who lived in Brooklyn, was recently married and had two small children, according to CNN affiliate WABC-TV in New York. On Friday, his relatives remembered him as a good person who achieved what he set out to do. "He was a wonderful, wonderful child from when he was small," his father, Ricardo Edwards, told WABC. "His desire was always to be a policeman and to play football," his uncle, Jerome Harding told the New York TV station. "And he did accomplish both, because he plays for the Police Department." Edwards was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital at 11:21 p.m. Thursday, according to Kelly. "Tragic accidents like this are another reminder of the dangers our police officers often face as they keep our city the safest big city in the nation," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday. "Rest assured we will find out exactly what happened here, see what we can learn from it so it may never happen again. All the city's prayers are with Omar Edwards and his family." Five eyewitnesses, along with 20 people who reported hearing gunshots, were interviewed by police. The officer who fired the shots has 4½ years' experience, authorities said. The officers involved have been placed on administrative duties while the shooting is investigated. Police later arrested the alleged thief on suspicion of breaking into Edwards' car.
|
[
"Who shot Omar Edward?",
"What was Omar Edward occupation?",
"Who was shot by another officer?",
"How many shots did the officer fire?",
"What did the subject try to steel?",
"Where was suspect trying to break into?",
"What was Edwards chasing?",
"When was Omar Edwards shot?",
"Name of the person that was fatally shot?",
"Who fired six shots?",
"What did he fire?",
"How many shots were fired?",
"Who is Omar Edwards?"
] |
[
[
"Officer Andrew Dunton,"
],
[
"police officer"
],
[
"Omar Edwards,"
],
[
"three times."
],
[
"vehicle,"
],
[
"vehicle,"
],
[
"a theft suspect"
],
[
"Thursday night"
],
[
"Omar Edwards,"
],
[
"Dunton"
],
[
"Smith and Wesson 9 mm"
],
[
"six"
],
[
"Officer"
]
] |
Authorities: Omar Edwards, chasing a suspect, was fatally shot by another officer .
Edwards, in plainclothes, witnessed suspect trying to break into his car .
Another saw his pursuit, jumped out of unmarked vehicle and fired six shots .
Officers placed on administrative duties while shooting is investigated .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A potential victim became a compassionate counselor during a recent robbery attempt, changing the would-be criminal's mind -- and apparently his religion. Surveillance video shows storekeeper Mohammad Sohail holding a robber at bay with a shotgun. Storekeeper Mohammad Sohail was closing up his Long Island convenience store just after midnight on May 21 when -- as shown on the store's surveillance video -- a man came in wielding a baseball bat and demanding money. "He said, 'Hurry up and give me the money, give me the money!' and I said, 'Hold on'," Sohail recalled in a phone interview with CNN on Tuesday, after the store video and his story was carried on local TV. Sohail said he reached under the counter, grabbed his gun and told the robber to drop the bat and get down on his knees. "He's crying like a baby," Sohail said. "He says, 'Don't call police, don't shoot me, I have no money, I have no food in my house.' " Amidst the man's apologies and pleas, Sohail said he felt a surge of compassion. He made the man promise never to rob anyone again and when he agreed, Sohail gave him $40 and a loaf of bread. "When he gets $40, he's very impressed, he says, 'I want to be a Muslim just like you,' " Sohail said, adding he had the would-be criminal recite an Islamic oath. "I said 'Congratulations. You are now a Muslim and your name is Nawaz Sharif Zardari.'" When asked why he chose the hybrid of two Pakistani presidents' names, the Pakistani immigrant laughed and said he had been watching a South Asian news channel moments before the confrontation. Sohail said the man fled the store when he turned away to get the man some free milk. He said police might still be looking for the suspect but he doesn't intend to press charges. "The guy, you know, everybody has a hard time right now, it's too bad for everybody right now in this economy," said the storekeeper.
|
[
"Who grabbed the shotgun?",
"Who faces man wielding baseball bat?",
"How much is being offered?",
"Where was the store?",
"After what did he want to become a Muslim?",
"What did the man with the bat do?",
"Where is Mr. Sohail from?",
"what was wielded?",
"what was offered?",
"who has the gun?",
"What did Sohail give to the theif?",
"What is the religion of the man?",
"What did Sohail do when the man started crying?"
] |
[
[
"Mohammad Sohail"
],
[
"Storekeeper Mohammad Sohail"
],
[
"$40"
],
[
"Long Island"
],
[
"a recent robbery attempt,"
],
[
"demanding money."
],
[
"Long Island"
],
[
"baseball bat"
],
[
"$40 and a loaf of bread."
],
[
"Mohammad Sohail"
],
[
"$40 and a loaf of bread."
],
[
"Muslim"
],
[
"gave him $40 and a loaf of bread."
]
] |
Long Island storekeeper Mohammad Sohail faces man wielding baseball bat .
Sohail grabs shotgun; stunned man begins to cry, says he has no food at home .
Man's story tugs at Sohail's heartstrings, and he offers man money, bread, milk .
After act of compassion, man says he wants to become a Muslim like Sohail .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A rarely seen portrait of Michael Jackson is on display inside a Harlem luxury car dealership. Macky Dancy, a partner at Dancy-Power Automotive, said the oil painting titled "The Book" is believed to be the only portrait for which Jackson sat. The oil painting titled "The Book" is on display at Dancy-Power Automotive in Harlem, New York. A different portrait of the entertainer was among items auctioned from his Neverland Ranch in April. It is not clear whether Jackson sat for that painting. The painting on display in Harlem belongs to Marty Abrams, a friend and customer of the owners of the high-profile dealership. The 40-inch by 50-inch portrait, by Australian painter Brett Livingstone-Strong, sold for $2.1 million in 1990. Abrams acquired it as part of an unrelated business deal in 1992 and had it stored. The painting shows Jackson sitting in Renaissance-era clothes and holding a book. Jackson sat for the portrait because he was a friend of Livingstone-Strong's. The painting was unveiled at the Dancy-Power Automotive Group showroom on Thursday but was removed Friday because of crowd concerns. It returned to the showroom floor Monday morning. Dancy said the painting's owner chose the showroom because it's near the Apollo Theater in Harlem, where the Jackson 5 won their first taste of fame by winning Amateur Night in 1967. He said Abrams hopes the painting in some way can raise money for charities in the Harlem neighborhood. Dancy said Abrams is not necessarily interested in selling the portrait. When news broke about the resurfacing of the painting, Dancy said, he received a phone call from representatives of Livingstone-Strong, the artist. Now, Dancy said, "We are in the middle of possibly putting together the artist with the painting again. Maybe for some auctions or charitable shows or something of the sort." The showroom features Rolls-Royces, Ferraris and other pricey cars and is famous for its celebrity clientele.
|
[
"Where is the painting displayed?",
"The painting shows jackson holding what?",
"which is close to Apollo Theater?",
"What does the painting show show?",
"What type of painting did michael jackson sit for?",
"What is the only painting Jackson sat for?"
] |
[
[
"Dancy-Power Automotive in Harlem, New York."
],
[
"a book."
],
[
"the showroom"
],
[
"Jackson sitting in Renaissance-era clothes and holding a book."
],
[
"oil"
],
[
"\"The Book\""
]
] |
Oil painting said to be the only portrait for which Michael Jackson sat .
Painting is displayed at Harlem-based automotive showroom .
It shows Jackson in Renaissance-era clothes, holding a book .
Partner: Painting's owner chose showroom because it's near Apollo Theater .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A technical snafu left some Visa prepaid cardholders stunned and horrified Monday to see a $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge on their statements. Josh Muszynski noticed the 17-digit charge while making a routine balance inquiry. That's about 2,007 times the size of the national debt. Josh Muszynski, 22, of Manchester, New Hampshire, was one Visa customer aghast to find the 17-digit charge on his bill. Adding insult to injury, he had also been hit with a $15 overdraft fee. He noticed that his debt exceeded the world GDP while making a routine balance inquiry on his online Bank of America account. According to his statement, he had spent the profound sum in one pop at a nearby Mobil gas station -- his regular stop for Camel cigarettes. "Very, very panicked," he jumped in his car and sped to the station. Had they perhaps noticed any "outrageous" charges come across their books recently, he inquired of the cashier there. She checked the records. They had not. Watch the story of an astounded customer in Memphis, Tennessee » Muszynski wondered aloud what he might possibly have asked to purchase for such an astronomical price. "Can I buy Europe on pump 4?" He next called Bank of America, the issuer of his Visa prepaid debit card. The bank kept him on hold for two hours, during which time he contemplated the impossibly bleak financial future that might await him. He also felt a stab of fear that he had saddled all his unborn grandchildren -- and their grandchildren -- with a lifetime of debt. "Down the generational line, nobody would have any money." Finally, a bank representative told him that the $23 quadrillion charge -- and the $15 overdraft fee -- would be stricken from his account. Muszynski compared the giant debt reprieve to receiving "an amazing Monopoly card that says, 'Bank error in your favor.' " In a statement, Visa said the rogue charges affected "fewer than 13,000 prepaid transactions" and resulted from a "temporary programming error at Visa Debit Processing Services ... [which] caused some transactions to be inaccurately posted to a small number of Visa prepaid accounts." The company assured customers that the problem has been fixed and that all falsely issued fees have been voided. "Erroneous postings have been removed ... this incident had no financial impact on Visa prepaid cardholders."
|
[
"What is 2,007 times the size of the national debt?",
"What did the card issuer say?",
"Who had a $15 overdraft fee?",
"What is the reason behind the charge and fee?",
"How much is the overdraft fee?",
"What did the card issuer blame?",
"What is the charge about 2,007 times the size of?"
] |
[
[
"a $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge on their statements."
],
[
"Visa said the rogue charges affected \"fewer than 13,000 prepaid transactions\" and resulted from a \"temporary programming error at Visa Debit Processing Services"
],
[
"Josh Muszynski,"
],
[
"\"temporary programming error at Visa Debit Processing Services"
],
[
"$15"
],
[
"\"temporary programming error at Visa"
],
[
"the national debt."
]
] |
$23,148,855,308,184,500 charge is about 2,007 times the size of the national debt .
Visa customer in New Hampshire, also hit with $15 overdraft fee, finds out online .
Statement said he'd spent the big sum at gas station where he buys cigarettes .
Card issuer strikes charge and fee, blames "temporary programming error"
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A top Baha'i official has criticized Iran's claim that the six imprisoned leaders of the religious minority were held for security reasons and not because of their faith. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government has been accused of trying to eliminate the Baha'i community. Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, called Iran's assertion "utterly baseless." "The allegations are not new, and the Iranian government knows well that they are untrue," Dugal said on Wednesday, quoted in a news release issued by the Baha'i movement. "The documented plan of the Iranian government has always been to destroy the Baha'i community, and these latest arrests represent an intensification of this plan." Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said the people were detained for "security issues" and not their faith, Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency said. Elham said on Tuesday that the Baha'is were members of a group working together "against national interest." "The group is an organized establishment linked to foreigners, the Zionists in particular," he said. The arrests of the six last week and another Baha'i leader in March sparked sharp condemnation by the Baha'is, the United States, Canada, the European Union and humanitarian groups. The Baha'is say the latest arrests are part of a pattern of religious persecution since 1979, when the monarchy of the Shah of Iran was toppled and an Islamic republic was created in the predominantly Shiite nation. The Baha'is say they have been killed, jailed and "otherwise oppressed" only because of their religion. "The best proof of this is the fact that, time and again, Baha'is have been offered their freedom if they recant their Baha'i beliefs and convert to Islam, an option few have taken," Dugal said. Dugal said Iran's practice of connecting the group to Zionism, the underlying political philosophy of the Jewish state, was a "distortion" and an attempt to "stir animosity" among the Iranian public. The Baha'i World Center, which the movement refers to as its "spiritual and administrative heart," is in the Acre/Haifa area in northern Israel -- a location that predates the founding of the state of Israel since it was formed during the Ottoman Empire's rule of Palestine. The Baha'is explain that their founder, Baha'u'llah, "after a series of successive banishments from his native Persia, was exiled, with members of his family and a small band of his followers, to the Turkish penal colony of Acre in 1868." Dugal said the Iranian actions were the "most recent iteration in a long history of attempts to foment hatred by casting the Baha'is as agents of foreign powers, whether of Russia, the United Kingdom, or the United States and now Israel all of which are completely baseless." Dugal said the government's philosophies are based largely on the idea that there can be "no prophet following Mohammed" and that the faith "poses a theological challenge to this belief." They say Baha'u'llah is regarded by Baha'is as "the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that stretches back beyond recorded time and that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ and Mohammed." The Baha'is-- regarded as the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran -- say they have 5 million members across the globe, and about 300,000 in Iran.
|
[
"who was arrested?",
"What did Bani Dugal say?",
"The representative said the claim was what?",
"Bani Dugal said the government is trying to destroy who?",
"Where were the minority leaders arrested?",
"What did Baha'i officials deny?",
"How many leaders were held for security reasons?",
"who is trying to destroy the community?"
] |
[
[
"of the religious minority"
],
[
"\"The allegations are not new, and the Iranian government knows well that they are untrue,\""
],
[
"\"utterly baseless.\""
],
[
"the Baha'i community,"
],
[
"Iran's"
],
[
"held for security reasons and not because of their faith."
],
[
"six"
],
[
"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government"
]
] |
Baha'i official denies Iran claim that six of its leaders held for security reasons .
The religious minority's leaders were arrested at their homes last week .
Baha'i representative to U.N. says Iran's claim is "utterly baseless"
Bani Dugal says Muslim-run government is trying to destroy Baha'i community .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- After huffing and puffing up 354 steps to the newly reopened Lady Liberty crown, Aaron Weisinger figured it was time to pop the question to his girlfriend, Erica Breder. Aaron Weisinger proposes to Erica Breder on July Fourth inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty. "The Fourth of July has always been a favorite holiday, so that was part of it, " Weisinger said. The couple flew to New York from San Francisco, California, after managing to be among the first 240 people to snag the tickets to the Statue of Liberty crown for its reopening after September 11, 2001. Weisinger got down on one knee inside the narrow, 8-foot-long deck inside the Statue of Liberty's crown, asked Breder to be his wife and offered her a sizeable diamond ring. "I believe I was silent for several minutes. I was so excited," Breder said. Then she said "yes." Both said their families came to the United States via Ellis Island. "My great-grandparents immigrated [from Russia and Hungary]," Weisinger said. His fiance's relatives arrived from Hungary. "The thoughts behind the statue and freedom and liberty allowed our parents and great-grandparents before us to have the wonderful lives that we do," Weisinger added. Breder said she was thrilled to make the long climb up a steep spiral staircase to stand inside Lady Liberty's crown. "It was fantastic, much smaller than we had anticipated. The view's fantastic," the newly engaged Breder said. New safety measures include double handrails, glass stairwell partitions and careful crowd control, according to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Now, only three groups of 10 visitors per hour are guided up to the crown by a National Park Service ranger. That means only about 87,000 will be able to visit each year. In the past, it took visitors at least an hour and a half to climb from the base to the crown. Now, it takes only about 15 to 20 minutes. A new engineering study showed that there had to be changes to make it easier to exit the crowded staircase. Crown tickets can now be reserved online up to a year in advance, but the statue will close again in two years for additional renovations.
|
[
"what are the safety measures",
"whom did he propose to",
"What did Weisinger do?",
"what did breder sAY"
] |
[
[
"include double handrails, glass stairwell partitions and careful crowd control,"
],
[
"Erica Breder"
],
[
"pop the question to his girlfriend, Erica Breder."
],
[
"\"yes.\""
]
] |
Aaron Weisinger proposed to Erica Breder on July 4 inside the Statue of Liberty .
Couple among first people to see statue's crown since reopening after 9/11 .
"I believe I was silent for several minutes. I was so excited," Breder said .
New safety measures include double handrails, stairwell partitions, crowd control .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- After spending nearly 28 years in an irreversible coma, heiress and socialite Martha "Sunny" von Bulow died Saturday in a New York nursing home, according to a family statement. She was 76.
Sunny von Bulow is pictured during her 1957 wedding to Prince Alfred von Auersperg.
Von Bulow was subject of one of the nation's most sensational criminal cases during the 1980s.
Her husband, Claus, was accused of trying to kill her with an overdose of insulin, which prosecutors alleged sent her into the coma.
He was convicted of making two attempts on her life, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. He was acquitted in a second trial.
His retrial in 1985 received national attention.
"We were blessed to have an extraordinarily loving and caring mother," said the statement from Von Bulow's three children -- Annie Laurie "Ala" Isham, Alexander von Auersperg and Cosima Pavoncelli -- released by a spokeswoman. "She was especially devoted to her many friends and family members."
Martha von Bulow was born Martha Sharp Crawford into a wealthy family. She inherited a fortune conservatively estimated at $75 million, according to an article on the von Bulow case posted on truTV.com's Crime Library Web site.
In her early years, she drew comparisons to actress Grace Kelly.
She became known as Princess von Auersperg with her first marriage, to Prince Alfred von Auersperg of Austria. That marriage produced two children: Alexander and Annie Laurie.
The von Bulows married in 1966 and had a daughter, Cosima.
On the morning of December 22, 1980, family members found Martha von Bulow unconscious in the bathroom of the family's posh Newport, Rhode Island, home. She never regained consciousness.
She had been hospitalized a year earlier after lapsing into a coma but recovered, according to the Crime Library site. Doctors had diagnosed her with hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.
Prosecutors accused Claus von Bulow of twice attempting to kill his wife by injecting her with insulin.
The case also led to a major motion picture, "Reversal of Fortune." Actor Jeremy Irons won an Oscar for his portrayal of Claus von Bulow.
Famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who won Claus von Bulow a new trial on appeal after his conviction, said in a statement Saturday that Martha von Bulow's death is "a sad ending to a sad tragedy that some members of her family tried to turn into a crime. We proved overwhelming[ly] that there was no crime and that the coma was self-induced. We saved his life, but could not save hers."
Claus von Bulow's defense team maintained that Martha von Bulow's alcohol use, among other factors, caused her coma.
Dershowitz said he had spoken with Claus von Bulow, who now lives in London, England. Claus von Bulow was saddened by his former wife's passing, Dershowitz said.
The family statement said Martha von Bulow is survived by her children, their spouses and nine grandchildren.
Alexander von Auersperg and Ala von Auersperg Isham, who had sided with prosecutors against Claus von Bulow, filed a civil suit against their stepfather after his acquittal. The case was settled out of court in 1987, according to a 2007 article in the Providence Journal newspaper in Rhode Island.
Claus von Bulow had agreed to waive his claim to his wife's money and to a divorce in exchange for the suit being dropped.
The von Bulows' daughter, Cosima, sided with her father.
Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne, who covered the von Bulow case, told the New York Daily News in 2007 that Sunny von Bulow was moved from Columbia Presbyterian hospital to a private nursing home in 1998. Watch Dunne recall case »
Ala von Auersperg Isham served for a time as president of the Sunny von Bulow Coma and Head Trauma Research Foundation, according to the Providence Journal. An offshoot of that organization, the Brain Trauma Foundation, still operates in New York, the newspaper said.
The family statement notes that Martha von Bulow actively supported the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
|
[
"What was the verdict in the second trial?",
"Where did Claus von Bulow live?",
"How many children did the Bulow's have?",
"Where is Claus von Bulow living?",
"What lawyer spoke for Claus von Bulow?",
"Who is Claus von Bulow accused of killing?",
"What was Claus von Bulow accused of doing?",
"How did von Bulow try to kill his wife?",
"Who had a conviction overturned?",
"With what method did Claus von Bulow attempt his crime?",
"Where is Claus Von Bulow living now?",
"How many grandchildren did Claus von Bulow's late wife have?",
"How did von Bulow try to kill his wife?",
"When was he acquitted?",
"What made Claus von Bulow sad?",
"Who was accused of trying to kill her?",
"Who is she survived by?",
"Who was acquitted in the second trial?",
"What happened in his second trial?",
"Where does von Bulow live now?",
"What is Claus von Bolow accused of?"
] |
[
[
"acquitted"
],
[
"London, England."
],
[
"three"
],
[
"London, England."
],
[
"Famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz,"
],
[
"\"Sunny\" von Bulow"
],
[
"trying to kill her"
],
[
"with an overdose of insulin,"
],
[
"Her husband, Claus,"
],
[
"overdose of insulin,"
],
[
"London, England."
],
[
"nine"
],
[
"overdose of insulin,"
],
[
"in a second trial."
],
[
"his former wife's passing,"
],
[
"Claus von Bulow,"
],
[
"her children, their spouses and nine grandchildren."
],
[
"Claus von Bulow"
],
[
"He was acquitted"
],
[
"London, England."
],
[
"attempting to kill his wife by injecting her with insulin."
]
] |
Husband Claus von Bulow was accused of trying to kill her with insulin overdose .
Conviction overturned on appeal; he was acquitted in second trial .
Claus von Bulow, living in England, is saddened by former wife's death, lawyer says .
She is survived by three children and nine grandchildren .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- American radio talk-show host Michael Savage said he wants an apology from Britain's home secretary and his name removed from a list of people banned from entering the United Kingdom. American radio talk-show host Michael Savage calls the British government's description of him "demented." "I've heard from British attorneys who are salivating to set the record straight and win quite a large settlement should she not remove my name from the list," Savage said in an interview broadcast Thursday on CNN's "American Morning." Savage was referring to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, whose office recently excluded 22 people from entering the country because the government feels they have been "stirring up hatred." The British government has cited Savage -- who is on the list under his real name, Michael Alan Weiner -- for "seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence." Savage has made controversial statements against homosexuality, illegal immigrants from Mexico and Islam. He said that "borders, language and culture is the real message of 'The Savage Nation,' " his radio talk show. "I'm a patriotic American, and if that's a crime in England, God help us all," he said. Watch as Savage says he wants to clear his name » Savage's daily radio show does not air in Britain but is broadcast nationwide in the United States. Savage rejected the British government's description of him, calling it "a demented attitude." "She lumped me in with known murderers and terrorists, people who have been in prison for killing people," Savage said of Smith. "I've been on the air for 15 years, three hours a day, five days a week. I have never, ever promoted violence. There has never been one violent incident attached to my show." Smith has said she is determined to keep those who "spread extremism, hatred and violent messages" out of the country. "Coming to the UK is a privilege, and I refuse to extend that privilege to individuals who abuse our standards and values to undermine our way of life," Smith said. "Therefore, I do not hesitate to name and shame those who foster extremist views, as I want them to know that they are not welcome here." The Home Office has named 16 people on the list, saying it was not in the public interest to disclose the names of the other six. Included on the list are:
|
[
"What is Savage known for?",
"Where was Savage banned from entering?",
"What does Savage want?",
"what is he known for",
"what did he say",
"What is Savage's occupation?",
"Who was banned?"
] |
[
[
"radio talk-show host"
],
[
"the United Kingdom."
],
[
"an apology from Britain's"
],
[
"\"seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence.\""
],
[
"wants an apology from Britain's"
],
[
"radio talk-show host"
],
[
"Michael Savage"
]
] |
Radio talk-show host Michael Savage wants British home secretary to apologize .
Savage, 20-plus others banned from entering Britain for "stirring up hatred"
"I'm a patriotic American, and if that's a crime in England, God help us all," he says .
Savage known for controversial remarks on homosexuality, illegal immigrants, Islam .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- An air traffic controller was joking with a woman about a dead cat just moments before a helicopter and small plane collided over the Hudson River in August, according to a recording released Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration. The wreckage of a plane that collided with a helicopter is lifted on August 11 from the Hudson River. There were no survivors from the August 8 crash, in which three people died aboard the Piper Saratoga PA-32 fixed-wing plane that collided with a helicopter carrying six people, five of them Italian tourists. The FAA in August confirmed the air traffic controller at New Jersey's Teterboro airport, who initially handled the flight of the Piper before handing off to Newark controllers, had "involved in apparently inappropriate conversations on the telephone at the time of the accident." The controller and his supervisor, who was not in the building as required, were suspended. "While we have no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident, this kind of conduct is unacceptable, and we have placed the employees on administrative leave and have begun disciplinary proceedings," FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said at the time. The recording, released for the first time Thursday, caught the air traffic controller at Teterboro airport having a giggly chat with the woman, suggesting she grill the dead cat she apparently found. A source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN the woman was the controller's girlfriend. "That thing was disgusting," she says, to which the controller responds, "Chinese people do it, so why can't we?" The exchange, which lasts about six minutes, is interrupted by a controller at the Newark airport, who asks the Teterboro controller for help with air traffic. "Hey, Teterboro ... would you switch that guy, maybe put him on a two-twenty heading to get away from that other traffic please?" the Newark controller is heard saying. The Teterboro controller seems to be juggling both conversations, telling to woman to "hold on real quick" while asking the Newark controller to repeat the request. "Can you switch that (Piper) PA-32?" the Newark controller said. Neither is able to communicate with the pilot of the Piper, with the Teterboro controller saying, "He's lost in the hertz." The conversation between the Teterboro controller and the woman continues as she mentions that it seems her friend is doing "a lot of babysitting." Seconds later, the crash occurs with no survivors. The National Transportation Safety Board has said that before the accident, Teterboro controller had switched control of the Piper plane to Newark tower, which the pilot never contacted. Raymond Adams, head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, is representing the Teterboro controller. He declined to comment Thursday, except to say that "the FAA has previously stated that the conversation had no connection to the crash." The controller is still on paid administration leave pending further investing by the FAA, he added. The helicopter was taking the tourists on a 12-minute Liberty Helicopter Sightseeing Tour around New York, while the plane carrying three individuals was headed for Ocean City, New Jersey. Controllers lost contact with the plane at 11:53 a.m. as it flew at an altitude of about 1,100 feet. The FAA released the recording after a request from The Associated Press citing the Freedom of Information Act.
|
[
"How many survivors were there in the August 8 crash?",
"Who did the controller joke with on the recording?",
"who revelead the recording",
"when did helicopter crash",
"who was joking",
"What was controller joking about on phone?",
"Who revealed recording of air traffic controller just before fatal crash?"
] |
[
[
"no"
],
[
"a woman"
],
[
"Federal Aviation Administration."
],
[
"August 8"
],
[
"An air traffic controller"
],
[
"a dead cat"
],
[
"Federal Aviation Administration."
]
] |
FAA reveals recording of air traffic controller just before fatal crash .
On recording, controller joking with woman on phone about what to do with dead cat .
FAA spokeswoman: "The kind of conduct is unacceptable"
No survivors in August 8 crash of helicopter, small plane over Hudson .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- An employee of a luxurious New York hotel has been arrested in connection with the slaying of a woman in one of the hotel's residential condominiums, police say. The Jumeirah Essex House is a landmark on Central Park South in New York. Derrick Praileau, 29, faces second-degree murder charges in connection with the death of Andree Bejjani, 44. Police said Bejjani, who was originally from Lebanon, had moved to New York from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and had been staying in a residential condominium at the Jumeirah Essex House since August. Bejjani's nude body was found Saturday afternoon on the 10th floor of the hotel on Central Park South. Her throat was slashed, authorities said. Police have not revealed a suspected motive for the slaying. "This incident occurred in one of the private condominiums at The Essex House complex," the hotel said in a statement provided to CNN. "Our sincere condolences go out to the victim's family and we have offered our full support during this difficult time." The statement continued: "We understand that a hotel employee has been arrested pending charges in conjunction with this incident. We continue to fully cooperate with the police throughout their investigation." A message left with Praileau's defense attorney was not returned. The hotel referred to Praileau only as an employee, but the New York Daily News said he was its housekeeping manager, citing Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. The 44-story Essex House opened in 1931, a landmark Art Deco building. It recently underwent a $90 million renovation. The hotel has more than 500 luxury rooms and suites, along with several privately-owned residences. One six-room unit is currently on the market for $8.25 million.
|
[
"Where was Andree Bejjani found?",
"Who was Praileau?",
"What does Derrick Praileau face?",
"who caused this crime",
"Who was found dead on Saturday?",
"how much old its Andree Bejjani?"
] |
[
[
"10th floor of the hotel on Central Park South."
],
[
"housekeeping manager,"
],
[
"second-degree murder charges"
],
[
"Derrick Praileau,"
],
[
"Andree Bejjani,"
],
[
"44."
]
] |
Lebanese native Andree Bejjani, 44, found dead in condo Saturday .
Derrick Praileau, 29, faces second-degree murder charges .
Police commissioner tells newspaper that Praileau was housekeeping manager .
Authorities have not revealed suspected motive .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- An explosion outside a Starbucks on the Upper East Side of Manhattan sent frightened people running into the street early Monday. Police investigate an explosion in a Manhattan Upper East Side neighborhood. The explosion blew out the windows of a Starbucks coffeehouse at East 92nd Street and Third Avenue at 3:25 a.m., according to New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. A "low-order improvised explosive device" exploded after being left on a wooden bench in front of the coffeehouse, Kelly said. The blast could be heard many blocks away, according to CNN affiliate WABC-TV of New York. Seven people were briefly evacuated from the building above the Starbucks, Kelly said, but no one was injured. The interior of the Starbucks sustained no damage. It's too early to tell whether Monday's incident is connected to other minor explosions in New York City in recent years, including ones at the British and Mexican consulates and another in Times Square, Kelly said. He did note one immediate similarity between the detonations: All occurred at roughly the same time of night. He said the police would continue to analyze other similarities. However, Kelly also noted that Starbucks has been the target of low-grade explosions in other cities. Police plan to examine surveillance cameras for information that could lead investigators to the perpetrator, he said.
|
[
"What happened at a Manhattan Starbucks that sent people fleeing?",
"What were police investigating?",
"Where was the starbucks located",
"What damage was done to the starbucks",
"What connections are the police investigating"
] |
[
[
"An explosion"
],
[
"an explosion in a Manhattan Upper East Side neighborhood."
],
[
"Upper East Side of Manhattan"
],
[
"explosion blew out the windows"
],
[
"other minor explosions in New York City in recent years,"
]
] |
Minor explosion outside of a Manhattan Starbucks sends people fleeing .
No injuries reported from the blast; Starbucks damage limited to broken windows .
Police investigating whether explosion is connected to other pre-dawn blasts .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- An oil painting was returned Tuesday to the estate of a Jewish art dealer who was forced to consign the painting and other artwork under Nazi Germany before fleeing the country. "Portrait of a Musician Playing a Bagpipe" was done in 1632 by an unknown artist. The painting, "Portrait of a Musician Playing a Bagpipe," was done in 1632 by an unknown painter from the Northern Netherlandish school, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in southern New York. It was owned by Max Stern, an art dealer who had a gallery in Dusseldorf, Germany, until 1937, when the Nazis' Reich Chamber for Fine Arts ordered him to liquidate the gallery and its inventory, the statement said. Stern, who died in 1987, left no heirs. He and his wife had founded the Max Stern Art Restitution Project, which directly benefits Concordia University and McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem, according to a statement from U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The painting was returned Tuesday -- Holocaust Remembrance Day -- to Clarence Epstein of Concordia University on behalf of the executors of the estate, said Lou Martinez of the immigration agency. It was returned in a ceremony at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, he said. The painting had been owned by Philip Mould Ltd., a London, England, gallery, when Lawrence Steigrad, a New York art dealer, bought it in 2008, the New York attorney's office said. Neither had any idea of the painting's past. Philip Mould Ltd. had purchased the painting the year before from Lempertz Auction House. The same auction house sold the painting in 1937 after Stern was forced to liquidate, without receiving any proceeds from the sale, the New York attorney's office said. Immigration agents used information from a Holocaust claims office in the New York state Banking Department to look into Steigrad's gallery. The art dealer "confirmed the painting was in his possession." and he eventually allowed agents to seize the painting, the attorney's office said.
|
[
"When did Stern die?",
"Who benefits from his art restoration project?",
"When did he die?",
"What did Max Stern have to do in 1937?",
"What was Mas Stern forced to do in 1937?",
"What returns on Tuesday?",
"Who will benefit from his project?"
] |
[
[
"1987,"
],
[
"Concordia University and McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem,"
],
[
"died in 1987,"
],
[
"liquidate the gallery and its inventory,"
],
[
"liquidate the gallery and its inventory,"
],
[
"oil painting"
],
[
"Concordia University and McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem,"
]
] |
Art dealer Max Stern was forced to liquidate his gallery in 1937 .
Stern died in 1987 with no heirs .
His art restoration project benefits three universities .
"Portrait of a Musician Playing a Bagpipe" was returned Tuesday .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Authorities are seeking the public's assistance in identifying a teenage girl who mysteriously turned up in Manhattan two weeks ago, claiming to have no memory of her family, her home -- or even her own name. The teen has recalled an excerpt from the fantasy novel "Fool's Fate" by Robin Hobb. "I just want to know who I am," the girl says in a statement released by the New York City Administration for Children's Services. The teen, who is being referred to as Jane Doe, continues, "I want to know who I am and what happened to me." The Caucasian young woman, described by New York ACS as "very soft-spoken," is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, light-skinned, with short, straight, cropped blond hair and blue eyes. Doctors are estimating her age to be between 14 and 17. ACS Commissioner John B. Mattingly appealed to the public in a statement, "asking anyone who may know this young woman to help us locate her family as quickly as possible, so we can safely reunite her with those who love her." The girl was found in midtown Manhattan around 12:30 a.m. October 9 outside the Covenant House youth shelter, although the organization tells CNN that she was not a resident at the time and did not appear as if she intended to seek refuge at the facility. According to its Web site, with nearly 7,000 youths seeking shelter per year, "Covenant House New York is the nation's largest adolescent care agency serving homeless, runaway and at-risk youth." A security guard for the shelter noticed the girl walking around on the sidewalk near Covenant House and approached her. Finding her unresponsive, he called the New York City Police Department. Police officers interviewed the young woman, but it became clear that she couldn't provide authorities with any information about herself. The NYPD said she was wearing military green camouflage pants, a black shirt and a pair of black sneakers when she was discovered. Children's Services said the girl recently wrote down the name "Amber" and has responded to it on one occasion, but she has no idea whether it is her true name. On another occasion she is said to have recalled certain words, which turned out to be an excerpt from the fantasy novel "Fool's Fate" by Robin Hobb. The girl is also apparently writing a fantasy story of her own that features a heroine named Rian, "who's been raised by the commander of the guard post on the edge of a fantasy kingdom," says the young woman. The girl has a 2- to 4-inch scar on her lower left back and had a black, handwritten birthday message on her arm, addressed to a name of Japanese origin, when she was found, police said Friday. Judging from poor dental hygiene, said Lt. Christopher Zimmerman, she appears to have been living on the streets for some time. "This case has been going on since October 9," Zimmerman said. "Today is the 23rd, and we're vey concerned. It's been a very long time now. That's a long time frame to not identify somebody. Especially someone who we believe is a juvenile. Usually juveniles we get a lot of inquiries about." While the girl is confused and her story remains vague, Mattingly said, "she is safe with us, and we are doing all we can to help her, but she needs to find her family." She is apparently reviewing materials for a high school GED exam, saying that she is able to do the math but has no recollection of studying the history and science portions. However, according to the Children's Services statement, the young woman "can easily retain the information." New York City Administration for Children's Services and police are asking anyone with information about the young woman or her family to contact the NYPD Missing Persons Squad at 212-694-7781 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
|
[
"What name does the girl respond to?",
"What was the girl's height?",
"when was the girl found",
"On what day was the girl found?",
"What age range do doctors believe the girl is?",
"what age is the girl",
"what is the girl called",
"Where was the girl found?"
] |
[
[
"\"Amber\""
],
[
"5 feet, 6 inches"
],
[
"12:30 a.m. October 9"
],
[
"12:30 a.m. October 9"
],
[
"between 14 and 17."
],
[
"between 14 and 17."
],
[
"\"Amber\""
],
[
"midtown Manhattan"
]
] |
"I just want to know who I am," girl says, according to children's services agency .
She's described as 5', 6" tall, "very soft-spoken"; doctors say she's 14 to 17 years old .
Girl was found in midtown Manhattan early October 9 outside youth shelter .
Agency says girl recently wrote down the name "Amber" and has responded to it .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Before Adam Walsh, Etan Patz and Madeleine McCann, before the first Amber Alert, before a young face stared back from the side of a milk carton, there was Danny. Danny Barter was 4 when he vanished in 1959 while on a family camping trip. Danny Barter vanished in 1959. He was on a family camping trip to Alabama's Perdido Bay. He was playing with his dad one minute, gone the next. "Just like that," recalled his brother Mike Barter. Danny was 4 years old. Last weekend, his loved ones returned to the campsite and to the scene of the presumed stranger abduction. They came to remember Danny and to rededicate a half-century mission to find him. Even with the passage of time, their faith has not wavered. "We've never doubted that he's ... out there," Mike Barter said. "Until they prove otherwise, we hope one day we will be reunited." Their hope has been bolstered by investigators with the FBI and the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, which reopened the case last year after hearing of a recent conversation. "A lead was sparked when someone was sitting in a public area talking about what happened," FBI spokeswoman Joyce Riggs wrote in an e-mail to the media. As cold case cops know, a wisp of a lead can turn into a big break, a fact FBI Special Agent Angela Tobon believes can solve the Daniel Barter mystery. "Even if [people] think it's insignificant, it's probably not," Tobon said. "Each little piece of the puzzle may not mean something, but when you put it all together, you get the big picture." Danny was the third youngest of Paul and Maxine Barter's seven children. He had brown hair and big brown eyes. "He's such a very pretty and sweet child," his mom told the Mobile Register in an article published June 21, 1959. "I can understand why someone would want to take him, because he's such a pretty child." Three days earlier, Danny, his parents and his siblings were enjoying a family outing near the Gulf shore. Danny and his dad had just returned from getting some drinks at a store. Tents were pitched. Fishing poles were prepared. And then someone noticed that Danny was gone. "I had first believed that despite Danny's fear of water, he had wandered into the water and drowned," Maxine Barter told the Mobile Register. "But not now. I believe he probably walked up the road, and someone picked him up." The search was extensive and immediate. Hundreds combed the land and the waters, looking for Danny. Bloodhounds were given his scent and dispatched to follow it. Alligators were killed and cut open. But there was no trace of Danny, then or now. For his parents and the police, the sickening conclusion was quickly reached: He was stolen by a human predator. Danny's mom could not fathom that the kidnapper would bring harm to her boy. "I hope now that someone did take Danny, because I know if anyone wanted him bad enough to kidnap him, they would take good care of him," she said. Fifty years later, the family longs for closure. Paul and Maxine Barter are both deceased, but their children carry on the decades-long pursuit to know the truth. On dannybarter.com, a Web site dedicated to finding answers, the family posted this plea to the public: "We strongly believe that someone out there knows what happened to Danny and possibly knows him as another identity. We hope to find him safe and sound." The FBI is also seeking information on Danny Barter. It has published two photographs of him on its Web site. One shows the smiling child, taken in the months before Danny was abducted. The other picture is age-progressed, depicting what Danny would look like today at 54. If you have any information
|
[
"When did Danny Barter go missing?",
"Where was the camping trip?",
"The case is how old?",
"Who was taken by a stranger?",
"who took Danny Barter?",
"What was Danny Barter's age when he went missing?"
] |
[
[
"1959"
],
[
"Alabama's Perdido Bay."
],
[
"1959"
],
[
"Danny Barter"
],
[
"stranger"
],
[
"4"
]
] |
FBI says it has a new lead in a 50-year-old cold case .
Danny Barter, 4, is believed to have been taken by a stranger .
Boy went missing during a family camping trip in Perdido Bay, Alabama .
FBI says someone was overheard talking about the boy's abduction .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Broadening the number of health care professionals who can administer vaccine, New York Gov. David Paterson issued a sweeping executive order Thursday officially declaring a state of emergency due to the increase in H1N1 cases, including 75 H1N1-related deaths in New York state. The announcement, which comes on the heels of President Obama's declaration of H1N1 flu as a national emergency, expands the categories of health care professionals who can give the vaccine to include dentists, pharmacists, podiatrists, midwives and emergency medical technicians, the executive order said. At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Paterson stressed that his order is not intended to incite panic but rather allocates the necessary resources to effectively combat H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu. "If an enormous number of flu vaccines came into the state because of an epidemic and an emergency and we need to administer them as widely as possible, we have expanded the health care personnel who would be deemed to have the authority to administer the flu vaccine," Paterson told reporters. Under current state law, some health care professionals are prohibited from delivering the vaccine because of limits on their professional duties. The governor's order waives any law that would prevent these people from giving vaccinations, according to Claire Pospisil from the New York state department of health. "It's called an emergency declaration, but what it does is that it provides New York the capability that once vaccine supplies become more available, it allows (health departments) to quickly vaccinate as many people as possible," Pospisil said. Dr. Mark Feldman, a retired dentist who serves as executive director of the New York State Dental Association, which represents 75 percent of the dentists in the state, said he would be more than willing to help administer the vaccine. "If there is a shortage and they need more hands, I can do my part," Feldman said. Health care professionals named in the executive order may not administer the vaccine at their individual practices. Rather, they must do so at a New York state health department distribution center. Feldman thinks it would be wiser to allow these health care professionals to distribute the vaccine at their private practices. "If there is a severe outbreak, to go to a mass distribution center, you risk being exposed," Feldman said. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a statement Thursday supporting Paterson's order. It will "let a larger number of health care workers administer vaccines, and strengthen our health department's ability to track the use of vaccine supplies," the statement read. About 800,000 people in New York City became infected with the disease during the first wave of the virus last spring, according to the New York City Department of Health The New York health department will provide training for administering the vaccinations, though the exact amount of training required is yet to be determined, according to Tom Dunn of the New York state education department, which issues vaccine licenses.
|
[
"Who is allowed to give vaccines?",
"What is the cause of the state of emergency which has been declared by Gov. David Paterson?",
"What was the reason for Paterson calling a state of emergency?",
"What occupations are being called in to assist?"
] |
[
[
"health care professionals"
],
[
"increase in H1N1 cases,"
],
[
"increase in H1N1 cases,"
],
[
"dentists, pharmacists, podiatrists, midwives and emergency medical technicians,"
]
] |
Gov. David Paterson declared a state of emergency because of increase in H1N1 cases .
Order allows dentists, pharmacists, podiatrists, midwives to give vaccines .
Paterson said increasing those who can give vaccine would help state in emergency .
Retired dentist: "If there is a shortage and they need more hands, I can do my part"
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz could lose the right to her entire portfolio of world-famous photographs if she doesn't meet a Tuesday deadline to pay back a $24 million loan she is alleged to owe. Annie Leibovitz appears before her photo of Demi Moore during an exhibition of her work in June in Madrid, Spain. Leibovitz, who has photographed everyone from the Rolling Stones to Queen Elizabeth II, put her art, intellectual property and even real estate assets up for collateral last year when she consolidated her massive debts. Art Capital Group, which restructured the debts, says Leibovitz agreed "to make Art Capital her 'irrevocable exclusive agent'" of the assets "in exchange for a reduced interest rate on the loan." Now the company is suing Leibovitz for breach of contract, saying she has "refused to cooperate in the sale of those assets," according to a question-and-answer sheet on the lawsuit issued by Art Capital. It also says she has "refused to pay to Art Capital hundreds of thousands of dollars she owed as part of the same agreement." Asked by CNN for comment, Leibovitz's attorney, Steven Brawer, said, "I don't have anything I can tell you." They have until October 1 to respond to the lawsuit. In the question-and-answer sheet, Art Capital says Leibovitz "acknowledged that in order to repay the loan she would sell her fine art, intellectual property and real estate assets. She authorized Art Capital to act as agent in the sale of those assets through which Art Capital could recoup its decrease in interest rate. She would have realized a significant gain from that sale." It says the loan agreement gave Art Capital "the right to sell the collateral before the loan came due on September 8 and for a two-year period thereafter." One of Leibovitz's best known photos is of John Lennon with his wife, Yoko Ono, shortly before the Beatles star was assassinated in 1980. She is no stranger to controversy. In 1991, Leibovitz photographed a nude and extremely pregnant Demi Moore for the cover of Vanity Fair. The issue, considered scandalous at the time, was sold in many places nationwide with a sheath of white paper. Last year, Leibovitz photographed Disney star Miley Cyrus wrapped in a bedsheet, eliciting claims that the photographer pressured the teen queen into poses that were too provocative for her young age. In July, Art Capital filed a complaint with the New York Supreme Court, asking it to uphold the sales agreement it signed with Leibovitz, including its right to sell her art and real estate. If the court agrees with Art Capital, it means Leibovitz could end up owing far more than she did originally. Art Capital has asked for an unspecified amount of damages in addition to the money it says the photographer originally borrowed. Art Capital -- through its affiliate, American Photography -- provides financial and consulting services to artists, galleries and art owners, and offers loans based on their intellectual property and fine art assets.
|
[
"Who faces a Tuesday deadline to pay back $24 million?",
"How much will annie leibovitz have to pay?",
"what is Art Capital Group porpuse?",
"What photos are among Leibovitz's most controversial works?",
"What did Leibovitz put up as collateral?",
"Who sued Leibovitz?"
] |
[
[
"Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz"
],
[
"$24 million"
],
[
"provides financial and consulting services to artists, galleries and"
],
[
"photographed a nude and extremely pregnant Demi Moore for the cover of Vanity Fair."
],
[
"real estate assets"
],
[
"Art Capital Group,"
]
] |
Photographer Annie Leibovitz faces Tuesday deadline to pay back $24 million loan .
Leibovitz put up art, real estate as collateral in consolidating massive debt .
Art Capital Group sues Leibovitz, alleging she hasn't repaid money .
Photos of Demi Moore, Miley Cyrus among Leibovitz's most controversial works .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Divers found an eighth body Monday from the weekend collision of two aircraft over the Hudson River, leaving only one victim unaccounted for. Silvia Rigamonti, wife of one of the victims, walks with her son Davide Norelli in Bologna, Italy, on Monday. The man's body was found inside the submerged Piper Saratoga PA-32 fixed-wing plane that was carrying three people when it collided Saturday with a tourist helicopter carrying six people, police said. It was not immediately possible to remove the body, police said. The plane wreckage and the body were found on a day in which police divers worked in water made treacherous by poor visibility and strong currents. All six bodies of the people who were aboard the helicopter were pulled from water up to 50 feet deep over the weekend. Another body from among the three people who were aboard the private plane was found Saturday floating near Pier 40. Recovery operations were suspended late Monday afternoon and were to resume Tuesday morning, when the Army Corps of Engineers plans to lift the plane, police spokesman Paul Browne said. The victims aboard the helicopter included five tourists from Bologna, Italy, part of a group of 10 Bologna-area residents who were in New York to help a couple celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, said Giovanni Castellaneta, Italy's ambassador to the United States. See where the collision occurred » The celebrating husband and one of the couple's sons were killed in the crash, but the wife skipped the sightseeing flight to go shopping, another son told Italian news media. The victims from Bologna were Michele Norelli, 51; Norelli's son Filippo Norelli, 16; Fabio Gallazzi, 49; Gallazzi's wife, Tiziana Pedroni, 44; and Gallazzi's son, Giacomo Gallazzi, 15. Michele Norelli's wife, Silvia Rigamonti, decided to visit New York stores instead of seeing its sights from above, the couple's eldest son, Davide Norelli, told Italian media. The Norellis were ecstatic to be spending their anniversary in New York, Davide Norelli told Stampa newspaper in Turin, Italy. "They used to talk about their trip at dinner with enthusiasm, of their silver anniversary and how they were going to celebrate it together. My aunt gave them the trip as a gift," the paper quotes Davide Norelli saying. Davide Norelli, 23, also told Italian media that when he saw news of the crash on Saturday, he called his mother and was relieved at first because she answered. Then came the news that his father and brother died, which he had to relay to his 92-year-old paternal grandmother. The pilot of the helicopter -- a Eurocopter AS350 -- was Jeremy Clarke, 32. He had worked for Liberty Helicopter Sightseeing Tours for about 1½ years and had logged 2,700 helicopter flight hours, Hersman said. Killed aboard the plane were the owner and pilot, Steven Altman, 60, of Ambler, Pennsylvania; his brother, Daniel Altman, 49, of Dresher, Pennsylvania; and Daniel Altman's 16-year-old son, Douglas. The National Transportation Safety Board has begun to reconstruct what happened. The Piper took off from a Philadelphia-area airfield Saturday morning and landed at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport before taking off again, this time bound for Ocean City, New Jersey. Watch why investigators are looking at the airspace » The Piper pilot spoke after takeoff with the Teterboro tower, which handed him off electronically to the Newark tower, NTSB Chairman Debbie Hersman told reporters. But the pilot never contacted the Newark tower, she said. Controllers lost contact with the plane at 11:53 a.m., when it was at an altitude of about 1,100 feet, Hersman said. Watch why investigators are looking at the airspace » The helicopter was taking the five Italians on a 12-minute sightseeing tour around New York and had taken off from a heliport in midtown Manhattan shortly before the crash, Hersman said. Hersman called the area "very complex airspace" near three major airports and a variety of other general aviation facilities. In an effort to determine just how
|
[
"When was the plane wreckage recovered?",
"What body was found?",
"How many bodies have now been recovered",
"What wife of an italian victim?",
"What was found in the submerged wreckage of the plane?",
"When was the body found"
] |
[
[
"day in which police divers worked in water"
],
[
"The man's"
],
[
"eighth body"
],
[
"Silvia Rigamonti,"
],
[
"man's body"
],
[
"Monday"
]
] |
Body found Monday in submerged wreckage of plane .
Eight bodies now located after weekend plane-helicopter collision; one missing .
Wife of Italian victim skipped helicopter flight to go shopping, son tells Italian media .
Helicopter wreckage recovered Sunday .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Fight police misconduct with a cell phone, the NAACP says. The century-old civil rights organization has launched an online reporting system that lets users upload cell phone images of alleged police abuses. The Rapid Report System also lets users send text messages and e-mails about alleged misconduct. "We know that most of police officers around the nation are excellent public servants. But the few who violate people's rights are often not held accountable," said Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP. "Research has shown that there are many barriers to reporting incidents of police misconduct, including intimidation at police departments and a lack of trust in the integrity of the system, among other reasons. This breakdown leads to an absence of public safety and a deterioration of the quality of life in many communities of color." The NAACP unveiled the online system Monday at its national convention in New York City. Users can post images from their cell phones or online. Cell phone footage has repeatedly helped spotlight alleged police misconduct in recent years. The fatal shooting of an unarmed man in Oakland, California, on New Year's Day made headlines and spread across the Internet partly because of cell phone video. The killing sparked large protests in Oakland and led to a murder charge against the transit officer.
|
[
"What was captured on phone?",
"What happens with texts and emails?",
"What did NAACP unveil?",
"when will this take effect?"
] |
[
[
"images of alleged police abuses."
],
[
"The Rapid Report System also lets users send"
],
[
"the online system"
],
[
"Monday"
]
] |
NAACP unveils new program to allow people to report alleged police misconduct .
Texts, e-mails can also be sent to document alleged police misdeeds .
Unarmed California man's shooting captured on phone garnered national attention .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Five Italian tourists visiting New York from Bologna are among the nine victims believed killed Saturday in a midair collision of a sightseeing helicopter and a single-engine plane over the Hudson River, a law enforcement source said. First responders gather on a pier after a plane and helicopter collided Saturday over the Hudson River. The tourists, who apparently died with the chopper's pilot, were part of a group of 12 visiting the United States, the source said. The helicopter was operated by Liberty Helicopter Sightseeing Tours. The bodies of two adults and one child were recovered after the collision, which occurred around noon over the Hudson between New York and Hoboken, New Jersey, authorities said. The child is believed to be one of the three people on the plane, a single-engine Piper PA-32 Saratoga that took off from New Jersey's Teterboro Airport, authorities said. A source involved in the investigation identified the pilot and owner of the plane as Steven Altman, whose brother Daniel and nephew Douglas also were among the victims. The two adult bodies, discovered underwater, are believed to be two of the Italian tourists aboard the helicopter, the law enforcement source said. The Italian Foreign Ministry said consulate officials were working with New York authorities to identify the victims. Helicopter wreckage was found in about 30 feet of water, while the plane is believed to be near the midchannel point of the Hudson in deeper water, the source said. A side-scanning sonar is being used to pinpoint the plane and has identified a possible third debris field, the source said. The search is scheduled to resume Sunday morning, Debbie Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board said at a riverside news conference late Saturday. Underwater visibility of about two feet hampered Saturday's search effort, she said. All nine people in both aircrafts are thought to have been killed in the collision, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. See where the collision occurred » "There was an accident which we do not believe was survivable," said Bloomberg, noting that the search for survivors had become a recovery mission. A temporary flight restriction over the rescue area -- about three nautical miles around and 2,000 feet up -- was put in place, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said. A witness told investigators he saw the airplane approach the helicopter from behind, Hersman said. The witness said the plane's right wing made contact with the helicopter, an American Eurocopter AS350 operated by Liberty Helicopter Sightseeing Tours, Hersman said. View images from the scene » Another Liberty pilot who was refueling at a nearby heliport told NTSB investigators that he saw the plane approach the helicopter and tried to warn the helicopter pilot, but got no response, Hersman said. "This is a VFR corridor -- that means Visual Flight Rules prevail," Hersman told reporters late Saturday. "You are supposed to be alert and see and avoid other aircraft in the vicinity." iReport.com: Police search for debris Witnesses reported seeing debris flying from the helicopter as it crashed. The helicopter wreckage has been found, but the search for the plane, single-engine Piper Saratoga PA-32, will continue Sunday morning, Hersman said at a riverside news conference. Witness Arnold Stevens said after the plane had a wing sheared off, it began "corkscrewing" into the water. The helicopter "dropped like a rock" after the collision, which happened about noon. See a series of photos from the scene » Radar contact was lost with a small plane this morning believed to be the aircraft in the crash, FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said. Ben Berman, a former investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said if the helicopter fell straight down, it's likely there was a rotor failure. Scott Schuman was with his grandparents on the Hoboken side of the river when they heard a loud bang. "The plane was kind of whirlybirding its way down, brown smoke coming out the back of it, and it crashed into the water. Then a few seconds later the helicopter with
|
[
"What sized plane was involved?",
"What nationality are the five tourists?",
"Bodies of two adults were found where?",
"Where were bodies found?",
"Where were the tourists from?",
"Who tried to warn the helicopter?",
"Where were the bodies from the helicopter found?"
] |
[
[
"single-engine"
],
[
"Italian"
],
[
"discovered underwater,"
],
[
"discovered underwater,"
],
[
"Bologna"
],
[
"Another Liberty pilot"
],
[
"Hudson River,"
]
] |
NEW: Five Italian tourists from Bologna, pilot on sightseeing copter believed dead .
Bodies of two adults from helicopter found below water, authorities say .
Authorities find body of child who was one of three on small plane in collision .
Pilot on ground tried to warn helicopter that plane was coming up from behind .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Four men were indicted Tuesday in what prosecutors said was a plot to bomb two New York City synagogues and fire surface-to-air missiles at U.S. military planes. Three of the four suspects in the alleged synagogue bombing plot are shown after their arrests. The defendants -- James Cromitie, 44; David Williams, 28; Onta Williams, 32; and Laguerre Payen, 27 -- were charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the United States, conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles and six other counts. They face a maximum penalty of life in prison. Arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday. The plot was uncovered in a yearlong investigation involving an FBI informant. It ended with federal agents and New York police used an 18-wheel truck to block a vehicle carrying the suspects after they planted what they believed were explosive devices in cars near the synagogues, said New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. The planted devices were actually duds. The four are accused of plotting to detonate explosives near two synagogues in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and seeking to fire missiles at planes at an Air National Guard base. Kelly described the plot as homegrown, with no known links to any foreign or domestic groups. At a court hearing on May 21, U.S. Magistrate Lisa Smith ordered three of the suspects -- Cromitie, David Williams and Onta Williams -- to remain in custody without bail. Prosecutor Eric Snyder described the suspects as violent men "eager to bring death to Jews." At a later hearing, the fourth suspect -- Laguerre Payen -- also was remanded without bail. Payen received medical treatment for injuries during the arrest and had a bandage over one eye at his hearing. Payen's lawyer told the hearing that her client had a history of mental instability, but Snyder, the prosecutor, said videotapes of the plotters showed Payen to be a coherent and willing participant. Payen told the judge he has prescriptions for drugs used to treat depression and conditions including bipolar disorder. Cromitie, David Williams and Onta Williams are U.S. citizens, while Payen is Haitian, according to the New York governor's office. Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the work of his city's Police Department and federal authorities in uncovering the alleged plot. "The good news here is that the New York Police Department and FBI did exactly what they're trained to do and prevented what could have been a terrible event," Bloomberg said. "We have to constantly be vigilant." "Unfortunately, this is the world we live in," said Nurit Bacharach of the Gan Miriam Early Childhood Center at the Hebrew Institute in Riverdale. "We just have to forge ahead and keep a positive mind and live life and just be cautious and aware." According to state and federal authorities, an FBI informant met with Cromitie in June 2008 in Newburgh, New York. During that meeting Cromitie said his parents live in Afghanistan, he was angry about the U.S. war there and that he had an interest in "doing something to America." The four suspects began meeting with the informant at a home equipped with concealed video and audio equipment, plotting to bomb the synagogues, authorities said. The suspects also conducted surveillance, including photographs, of an Air National Guard base where they wanted to blow up planes, authorities said. The informant provided the men with a surface-to-air guided missile and C-4 plastic explosives, none of which could actually be used. "No one was at risk," said Kelly, the police commissioner, describing the explosive devices as duds created to dupe the suspects. CNN's Laurie Segall contributed to this report
|
[
"what are four men accused of",
"what do police say",
"What were the four men accused of?",
"What did police say the informant did?",
"who does the mayor praise",
"What says Police?"
] |
[
[
"York City synagogues and fire surface-to-air missiles at U.S. military planes."
],
[
"\"No one was at risk,\""
],
[
"bomb two New"
],
[
"met with Cromitie in June 2008 in Newburgh, New York."
],
[
"Michael Bloomberg praised the work of his city's Police Department and federal authorities in uncovering the alleged plot."
],
[
"\"No one was at risk,\""
]
] |
Four men accused of plotting to bomb two synagogues, fire missiles at military jets .
Police say informant gave conspirators phony explosive devices, which they planted .
New York City mayor praises police, FBI: "We have to constantly be vigilant"
One of the suspects tells judge he has depression and bipolar disorder .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Good, but not enough, the Rev. Al Sharpton said in response to New York Post Chairman Rupert Murdoch's apology for a controversial editorial cartoon published in the newspaper. Online Wednesday, some Post readers reacted similarly.
Rev. Al Sharpton, center, leads protests against the New York Post cartoon on February 19 in New York City.
Sharpton has lead a chorus of criticism and allegations that the cartoon published Feb. 18 was racist.
He said Murdoch's apology was a "good gesture," but he still had questions.
Public debate on the issue continued to rage on the New York Post Web site early Wednesday, with some saying they were offended enough to cancel their subscriptions. Others defended the cartoon, calling it harmless and calling critics of it oversensitive.
Murdoch's "apology leaves a lot more questions than it gives answers," Sharpton said Tuesday. "The question is what will guarantee that these kinds of things will not happen again. Let us make no mistake about it: We have seen two apologies in one week -- really one and a half apologies -- which is unprecedented, but clearly not far enough."
The cartoon by Sean Delonas referenced the mauling of a Connecticut woman by a chimpanzee who was later shot and killed by police. In its caption, one of the officers says, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
The cartoon was published the day after President Obama signed the stimulus bill. Watch CNN's Lou Dobbs talk with Sharpton »
The Post issued a statement the following day, apologizing but noting that the cartoon was meant to mock what it called an "ineptly written" stimulus bill.
Many critics said the cartoon played on historically racist images by appearing to compare Obama, the nation's first black president, to the chimpanzee.
Murdoch apologized Tuesday.
"Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted," according to the statement from Murdoch, who is also chairman and CEO of News Corporation, which owns the paper.
"I can assure you -- without a doubt -- that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation.
"It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such. We all hold the readers of the New York Post in high regard, and I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community."
Leaders of the NAACP on Saturday called for the firing of Delonas.
Delonas called the controversy "absolutely friggin' ridiculous."
"Do you really think I'm saying Obama should be shot? I didn't see that in the cartoon," Delonas told CNN. iReport.com: Should Murdoch, N.Y. Post do more?
"It's about the economic stimulus bill," he added. "If you're going to make that about anybody, it would be (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi, which it's not."
|
[
"what did he apologize for",
"What did the critics say?",
"who still has questions",
"who is chairman",
"What is Rupert Murdoch's apology for?",
"where was the cartoon printed"
] |
[
[
"a controversial editorial cartoon published in the newspaper."
],
[
"the cartoon played on historically racist images by appearing to compare Obama, the nation's first black president, to the chimpanzee."
],
[
"Rev. Al Sharpton,"
],
[
"Rupert Murdoch's"
],
[
"controversial editorial cartoon"
],
[
"New York Post"
]
] |
Sharpton: Rupert Murdoch's apology is a "good gesture," but he still has questions .
Murdoch is chairman of N.Y. Post, which published chimp cartoon that created a fury .
Many critics said the cartoon played on historically racist images .
Cartoonist calls the controversy "absolutely friggin' ridiculous"
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- He says it's true. She says it's not. Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey and his wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, in 2004. Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey says he and his wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, used to engage in sexual relations with his ex-aide and driver, Teddy Pedersen. Dina Matos McGreevey has denied the allegation. The New York Post and New Jersey's Star Ledger reported online Sunday that Pedersen said he had sexual relations with the McGreeveys in the late 1990s during the couple's courtship, and after the McGreeveys' marriage in 2000. In the article, Pedersen describes trysts during which he and Jim McGreevey would both have sex with Dina Matos McGreevey, but says that, in his opinion, "me being part of their sexual relationship enhanced it for both of them." Pedersen described regularly sharing a hotel room with the McGreeveys during out-of-town business trips. In a statement issued Monday, Dina Matos McGreevey acknowledged that Pedersen had long had a "close relationship" with her former husband, but called his sexual claims "completely false." "This all has to do with the publicity I have received since [New York] Gov. [Eliot] Spitzer resigned," her statement said, alluding to her recent New York Times op-ed piece on Silda Wall Spitzer and her recent discussion of betrayed political wives on CNN's "Larry King Live." "Jim has enlisted one of his cronies in trying to distinguish that situation from his own, and to discredit me in the media," she said. In August 2004, she stood silently beside her husband while he publicly declared himself "a gay American," admitted to having an office-compromising affair with another man -- later identified as a staff member -- and announced his intention to resign. They are in the process of divorcing. Jim McGreevey Monday confirmed Pedersen's claims. "This happened, this happened in the past, and now, we need to move on with our lives," the former governor said in a written statement. "For all our sakes, particularly our daughter, we need to close this chapter and look toward the future." The statement went on to say he had removed references to the incidents Pedersen describes from an early draft of his book. "I still hope Dina and I can resolve our issues privately," it concluded. After Dina Matos McGreevey issued her refutation, Pedersen stood by his story, telling the New York Post, "Dina is still in denial. It's time for her to face the truth." E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Which former aid to Jim McGreevey accused him of sexual inpropriety",
"What Confirm Jim?",
"What says Jim?",
"What is the name of Jim McGreevey's wife who was involved in a sexual scandal",
"What does Dina Matos McGrreevey deny?",
"What does Jim McGreevey confirm?",
"In which year died Jim McGreevey announce his resignation"
] |
[
[
"Teddy Pedersen."
],
[
"Pedersen's claims."
],
[
"he and his wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, used to engage in sexual relations with his ex-aide and driver, Teddy Pedersen."
],
[
"Dina Matos"
],
[
"McGreevey, used to engage in sexual relations with his ex-aide and driver, Teddy Pedersen."
],
[
"Pedersen's claims."
],
[
"2004,"
]
] |
Former aide to Jim McGreevey says he and the couple had sexual relations .
Dina Matos McGreevey denies, says husband has "cronies" after her .
Jim McGreevey confirms aide's accounts given to reporters .
McGreeveys are in the process of divorcing; he announced resignation in '04 .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Investigators have raised the wreckage of the helicopter involved in Saturday's deadly mid-air collision over the Hudson River, but they were still looking for the small plane involved in the crash, authorities said Sunday. Divers unload a body from their raft onto a police boat Sunday. Nine people are believed dead in the crash. New York police said they believed side-scan sonar pointed them to the wreckage of the Piper Saratoga PA-32 just north of where the helicopter went down, but Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said swift current and low visibility were hindering divers. The search stopped as a storm approached Sunday evening and will resume Monday morning, police said. Nine people, including five Italian tourists, were aboard the two aircraft when they collided over the river shortly before noon Saturday. Seven bodies had been pulled out of the river by Sunday afternoon, Hersman said. Authorities believe none of the nine people aboard the two aircraft survived the crash. Neither aircraft was required to carry electronic "black boxes" that record cockpit voices and flight data on larger planes, but electronic navigational devices on board might retain some information that could help the probe, Hersman said. Investigators are trying to establish the facts of the crash but won't determine the probable cause for some time, Hersman said. See where the collision occurred » "We are looking at everything. Nothing has been ruled out at this point in time," she said. Most of the Eurocopter AS350 had been lifted out of the Hudson on Sunday and taken to a pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, across the river from Manhattan, for examination, Hersman said. The helicopter was taking the five Italians on a 12-minute sightseeing tour around New York and had taken off from a heliport in midtown Manhattan shortly before the crash, she said. Watch crews search for victims » New York police identified the pilot of the helicopter as Jeremy Clark, 32. He had worked for the operator, Liberty Helicopter Sightseeing Tours, for about a year and a half and had 2,700 helicopter flight hours, Hersman said. iReport.com: Were you there? Send images His passengers were Michele Norelli, 51; Fabio Gallazzi, 49; Filippo Norelli, 16; Giacomo Gallazzi, 15; and Tiziana Pedroni, 44, all of Bologna, Italy. The plane took off from a Philadelphia-area airfield Saturday morning, landed at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport and was bound for Ocean City, New Jersey, with three people aboard -- the owner and pilot, Steven Altman, 60, of Ambler, Pennsylvania; his brother, Daniel Altman, 49, of Dresher, Pennsylvania; and Daniel Altman's son Douglas, 16. Controllers lost contact with the plane at 11:53 a.m., when it was at an altitude of about 1,100 feet, Hersman said. View images from the scene » Hersman said the NTSB has recorded eight accidents and one "incident" involving Liberty, but Saturday's crash was the first to involve fatalities. Previous accidents included a 2007 case in which a helicopter crash-landed in the Hudson from a height of 500 feet, but without injuring passengers; a 2008 incident in which one helicopter taking off clipped another on the ground; a 2008 incident in which a pilot caused "substantial damage" to a helicopter while landing during an instructional session. In 2001, a Liberty pilot made an "improper decision" to continue flying in poor weather at night, causing the helicopter to hit trees, according to the NTSB. Marcia Horowitz, a spokeswoman for the tour operator, said Liberty executives "are cooperating fully" with investigators. "Right now, the company is focusing its efforts on cooperating with the NTSB and giving as much information as it can," Horowitz said. "At this time, their priority is to help with the family of their pilot, and of course the families that were involved in the accident." Investigators will focus on radio communications along the congested air corridor at the time of the crash and examine any pictures or video contributed
|
[
"for what reason did the search stop",
"What stopped the search on Sunday??",
"How many bodies were pulled from the water?",
"When will the search resume?",
"How many are believed to be dead?",
"How many bodies where pulled from the Hudson River?"
] |
[
[
"stopped as a storm approached"
],
[
"a storm approached"
],
[
"Seven"
],
[
"Monday morning,"
],
[
"Nine people"
],
[
"Seven"
]
] |
Seven bodies pulled from water; two others believed dead .
Search stops Sunday evening because of weather, will resume Monday .
Authorities investigating Saturday's collision of helicopter, plane over Hudson River .
Pilot on ground says he tried to warn helicopter before accident .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Just days before his death, the Brooklyn, New York, middle-school student who died from an antibiotic-resistant staph infection had visited a hospital with skin lesions and was treated with allergy medicine, according to the family's lawyer, Paul Weitz.
Omar Rivera, 12, a New York seventh-grader, died of drug-resistant staph on October 14.
Omar Rivera's mother, Aileen, took the 12-year-old boy to Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn because she had been dissatisfied with the treatment he received at a clinic, Weitz told CNN. He said the hospital treated him with Benadryl, a common anti-allergy medicine.
According to hospital spokeswoman Hope Mason, Omar did not show signs of a staph infection when he was treated at the hospital.
"I can confirm the child was brought to the emergency room after midnight on Friday, October 12. He was treated for non-MRSA-related conditions and was released," said Mason. "We will be closely examining whether more could have been done to detect the infection at that time."
MRSA is short for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and is responsible for more deaths in the United States each year than AIDS, according to new data. The germ resists all but the most powerful antibiotics.
Omar, a seventh-grader at Intermediate School 211, was pronounced dead on October 14 at Brookdale Hospital.
Twenty-five to 30 percent of the population carry the staph bacteria -- one of the most common causes of infection -- in their bodies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While such infections are typically minor, invasive MRSA infections can become fatal, because they are caused by drug-resistant staph. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Emily Kerschner and Jennifer Rizzo contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who died October 14 from infection with MRSA?",
"According to the lawyer, when did the student visit the hospital?",
"When did Rivera die?",
"Who treated skin lesions with Benadryl?",
"What was the age of Omar Rivera?",
"Who had visited hospital days before his death from staph infection?",
"who died on October 14 from a MRSA infection"
] |
[
[
"Omar Rivera,"
],
[
"Just days before his death,"
],
[
"October 14."
],
[
"the hospital"
],
[
"12,"
],
[
"Omar Rivera,"
],
[
"Omar Rivera,"
]
] |
Lawyer: Student had visited hospital days before his death from staph infection .
Hospital saw no signs of staph, treated skin lesions with Benadryl .
Omar Rivera, 12, died October 14 from infection with MRSA .
MRSA resists all but the most powerful antibiotics .
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Lillo Brancato Jr., an actor who appeared in "The Sopranos," was acquitted of the 2005 killing an off-duty New York City police officer but found guilty of attempted burglary.
Lillo Brancato Jr. appeared on "The Sopranos" and played alongside Robert De Niro in "A Bronx Tale."
Brancato, 32, was also acquitted of two counts of burglary, but could face three to 15 years in prison on the attempted burglary charge. He has already served three years, according to his attorney, Joseph Tacopina.
Police officer Daniel Enchautegui, 28, was killed trying to break up a burglary attempt at his neighbor's house in the Bronx in December 2005.
During the trial, Brancato said there was not a break-in. Brancato said he knew the owner of the home, and that he and friend Steven Armento, 51, were drinking at a strip club when they decided to go hunt for valium.
Brancato told the jury that the owner, a Vietnam veteran, gave him permission to come to his house and take painkillers or other pills whenever he wanted.
Brancato admitted to breaking a window at the home, but said it was strictly because he was going through intense heroin withdrawal that night and he said he was trying to wake up his friend to get the drugs.
When Brancato and Armento entered the home, the next door neighbor -- Enchautegui -- came outside to investigate.
That's when prosecutors said Armento shot the officer through the heart with his .357 Magnum.
Armento was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in November. The jury in that trial took less than six hours to convict Armento.
Enchautegui was shot in the chest by Armento when he interrupted the alleged robbery, but managed to shoot both suspects multiple times before dying.
"This jury spoke loud and clear, that Lillo had nothing to do with the murder of this police officer," Tacopina said.
Brancato appeared on six episodes of the hit HBO series "The Sopranos" as a wannabe mobster in 2000. As a teen, Brancato starred alongside actor Robert De Niro in "A Bronx Tale."
|
[
"What prison term does he now face?",
"What said actor about drugs?",
"what Lillo Brancato Jr. played?",
"What did Lillo Brancato Jr play on The Sopranos?",
"where Brancato faces up to 15 years?",
"What did he do as teen with Robert De Niro?",
"In which film starred Brancato?"
] |
[
[
"three to 15 years in"
],
[
"he was going through intense heroin withdrawal that night and he"
],
[
"alongside Robert De Niro in"
],
[
"a wannabe mobster"
],
[
"New York City"
],
[
"appeared on \"The Sopranos\" and played alongside"
],
[
"\"A Bronx Tale.\""
]
] |
Lillo Brancato Jr. played a wannabe mobster on "The Sopranos"
Brancato faces up to 15 years for attempted burglary conviction .
Actor said homeowner allowed him to come and get drugs when needed .
As a teen, Brancato starred alongside actor Robert De Niro in "A Bronx Tale"
|
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