Hyukkyu/superglue huggingface dataset:
Premise: (Washington, D.C.) - More babies were born in the United States last year than ever before, according to preliminary data, but it's not another baby boom just yet. About 4,315,000 children were born in 2007, about 15,000 more births than the peak time of the baby boom in 1957, said Stephanie Ventura, a demographer at the National Center for Health Statistics, which compiled the data from provisional birth certificate registrations at state health departments. "According to our provisional data, we had the highest number of births ever reported in 2007," she said.
Hypothesis: About 15,000 children of the 4,315,000 born in 2007 in the U.S. were Hispanic.
Premise: Leftist Mauricio Funes of El Salvador's former Marxist rebel FMLN party has won the country's presidential election. He defeated his conservative rival, the Arena party's Rodrigo Avila, who has admitted defeat. Arena had won every presidential election since the end of El Salvador's civil war 18 years ago. Addressing jubilant supporters, Mr Funes said it was the happiest day of his life and the beginning of a new chapter of peace for the country. Branded by his opponents as a puppet of Venezuala's President Hugo Chavez, Mr Funes vowed to respect all Salvadorian democratic institutions.
Hypothesis: Rodrigo Avila has won El Salvador's presidential election.
Premise: Most centenarians attribute their great age to some magic elixir or other. The longevity of the Italian scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini, who this week became the first Nobel Prize-winner to reach the age of 100, might be the result of a potion that is a little out of the ordinary: Professor Levi-Montalcini, it is said, puts her undiminished mental vigour down to regular doses of nerve growth factor (NGF) - the discovery that made her famous. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize for Medicine jointly with an American, Stanley Cohen, for her research into NGF: the proteins and amino-acids which enable the cells of the nervous system to grow and take on specialised tasks. Despite her age, Dr Levi-Montalcini, a neurologist and development biologist, still works every day at the European Brain Research Institute, which she founded in Rome.
Hypothesis: Rita Levi-Montalcini has never gotten married.
Premise: Rihanna's hell ride through Hollywood began when she intercepted a booty call to her boyfriend from a rival. "A three page text message" from a woman Chris Brown had "a previous sexual relationship with" popped up on his cell phone as the singer drove home with Rihanna by his side from a pre-Grammy Awards party. "A verbal argument ensued" that quickly escalated out of control, with Brown delivering a brutal and bloody beatdown of Rihanna as they hurtled through L.A. in a silver Lamborghini, according to a shocking affidavit.
Hypothesis: Rihanna's boyfriend won a Grammy Award.
Premise: A month after Gov. David A. Paterson dropped his proposal for a soda tax, New York City's health commissioner has written an article advocating "hefty" taxes on sodas and sports drinks containing sugar. Such a tax, the article said, could be the biggest boon to public health since tobacco taxes. The commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, and Kelly D. Brownell of Yale University, his co-author, argue in the New England Journal of Medicine that a tax of a penny per ounce could reduce consumption by more than 10 percent and raise $1.2 billion a year in New York State alone.
Hypothesis: Yale University is located in New England.
Premise: AT&T, the largest telecommunications company in the United States, reported on Wednesday that its first-quarter profit dipped 9.7 percent from a year ago, but cost-cutting and new customers lured by the iPhone helped beat Wall Street's expectation of a bigger drop. The company, based in Dallas, reported its net income for the quarter was $3.1 billion, or 53 cents a share, compared with $3.5 billion, or 57 cents a share, in the period a year ago. AT&T said revenue was $30.6 billion, slightly down from $30.7 billion in the quarter a year ago. Analysts had expected revenue of $31.1 billion.
Hypothesis: iPhone is a product of Apple's.
Premise: Crippa died a week ago at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, seven days after he ate a heaping plate of the deadly Amanita ocreata mushrooms, said his wife, Joan Crippa. Known as "death angel" for its snow-white appearance, the fungus has deadly toxins that worked their way through Crippa's system, sickening him and eventually causing his liver to fail. Family members had often warned Crippa against indulging in his passion for hunting wild mushrooms, an activity he learned from his Italian immigrant parents, his wife said.
Hypothesis: Crippa was killed by a wild mushroom.
Premise: Things got under way around 1:30 p.m., after Nick Goddard, who is 26 and lost his job as a computer programmer last month, showed up with a few friends. Mr. Goddard said he had hatched the idea for the Unemployment Olympics because he yearned for the chance to "battle all the unemployed people for stuff." "It's also not a bad time to be unemployed," said Mr. Goddard, who is from Rochester Hills, Mich., and lives in the East Village. "There is no stigma associated with it now."
Hypothesis: The Unemployment Olympics took place in the East Village.
Premise: One man, who did not want to be named, said: "There was a big fight - I heard it was some sort of retaliation after something else that happened earlier on." Most of Larkhall Park has been sealed off following the incident. A 100-metre stretch of Wandsworth Road, which runs along the western side of the park, has also been closed to traffic. The teenager's death brings the total number of young people to die in violent circumstances in London this year, to seven.
Hypothesis: Seven young people died in violent situations this year in London.
Premise: The pope flew by helicopter from Vatican City to a tent camp near the village of Onna, where he led a prayer in the cold and rainy weather for the hundreds killed in the April 6 quake. The camp houses hundreds of families left homeless when the magnitude-6.3 quake destroyed their homes. Residents there welcomed the pope, who kissed and hugged some of the children. "I have come here personally to this splendid and hurt land of yours, which is living days of great pain and precariousness, to express in the most direct way my kind closeness," the pope told residents. "I've followed the news with apprehension, sharing with you your consternation ... for the dead, along with your anxious worries about how much you've lost in a brief moment.
Hypothesis: The pope reached the homeless camp near Onna by helicopter.
Premise: Currently, there is no specific treatment available against dengue fever, which is the most widespread tropical disease after malaria. Sanofi Pasteur is collaborating with the Communicable Disease Center in Singapore and the Pasteur Institute in Vietnam to conduct these clinical studies in children and adults. "Controlling the mosquitoes that transmit dengue is necessary but not sufficient to fight against the disease. A safe and effective vaccine has been long awaited to prevent dengue epidemics," said Professor Leo Yee Sin, director of the Communicable Disease Center in Singapore. "Clinical studies in Singapore are critical steps to advance the development of a vaccine for the prevention of dengue in Asia. We are happy to contribute to scientific research that would benefit the entire region."
Hypothesis: Malaria is the most widespread disease transmitted by mosquitoes.
Premise: A Ugandan spy who set up a bogus charity and embezzled thousands of dollars of funding meant for Aids patients has been jailed for 10 years. Teddy Sseezi Cheeye, 51, took $56,000 (£38,000) from the Global Fund charity, which aims to prevent HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. He set up an NGO, the Uganda Centre for Accountability, which received cash in 2005 to do HIV/Aids community work. But the High Court in Kampala heard Cheeye siphoned off the funds instead.
Hypothesis: Teddy Sseezi Cheeye is an Ugandan spy.
Premise: TWO years ago, Sheik Adil Kalbani dreamed that he had become an imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest city. Waking up, he dismissed the dream as a temptation to vanity. Although he is known for his fine voice, Sheik Adil is black, and the son of a poor immigrant from the Persian Gulf. Leading prayers at the Grand Mosque is an extraordinary honor, usually reserved for pure-blooded Arabs from the Saudi heartland.
Hypothesis: Sheik Adil Kalbani is the first black man to lead prayers in Mecca.
Premise: (CBS) The world knows Philip Markoff only by his headline nickname, the "Craigslist killer," but to Morgan Houston, he is more than a suspect or a defendant. To her, Markoff was a classmate and a friend - someone she thought she knew. "I thought he was very nice," she tells 48 Hours Mystery correspondent Richard Schlesinger. "He was dorky, but so many of us are. I mean, I can be a big dork, too. So, you can't hold that against him." Houston first heard that her college friend had been arrested from another friend on the social networking Web site, Facebook.
Hypothesis: Philip Markoff is a medicine student at the Boston University School of Medicine.
Premise: Washington - Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire mogul and major shareholder in General Motors Corp., said Friday that automakers Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. are interested in purchasing a significant stake in GM and including the Detroit automaker in their alliance. Kerkorian's investment company, Tracinda Corp., told GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner in a letter that Renault and Nissan are receptive to the idea of including General Motors in their partnership and purchasing "a significant minority interest" in the automaker.
Hypothesis: The major shareholder of General Motors is Kirk Kerkorian.
Premise: Detroit — A federal judge upheld the right of a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper reporter to invoke the Fifth Amendment when he refused in court Tuesday to reveal his sources in a 2004 story about a terrorism prosecutor. David Ashenfelter of the Detroit Free Press appeared at the federal courthouse to be questioned in a deposition sought by Richard Convertino. The ex-prosecutor is suing the U.S. Justice Department over a leak that led to a Free Press story about an internal ethics investigation, and he wants to know the reporter's sources.
Hypothesis: The Fifth Amendment is about terrorism.
Premise: The exact figure is unknown, although some estimate it to be in the thousands. This is despite the fact that Falun Gong is not officially allowed by the Vietnamese authorities. The regime clearly does not want Falun Gong to be another potential point of conflict in the already tangled bilateral relationship with China. But organising meetings is becoming easier, and group meditation can now be seen in public locations. In Thong Nhat Park in central Hanoi, a dozen men and women are united in a group breathing exercise, their arms tracing arcs through the early morning mist. They look serene and undisturbed, but it has not always been the case.
Hypothesis: Falun Gong is a spiritual movement.
Premise: The News of the World, Britain's biggest-selling newspaper, said the 26-year-old royal, who is second in line to the throne, unwittingly spoke to their reporter in a nightclub. The prince gives away little when speaking publicly. William also said his brother Prince Harry was missing his ex-lover Chelsy Davy, while giving away no clues about whether he might marry his own girlfriend Kate Middleton. Harry, 24, served with the British Army in Afghanistan for 77 days with the Household Cavalry regiment until a reporting embargo broke down in February 2008.
Hypothesis: Prince Harry is 26 years old.
Premise: CASABLANCA, Morocco - This seaside city is known as a rich stockpile of art deco architecture, the hub of Morocco's economic growth and the setting of an all-time classic movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. But Casablanca is also the capital of a bleaker aspect of modern Morocco — sprawling slums, where huge families are packed into shanties with tin roofs rusted by the ocean winds, and goats and donkeys munch stray garbage. "It's as if we're eating straight from the gutter," said Mina Abujaman, 48, describing the squalor.
Hypothesis: Humphrey Bogart was 48 when starred in Casablanca.
Premise: Swampscott - Almost as if leading parallel careers with the 19th-century Brontë sisters are the 21st-century Ephron sisters. While Charlotte Brontë wrote "Jane Eyre," Emily wrote "Wuthering Heights" and Anne wrote "Agnes Grey." In the Ephron family, Nora wrote "Silkwood," "Heartburn," "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle," while Delia wrote "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and co-wrote "Michael" and "You've Got Mail" with Nora — all while Amy wrote six acclaimed novels. Amy Ephron's latest novel, "One Sunday Morning," is a bestseller, and film producer Jerry Bruckheimer recently bought her national bestseller, "A Cup of Tea."
Hypothesis: Wuthering Heights was written by Emily Brontë.
Premise: BEIJING — China has rejected Coca-Cola Co.'s $2.3 billion bid to buy a major Chinese juice producer, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Wednesday. The ruling is the first of its kind since China promulgated its anti-monopoly law last August.The proposed purchase was rejected on anti-monopoly grounds, MOC said on its website. "The bid may harm competition...in China's beverage market." The purchase of China Huiyuan Juice Group, the nation's largest juice maker, would have been the biggest foreign acquisition of a Chinese company to date.
Hypothesis: Coca-Cola buys Huiyuan Juice Group.
Premise: A SCUBA diver has died during a visit to a historic ship sunk off the Port Phillip Bay heads. The Geelong man, 49, was with a group of six on a diving expedition to explore the SS Coogee shipwreck when he collapsed. The experienced diver, who had explored the scuttled steamer 25 times before, was teamed with two other divers when disaster struck. About 11am yesterday, within minutes of entering the 13C water, he floated to the surface. Police say that on reaching the shipwreck the two other divers did not immediately notice he was missing because of the poor visibility at that depth.
Hypothesis: The scuba diver who died in Port Phillip Bay was 25 years old.
Premise: A Japanese pop singer who was arrested for public indecency after being found drunk and naked in a Tokyo park has apologised for his "shameful" conduct. "I drank a lot and did not know what I was doing," Tsuyoshi Kusanagi said on Friday after being released by police. "I deeply apologise to fans for causing so much trouble and worry," he added. Kusanagi, 34, shot to fame as a member of 1980s boy band SMAP. He has not been charged for the incident, which took place in the early hours of Thursday.
Hypothesis: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi is a pop star.
Premise: Dramatic footage obtained by the Guardian shows that the man who died at last week's G20 protests in London was attacked from behind and thrown to the ground by a baton-wielding police officer in riot gear. Moments after the assault on Ian Tomlinson was captured on video, he suffered a heart attack and died. The Guardian has handed a dossier of evidence to the police complaints watchdog. It sheds new light on the events surrounding the death of the 47-year-old newspaper seller, who had been on his way home from work when he was confronted by lines of riot police near the Bank of England.
Hypothesis: Ian Tomlinson was a police officer.
Premise: MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he alone rules Russia and not former President Vladimir Putin, in unusually direct language during an interview with the BBC aired on Sunday. Analysts have been sceptical of Medvedev's ability to govern independently of Putin while polls show most Russians think the former President is still the real power in the country. "I am the leader of this state, I am the head of this state, and the division of power is based on this," Medvedev said. Medvedev made no direct reference to the so-called power tandem between himself and Putin, now Russia's Prime Minister.
Hypothesis: Putin was the President of Russia.
Premise: Mr Bouton has faced rising criticism ever since the bank said rogue trader Jerome Kerviel had lost 4.9bn euros ($6.5bn; £4.4bn) at the start of 2008. SocGen then needed a 1.7bn-euro loan from the government in December because of the impact of the credit crisis. Last month, SocGen bosses gave up their annual bonuses following public anger. Mr Bouton, who admitted that "like any manager I have certainly made mistakes", will now stand down on 6 May.
Hypothesis: Daniel Bouton is the chairman of Societe Generale.
Premise: Early iterations of the 3D Internet have been a hit. Virtual world Second Life, created by Linden Lab, hosts 1 million users a month, up from 544,313 a year ago. Cooliris makes software that lets users view photos, video, and Web pages in 3D. "We solve the problem of navigating large amounts of content," says co-founder Austin Shoemaker, 25, who is also among the Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs finalists. The free Cooliris iPhone app has been downloaded 800,000 times since last fall. The company also makes versions for PC browsers. In March, the Cooliris software was used to display baby pictures on the TV talk show Live with Regis and Kelly. Earlier this month, Cooliris closed a $15.5 million round of funding headed by Kleiner Perkins.
Hypothesis: Last year there were about 550 thousands players on Second Life.
Premise: The Pritzker jury praised Mr. Zumthor's use of materials. "In Zumthor's skillful hands, like those of the consummate craftsman, materials from cedar shingles to sandblasted glass are used in a way that celebrates their own unique qualities, all in the service of an architecture of permanence," the citation said, adding, "In paring down architecture to its barest yet most sumptuous essentials, he has reaffirmed architecture's indispensable place in a fragile world." Mr. Zumthor said that his projects generally originated with materials. "I work a little bit like a sculptor," he said. "When I start, my first idea for a building is with the material. I believe architecture is about that. It's not about paper, it's not about forms. It's about space and material."
Hypothesis: The Pritzker Prize is the highest recognition for an architect.
Premise: A South Korean official expressed doubts over United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's apparent support for a permanent Security Council seat for Japan, and attention has been drawn to widespread mistrust of Japan by Chinese - although the Chinese government has not commented directly against Japan.
Hypothesis: China won't receive money from Japan.
Premise: McDonald's has announced slightly higher profits in the first three months of the year as people look for value meals during the recession. Profits at the the US fast-food giant, the world's largest hamburger chain, rose 4% to $979.5m (£676m) from $946.1m in the same period last year. The company also said that sales so far in April were strong. Last month, McDonald's warned that the strong dollar and high commodity prices would squeeze first quarter revenues.
Hypothesis: McDonald's is the world's largest hamburger chain.
Premise: Wearing a black suit with a red tie and pocket square, Phil Spector showed no reaction as the verdict was announced. Now 69, he faces a sentence of 18 years to life in prison when he is sentenced May 29. Asked if he agreed to the sentencing date, Spector quietly answered, "Yes." Prosecutor Alan Jackson said he believed the jury reached the correct verdict, and he acknowledged the strength and backing of Clarkson's family. But defense attorney Doron Weinberg said Spector's defense team disagreed and planned to appeal.
Hypothesis: Phil Spector is related to the Clarkson family.
Premise: Napoli will not sign Fabio Cannavaro in the summer once the veteran defender becomes a free agent. The Italy captain whose contract with Real Madrid expires at the end of the season, is looking for a club and has been linked with a move to Manchester City. However, 35-year-old Cannavaro will not be granted the opportunity to end his career with his home club Napoli. "Cannavaro will not come to Napoli," said Napoli club president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
Hypothesis: Cannavaro is 35 years old.
Premise: Leftist Mauricio Funes of El Salvador's former Marxist rebel FMLN party has won the country's presidential election. He defeated his conservative rival, the Arena party's Rodrigo Avila, who has admitted defeat. Arena had won every presidential election since the end of El Salvador's civil war 18 years ago. Addressing jubilant supporters, Mr Funes said it was the happiest day of his life and the beginning of a new chapter of peace for the country. Branded by his opponents as a puppet of Venezuala's President Hugo Chavez, Mr Funes vowed to respect all Salvadorian democratic institutions.
Hypothesis: In El Salvador Mauricio Funes has defeated Rodrigo Avila.
Premise: The company also faced shortages of skilled riveters, the archives showed. Dr. McCarty said that for a half year, from late 1911 to April 1912, when the Titanic set sail, the company's board discussed the problem at every meeting. For instance, on Oct. 28, 1911, Lord William Pirrie, the company's chairman, expressed concern over the lack of riveters and called for new hiring efforts. In their research, the scientists, who are metallurgists, found that good riveting took great skill. The iron had to be heated to a precise cherry red color and beaten by the right combination of hammer blows. Mediocre work could hide problems.
Hypothesis: Titanic sank in 1912.
Premise: A SCUBA diver has died during a visit to a historic ship sunk off the Port Phillip Bay heads. The Geelong man, 49, was with a group of six on a diving expedition to explore the SS Coogee shipwreck when he collapsed. The experienced diver, who had explored the scuttled steamer 25 times before, was teamed with two other divers when disaster struck. About 11am yesterday, within minutes of entering the 13C water, he floated to the surface. Police say that on reaching the shipwreck the two other divers did not immediately notice he was missing because of the poor visibility at that depth.
Hypothesis: The scuba diver who died in Port Phillip Bay came from Geelong.
Premise: The fishermen are protesting catch quotas they call too low for them to earn a living. They say they plan to continue blocking the northern French ports indefinitely. The European Union sets annual quotas in an effort to protect and revive dwindling fish stocks. Member countries negotiate each country's share of the total catch. "The immediate opening of supplementary catch quotas, for sole and cod, is vital for the future of small fishermen" in the region, Jacky Henin, former mayor of Calais and a European parliament member, said Wednesday. The French government said it may consider providing financial support to the fishing industry, but called the quotas reasonable.
Hypothesis: French fishermen protest against EU fishing quotas.
Premise: Alistair Darling will not raise the amount of cash he wants from the new 50p income tax rate because high earners will find ways to avoid paying it, experts say. The Chancellor revealed in his Budget that borrowing this year would soar to a record £175bn as the government tries to "grow" its way out of recession. Mr Darling confirmed that the UK was in the grip of the deepest slump since the Second World War, with the economy set to shrink by 3.5% in 2009 - more than double his previous forecast.
Hypothesis: Alistair Darling is chancellor.
Premise: LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Starbucks Corp Wednesday posted slightly better-than-expected quarterly profit as cost savings helped offset an 8% drop in same-store sales. The coffee chain, which has been slashing costs to compensate for dwindling customer visits, had announced plans to close almost 1,000 stores around the world as the worst recession in decades drove consumers to tighten their belts. During the second quarter, Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) said it cut costs by $120 million, better than its target of $100 million, and that sales at restaurants open at least 13 months declined at a slower pace than the 9% drop recorded in the first quarter.
Hypothesis: Starbucks is a US coffee giant.
Premise: The pilot of an Indonesian plane that crashed at an airport on Java island, killing 21 people, has been jailed for two years for criminal negligence. An inquiry found that Capt Marwoto Komar had approached the runway too fast and landed at too steep an angle. The Boeing 737 skidded off the runway and burst into flames on 7 March 2007. This is the first time a pilot has faced criminal charges in Indonesia, and the trial has attracted a lot of media attention.
Hypothesis: Capt Marwoto Komar has been jailed for 21 years.
Premise: This winter's ski season in Europe and the US has been stunning — the snow arrived early, fell in heaps, and is still falling in many places. Only last weekend an extraordinary 4ft snowfall across Colorado and Wyoming left hundreds of drivers stranded on freeways and brought down power lines. But the future of skiing in many resorts hangs in the balance. The world's highest ski run has closed after running out of snow over several years — the Chacaltaya ski area in Bolivia stood at 5,300m (17,388ft) on a glacier. Skiing was established at Chacaltaya 70 years ago with Lake Titicaca on the horizon, and about 14 years ago could boast a ski run 12m (40ft) deep in snow. Bolivia even had its own Winter Olympics team until 1992.
Hypothesis: Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border between Bolivia and Peru.
Premise: The same mindset that led to these over-the-top punishments was apparently at play in the strip search of a 13-year-old student by Safford, Ariz., school officials in 2003. They were trying to find out whether she had prescription-strength ibuprofen tablets — the equivalent of a couple of Advils hidden in her bra or panties, in violation of the "no drugs" policy. No pills were found. Savana Redding, then an eighth-grader and now 19, was so humiliated she never went back to the school. Her mother sued the school district and the administrator involved. On Tuesday, the case reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, where the justices will determine whether school officials violated Redding's constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and whether she can hold them personally financially responsible.
Hypothesis: Savana Redding was strip-searched at school six years ago.
Premise: Norway's premier, Jens Stoltenberg, issued a curt "We lost a referendum on the EU and so it is not on the agenda now." Oslo has held two referendums on the matter, one in 1974 after negotiating an accession agreement and another in 1994. Both times membership was narrowly rejected. Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said that as part of the coalition agreement her centre-left Social Democratic Alliance had signed with the far-left Left Green Movement, the current caretaker government would not apply for membership of the EU. "But let's see what happens after the elections," she said. "At the same time, we need 30,000 Icelanders to demand a referendum."
Hypothesis: Johanna Sigurdardottir belongs to the Icelandic Social Democratic Alliance.
Premise: Starbucks was one of the first companies to recognize the United States was in a recession when it halted its expansion plans last July. Still sensitive to the spending habits of consumers, the company has not glimpsed an end to that recession. Howard D. Schultz, Starbucks' chief executive, told investors Wednesday after announcing that the company's second-quarter net income had dropped 77 percent that, "The global economy continues to be weak." He also said, "We did not see any improvement in U.S. consumer spending in Q2," and added that he was not expecting any improvement in 2009.
Hypothesis: Starbucks is an investment company.
Premise: Giampaolo Giuliani told locals to evacuate their houses and posted a video on YouTube in which he said a build-up of radon gas around the seismically active area of Abruzzo suggested a major earthquake was imminent. Several tremors had been felt in the medieval city of L'Aquila, 60 miles north-east of Rome, since mid-January, and vans with loudspeakers had reportedly driven around the city spreading the warning. But instead of heeding the advice of Mr Giuliani, local authorities reported him to police for "spreading alarm" and he was told to remove his findings from the internet.
Hypothesis: Giampaolo Giuliani works at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory.
Premise: The Unemployment Olympics are the hastily planned brainchild of Nick Goddard, a gangly, angular man in small glasses and a navy blazer who runs from one event to the other, herding the 30-some-odd contestants around like an inexperienced babysitter at a children's birthday party. The former computer programmer has been without a job for less than two months and says the idea for the four-event competition — Telephone toss, Payday piñata, Pin-the-Blame-on-the-Boss and the "You're Fired!" race — just popped into his head one night. "Normally you think of things like this but never do them," he says, "but I have so much free time right now, I decided to go for it." He built a rudimentary website, contacted local news outlets, and then watched in amazement as his email's inbox filled with hopeful participants.
Hypothesis: Pin-the-Blame-on-the-Boss is one of the events of the Unemployment Olympics.
Premise: Overall, the Southeast has the highest cancer death rate as researchers persist in looking for reasons, said Jennifer Pietenpol, director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. She said technology, education and outreach will curb deaths, but funding and staff are also part of the equation. Pietenpol said the National Cancer Institute stands to receive $1.3 billion in stimulus package funds. "We have to look beyond a stimulus package," she said. "Cancer is not waiting for a stimulus package. There is clearly not enough money for every research."
Hypothesis: The National Cancer Institute is the federal government's main cancer research entity.
Premise: PARIS — Julius Meinl V, the scion of a Viennese business dynasty whose name has been synonymous since the days of the Hapsburgs with luxuries like exotic coffee, handmade tortes and discreet private banking, has been jailed on suspicion of fraud at a company linked to the family. Prosecutors accused Mr. Meinl of artificially bolstering shares of the real estate company Meinl European Land on the Vienna stock exchange, even as its investments in real estate across Eastern and Central Europe cratered.
Hypothesis: Mr. Meinl owns a Falcon jet that he flies himself.
Premise: At least 14 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in southern Sri Lanka, police say. The telecoms minister was among about 35 people injured in the blast at the town of Akuressa, 160km (100 miles) south of the capital, Colombo. Government officials were attending a function at a mosque to celebrate an Islamic holiday at the time. The defence ministry said the blast was carried out by Tamil Tiger rebels but no-one has yet admitted responsibility. The Sri Lankan government has strongly condemned the attack. It urged people to remain calm and not to be provoked.
Hypothesis: 35 government officials were injured by a suicide bomber in Akuressa.
Premise: For weeks now, I've been hearing chatter that Disney was close to doing a distribution deal with Hulu. Disney would give Hulu exclusive access to at least some of its online video in exchange for an equity stake alongside GE's (GE) NBC and News Corp.'s (NWS) Fox. And accompanying said chatter was this refrain: Why? The puzzlement comes from video players who don't work at NBC, Fox or Hulu, and who can't see the upside in Disney CEO Bob Iger throwing in his lot with Hulu.
Hypothesis: Bob Iger is the CEO of Disney.
Premise: Shown on a test run with President Obama in the White House on March 15, 2009, the black-and-white Portuguese water dog is a gift to President Obama's daughters Malia and Sasha from Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who also owns Portuguese water dogs. Despite their lapdog looks, Portuguese water dogs are classified as working dogs. That means the pups seem to enjoy being given jobs that allow them to display their intelligence, strength, and stamina. "This breed possesses a lot of energy, so without training or a job to do, the dog may entertain itself by running full-speed down the West Wing or barking at Republicans," said animal behaviorist Mary Burch of the American Kennel Club.
Hypothesis: Bo is the new dog of President Obama.
Premise: In a sense Italy has never lost the art of la dolce vita: that is why millions of tourists go there every year, to discover (or rediscover) the leisurely lunch and the contemplation of beauty. But Mr Petrini, who founded Slow Food in 1986 as a reaction to the arrival of McDonald's near the Spanish Steps in Rome, began his campaign out of fear that the Mediterranean way of life was being eroded by alien habits, such as a sandwich at the desk instead of lunch. "We are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, invades the privacy of our homes, and forces us to eat Fast Foods," he wrote.
Hypothesis: Petrini is the founder of McDonalds.
Premise: (CBS/AP) A middle-aged volunteer church worker with the voice of an angel is Britain's latest unlikely showbiz star. Susan Boyle, 47, wowed judges and audience alike when she performed on the television contest "Britain's Got Talent." When Boyle stepped on stage she told the show's judges, "I'm nearly 48, currently unemployed but still looking..." But not likely unemployed for much longer, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips. By Wednesday morning, a video clip of Boyle's performance on YouTube had been viewed more than 5 million times.
Hypothesis: Susan Boyle is a contestant on "Britain's Got Talent".
Premise: MOSCOW — Authorities in Dubai said Sunday that they believed the murder of Sulim B. Yamadayev, a former Chechen general, had been planned by a member of Russia's lower house of Parliament who is a well-known ally of the Chechen president. At a news conference, Dubai's chief of police, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan bin Tamim, said that he would ask Interpol to arrest the member of Parliament, Adam S. Delimkhanov, and that it was "Russia's responsibility in front of the world to control these killers from Chechnya."
Hypothesis: Sulim B. Yamadayev was a Chechen general.
Premise: Mexico's new president, Felipe Calderon, seems to be doing all the right things in cracking down on Mexico's drug traffickers. He's appointed new people to key military and criminal justice positions, deployed troops to quell drug violence, reasserted federal police power, extradited a few major traffickers to the United States, and given a green light to legislation clarifying Mexico's drug laws. But all this provides little reason to hope that Mexico has really turned a corner in its efforts to control the illegal drug trade. For a guide to what's in store, one need only look at past sexenios (the six year terms of Mexican presidents).
Hypothesis: Felipe Calderon is the outgoing President of Mexico.
Premise: DETROIT — The Treasury Department is directing Chrysler to prepare a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing as soon as next week, people with direct knowledge of the talks said Thursday. The company faces a deadline of April 30 to come up with a viable business plan supported by its creditors, the United Automobile Workers union, and Fiat, the Italian car company that wants to acquire a stake in Chrysler. The Obama administration has told Chrysler it will provide up to $6 billion in new financing, on top of the $4 billion in loans it has already given the company, if Chrysler can complete a deal by next Thursday with a cost structure that gives it a chance of survival. The creditors have so far balked at the terms suggested by the Treasury.
Hypothesis: Fiat wants to gain possession of a stake in Chrysler.
Premise: Updated The Senate confirmation of Governor Kathleen Sebelius, — who would be the final member to join the Obama Cabinet, as secretary of Health and Human Services — hit more snags on Thursday because of Republican opposition. It's increasingly likely that her nomination will face a procedural hurdle requiring 60 votes, before final approval, at the earliest next week. The Majority Leader, Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, tried unsuccessfully to get unanimous consent to confirm Ms. Sebelius. But after a 15-8 vote out of the Senate Finance Committee earlier this week, it had already been pretty clear that a smooth path to confirmation wasn't likely.
Hypothesis: Kathleen Sebelius comes from Nevada.
Premise: Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, and their 10-member staff are visiting Rome and Venic, and t Berlin before they return to Britain. The plane is said to contain a master suite and private bathroom, and costs more than $116,000 to charter. Prince Charles and his wife met today with the Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican to talk about the environment. The prince's spokesperson at Clarence House told ABC News that the prince was scheduled to fly on a Royale Air Force jet for his European tour, but the plane suddenly became "unserviceable" Friday, the day before the trip was to start, and he was .
Hypothesis: Benedict XVI is the current Pope.
Premise: Americans, however, aren't the only ones who began 2009 with a landmark inauguration. Iceland swore in Johanna Sigurdardottir on Sunday as not only the country's first female prime minister, but also the world's first openly queer head of government. It is difficult to make a perfect comparison between Iceland's situation and our own; Iceland's population is less than a one-hundredth of ours, and because of their parliamentary system, Sigurdardottir was never popularly elected. But that doesn't mean we can't ask, in a return to our initial speculation, "What's coming next for America?" One of the best places to begin to unravel this puzzle is, interestingly, with the Republican Party. Since the 1960s, the Republican Party has catered to an almost exclusively white base and has incorporated relatively few politicians from minority backgrounds.
Hypothesis: Johanna Sigurdardottir is Republican.
Premise: A reward of $2m (£1.37m) each will be paid to informers who help arrest Mexico's 24 most-wanted drug gang chiefs, the attorney general has said. Correspondents say the most-wanted list is a public challenge to the cartels. Some 8,000 people have died in the past two years, as drug gangs fight for territory amid government crackdowns. US and Mexican agencies are increasing their co-operation as the gang violence spills over the border, where kidnaps and killings are on the rise.
Hypothesis: The reward for informers in Mexico is 2 million dollars.
Premise: PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Paul Collier, a leading poverty guru, spent a recent morning here waxing positive about how the world's economic freefall might prove the perfect moment for Haiti to sell more exports like T-shirts and mangoes to Americans. His improbable enthusiasm coincided with appearances by a bevy of luminaries descending on Haiti this month, including Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, and the entire Security Council. All of them came to stress that this destitute nation stands at a crossroads between salvation and "the darkness," as Mr. Ban put it.
Hypothesis: Paul Collier is the United Nations Secretary General.
Premise: It was one of the most gruesome crimes this northern Colorado farming town has seen. The man accused of killing Ms. Zapata, Allen R. Andrade, 32, told the police that he had attacked her upon discovering that she was biologically a man, after the two met on the Internet and had a sexual encounter. In a chilling arrest affidavit, Mr. Andrade said he thought he had "killed it," after striking Ms. Zapata in the head until she stopped breathing. Now, Mr. Andrade stands accused of first-degree murder, in what national gay rights groups say is the first trial in which a hate-crime statute has been used to prosecute the killing of a transgender person.
Hypothesis: Angie Zapata has been killed with a fire extinguisher.
Premise: WEARE, N.H. — The black flies were swarming outside Justice David H. Souter's house on a dirt road here last week, and the house itself — with peeling paint, rotting wood and tattered shades pulled low — looked only slightly more seductive than a mud hut. Yet to Justice Souter, who told President Obama last week that he would retire from the Supreme Court in June and return to rural New Hampshire at the relatively young age of 69, this is apparently heaven. In this town of stone walls and bumpy roads, he can climb nearby mountains, jog unnoticed and, one can imagine, read by candlelight amid the piles of books said to dominate his house.
Hypothesis: President Obama has a house in New Hampshire.
Premise: VATICAN CITY - When Pope Benedict XVI embarks on his first trip to Africa as pontiff on Tuesday, traveling to Cameroon and Angola, he will be visiting the future of the Roman Catholic Church, if not its present. With one of the world's largest Catholic populations, estimated at 158 million, Africa is the continent where the church is at once strong - in terms of sheer numbers and devotional vitality - and weak, inevitably touched by the poverty, corruption, conflict and disease afflicting the larger society.
Hypothesis: Africa is estimated to have a 158-million Catholic population.
Premise: EVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Here's a new economic indicator: the diminishing level of glamour on Paris Hilton's reality TV show. Contestants in season two of "Paris Hilton's My New BFF" are living in a mansion that costs half as much as the home the show rented last season. Trips to New York and Tokyo are out this year, as the show's production budget has been cut 10 percent. With the recession eating into advertising revenue at TV networks, a popular solution has emerged — even cheaper reality TV.
Hypothesis: Paris Hilton is an heiress.
Premise: First runner-up Carrie Prejean (Miss California) was asked about legalizing same-sex marriage from judge Perez Hilton, the Internet blogger behind perezhilton.com. "I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody there. But that's how I was raised and that's how I think it should be," Prejean said during Sunday night's live telecast. Hilton was visibly upset, and there was a mixed reaction from the live audience. Prejean ultimately came up short, losing the title to Miss North Carolina, Kristen Dalton.
Hypothesis: Carrie Prejean was a contestant in Miss USA.
Premise: Hours after the North's announcement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its inspectors had been ordered out. North Korea "informed IAEA inspectors in the Yongbyon facility that it is immediately ceasing all cooperation with the IAEA," Marc Vidricaire, spokesman for the UN nuclear watchdog, told reporters. "It has requested the removal of all containment and surveillance equipment, following which IAEA inspectors will no longer be provided access to the facility. The inspectors have also been asked to leave the DPRK at the earliest possible time."
Hypothesis: North Korea expelled international nuclear inspectors.
Premise: The trial against Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay is coming to an end, with the four defendents saying they're "confident we are going to win". Co-founder Peter Sunde is on trial with three co-defendents charged with "assisting in making available copyright material." A higher charge of "assisting copyright infringement" was dropped on the second day of the trial. But even if they are found guilty, it won't have any consequences for the operation of the site and its millions of users.
Hypothesis: The site thepiratebay.org is one of the most visited BitTorrent destinations in the world.
Premise: Panetta told agency employees in an e-mail Thursday that the secret prisons are no longer used and the CIA is making plans to permanently shutter them. But the CIA can still hold prisoners temporarily. Panetta says if more prisoners are taken, they will be interrogated by agency employees and handed over quickly to their home country or a country with a legal claim. The Washington Post reported in November, 2005 that the CIA has maintained secret prisons, also known as "black sites" in at least eight foreign countries since shortly after the 9/11 attacks.
Hypothesis: Panetta is the director of the CIA.
Premise: NEW YORK (MYFOX NATIONAL) - New York City's Tompkins Square Park was the site of immigrant unemployment protests and labor conflict in the late 1800s . Now it's going to be the host of the Unemployment Olympics . The brainchild of laid-off computer programmer Nick Goddard, the event will take place on Tuesday afternoon and feature unemployed "athletes" participating in events such as the Fax Machine Toss, the "You're Fired" race and Pin the Blame on the Bosses. The 40 participants must show proof of unemployment — an unemployment card, a letter from the employer or an unemployment packet.
Hypothesis: The Unemployment Olympics will take place in New York City.
Premise: GORDONVILLE, Pa. - On a frosty March morning, with the stubble of last year's corn still in the fields, thousands of bargain-hunters flooded yesterday into a crossroads a mile from Paradise. For one day, the village of Gordonville (population: a couple of hundred) became maybe the biggest town in Pennsylvania's Amish country. Hundreds of Amish men in straw hats and Amish women in white head coverings joined thousands of "English" from as far as Texas in the bidding for a panoply of items, including birdhouses, antique desks, farm implements, quilts, bathtubs, horses, and mules.
Hypothesis: The biggest Amish community is in Pennsylvania.
Premise: Mr. Berlusconi promises to rebuild Onna again, as it was rebuilt after being overrun by the Nazis. Onna has become a symbol of the destruction wrought by the April 6 earthquake that killed 296 people in the central Abruzzo region. About 40 of Onna's 300 residents died. Mr. Berlusconi said on Saturday that Italians should remember with respect the partisans who fought Fascism but also those who died fighting on "the wrong side." Liberation Day marks the 1945 start of an anti-Nazi partisan uprising that ended with Italy's Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini being shot.
Hypothesis: Onna is an Italian village destroyed by the earthquake in April.
Premise: India has higher rates of malnourished children than sub-Saharan Africa, despite having the money to tackle the problem, according to a survey that raises grave questions about the country's economic rise Almost 46 per cent of Indian children under the age of 3 suffer from malnutrition, according to the survey by the Indian Health Ministry in conjunction with Unicef, the United Nations children's agency. That compares with about 35 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa and only 8 per cent in China, whose economic growth India strives to emulate. It also represents only a slight decrease since the last National Family Health Survey in India seven years ago showed that 47 per cent of its children were mal-nourished.
Hypothesis: India has higher malnutrition rates than China.
Premise: The UN human rights rapporteur John Dugard, a South African legal scholar, has compared the situation in the Occupied Territories to Apartheid. His successor Richard Falk, an American Jew and a leading authority on International law, called the situation a "prelude to genocide". Gaza, he said, was "slouching towards a holocaust" insofar as the situation expressed vividly "a deliberate intention on the part of Israel and its allies to subject an entire human community to life-endangering conditions of utmost cruelty". Falk accused Israel of bringing Gaza to the "brink of collective starvation", imposing "a sub-human existence" on a people "repeatedly and systematically" victimized.
Hypothesis: Richard Falk has compared the situation in Gaza to the Holocaust.