Hyukkyu/superglue huggingface dataset:
Premise: Michael Moore's anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 has won best film at the US People's Choice Awards, voted for by the US public.
Hypothesis: Filmmaker Michael Moore was all smiles after winning top honors at the People's Choice Awards.
Premise: Commandos stormed a school Friday in southern Russia and battled separatist rebels holding hundreds of hostages as crying children, some naked and covered in blood, fled the building through explosions and gunfire.
Hypothesis: Women escaping the building were seen fainting and were carried away on stretchers.
Premise: Joachim Johansson held off a dramatic fightback from defending champion Andy Roddick, to reach the semi-finals of the US Open on Thursday night.
Hypothesis: Defending champion Andy Roddick took on Joachim Johansson.
Premise: Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen said yesterday that it was too early to say whether it was a terrorist organisation or a single person acting alone, but added the bomb was "built to cause maximum damage".
Hypothesis: Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen said the government was investigating whether the attack may have been linked to terrorism.
Premise: The holy Shiite city south of Baghdad was ravaged by fighting Thursday and Friday between American forces and radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia that left scores dead.
Hypothesis: Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia and U.S. forces have been fighting.
Premise: Long-distance telephone company MCI Inc. on Friday touted its $6.75 billion deal to be bought by Verizon Communications Inc., but said it would thoroughly analyze a revised $8 billion bid by Qwest Communications International Inc.
Hypothesis: MCI said it would thoroughly review the Qwest offer.
Premise: The model for the new network is an existing system in the Pacific, which was established in 1965 and now provides early tsunami warnings to 26 nations.
Hypothesis: The key is laying the foundation for an Indian Ocean tsunami early warning system.
Premise: The BBC has apologised for incorrectly broadcasting figures which suggested more Iraqi civilians had been killed by coalition and Iraqi forces than by insurgents.
Hypothesis: The BBC apologises over Iraqi figures.
Premise: California's Supreme Court has rejected a request from the state's attorney general to stop gay weddings and declare invalid over 3,400 same-sex marriages.
Hypothesis: California's Attorney General asked the state Supreme Court to halt any further gay marriages.
Premise: After meeting officials from groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad,  Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said commanders had agreed on a plan to ensure security and order.
Hypothesis: Qureia met in Gaza with the heads of Palestinian factions.
Premise: Rescuers using shovels, high-tech cameras and their bare hands to search the rubble of a California mudslide found the bodies of three children and a woman before dawn Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 10.
Hypothesis: The bodies of a mother and three young children were pulled from the rubble.
Premise: After just four days on the job: Wally Backman was fired Friday as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks because of two arrests and financial problems he kept from the team.
Hypothesis: Backman filed for bankruptcy.
Premise: U.S. helicopters rescued dozens of desperate and weak tsunami survivors Monday as the American military relief operation reached out to remote areas of Indonesia with cartons of food and water.
Hypothesis: Indonesian helicopters brought much-needed supplies.
Premise: About 1.75 million Palestinians are eligible to cast ballots in the election tomorrow to replace Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, the president of the Palestinian Authority who died Nov. 11.
Hypothesis: Palestinians are eligible to vote.
Premise: The fourth quarter's performance was weaker than the 3.5% growth rate some economists were predicting and was the slowest since the beginning of 2003.
Hypothesis: The fourth quarter's performance was weaker than the growth rate economists were predicting.
Premise: Employers created 144,000 new payroll jobs in August as the unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 percent, a modest improvement over the 5.5 percent jobless rate in July, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Hypothesis: The Labor Department raises the new-job number.
Premise: The film, which teams Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand  and Dustin Hoffman, has grossed more than $163 million during its 12-day run, according to studio estimates.
Hypothesis: The comedy sequel reunites Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro.
Premise: Employers created 144,000 new payroll jobs in August as the unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 percent, a modest improvement over the 5.5 percent jobless rate in July, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Hypothesis: The Labor Department reported that the average hourly wage rose.
Premise: Israeli helicopters shot two missiles at a car driving through the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing three people, Palestinian security sources said.
Hypothesis: Three militants from the Islamic Jihad group were killed when Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a car in the Gaza Strip.
Premise: That was up from 3 percent in 2003 and marked the best showing since 1999, when the economy grew by 4.5 percent.
Hypothesis: That was up from 3% in 2003 and marked the best showing since 1999, when the growth was 4.5%.
Premise: Since the start of the 2003 season, New England has won 19 of 20 games against teams that finished the season with a winning record.
Hypothesis: New England simply doesn't lose.
Premise: Hurricane Frances destroyed more of the citrus crop in some places in Florida than Hurricane Charley did three weeks ago, the state's agriculture commissioner said on Tuesday.
Hypothesis: Initial reports of destruction did not rival the estimated $7.4 billion in insured damage caused by Hurricane Charley in southwest Florida three weeks ago.
Premise: Insurgents in Iraq killed five U.S. soldiers and attacked polling centers Friday in persistent violence ahead of Sunday's elections.
Hypothesis: Insurgents have attacked US troops and polling stations.
Premise: In one of the latest attacks, a US soldier on patrol was killed by a single shot from a sniper in northern Baghdad, the military said yesterday.
Hypothesis: A sniper killed a U.S. soldier on patrol in Baghdad with a single shot.
Premise: Another winter blast covered California with rain and snow Saturday morning as residents in waterlogged areas, still recovering from wildfires, braced for flash flooding and mudslides.
Hypothesis: Heavy rain fell Friday in southern communities where waterlogged areas, still recovering from wildfires, braced for flash flooding and mudslides.
Premise: The Bills now appear ready to hand the reins over to one of their two-top picks from a year ago in quarterback J.P. Losman, who missed most of last season with a broken leg.
Hypothesis: The Bills plan to give the starting job to J.P. Losman.
Premise: Childress led all players with 26 points and nine rebounds and scored 10 points in a five-minute second-half stretch as the Cardinal put the game away.
Hypothesis: Childress was the reluctant hero, even after 26 points, nine rebounds, two blocks, three steals and three assists.
Premise: Stocks rallied for a second session Thursday, boosted by falling oil prices and ongoing relief that the presidential election has passed without incident.
Hypothesis: The falling oil prices had a positive impact on stocks.
Premise: New voters also are less likely to be Republicans (27 percent, compared with 36 percent of repeat voters) and more apt to be liberals (28 percent vs. 17 percent).
Hypothesis: Among likely voters in this survey, 36 percent are Democrats.
Premise: The child molestation case against Michael Jackson is finally ready for a trial that promises to be like no other.
Hypothesis: The Jackson trial promises to be like no other.
Premise: Employers created 144,000 new payroll jobs in August as the unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 percent, a modest improvement over the 5.5 percent jobless rate in July, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Hypothesis: The August jobless rate dipped a bit.
Premise: A study of 16,466 female nurses ages 70 to 81 found that even women who walked a leisurely 1.5 hours a week did better on tests of mental function than less active women.
Hypothesis: A study of women showed those who did more exercise scored better on mental agility tests.
Premise: Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were looking for the company to post earnings of 38 cents per share on sales of $12.81 billion in the latest period.
Hypothesis: The company beat the estimate carried by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Premise: Even as both sides appeared to make conciliatory moves, 11 militants and six army soldiers were killed in a four-hour gun battle in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Hypothesis: A gun battle killed 17 people in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Premise: The average price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped a nickel over the past two weeks and is back near the record high set earlier this year, according to a national survey released Sunday.
Hypothesis: Gas prices jumped 5 cents a gallon over the last two weeks.
Premise: The announcement at NASA headquarters in Washington confirmed decades of mounting evidence that water once flowed in abundance on Mars, now a frigid and dry planet pocked with craters.
Hypothesis: The surface of Mars once was "drenched" in water that could have supported life forms.
Premise: President Bush briefly and vaguely alluded to stem-cell research and cloning during his State of the Union address, instigating much speculation on what to expect in 2005.
Hypothesis: President Bush blatantly ignored the topic of embryonic stem-cell research in his recent State of the Union address.
Premise: Yasser Arafat has lapsed into a coma in a French hospital, a senior Palestinian official said Thursday, a day after the Palestinian leader was rushed to intensive care following a sharp deterioration in his health.
Hypothesis: Arafat was taken into intensive care where, according to a Palestinian official, he lapsed into a coma.
Premise: Women with the poorest DNA repair capacity had a breast cancer risk three times greater than women with the best DNA repair capacity.
Hypothesis: Deficiencies in the ability to repair DNA add to cancer development.
Premise: Tokyo stocks fell Friday morning as investors cautiously awaited key events including a series of earnings reports from major Japanese companies later in the day.
Hypothesis: Tokyo stocks slipped early Friday.
Premise: Cloning Professor Ian Wilmut and a team of scientists from Kings College London will clone early stage embryos in the hope of finding new treatments for motor neurone disease.
Hypothesis: Scientists will harvest the embryos for stem cells in a quest to understand the causes and find a new treatment for motor neurone disease.
Premise: Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday defended the administration's budget plan against Democratic criticism that Bush is seeking steep cuts in scores of federal programs because he is unwilling to roll back first-term tax cuts.
Hypothesis: Bush is seeking large cuts in domestic spending to lower the deficit.
Premise: Microsoft Corp., on Thursday, posted higher quarterly earnings as revenue rose 12 percent, but its shares fell after the world's largest software market said current quarter sales would fall below Wall Street expectations.
Hypothesis: Microsoft's forward-looking figures remained in line with expectations.
Premise: Dozens of gay and lesbian couples arrived in this rural town Friday to get married after a county clerk announced she would grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but the offer was soon revoked.
Hypothesis: The mayor announced he would allow gay nuptials.
Premise: Microsoft Corp., on Thursday, posted higher quarterly earnings as revenue rose 12 percent, but its shares fell after the world's largest software market said current quarter sales would fall below Wall Street expectations.
Hypothesis: Microsoft said that earnings for its latest quarter beat expectations.
Premise: A victory over the Philadelphia Eagles next week would give the New England Patriots three Super Bowl championships in four seasons.
Hypothesis: The New England Patriots have won three Super Bowls in the last four seasons.
Premise: Hurricane Katrina slammed this legendary Gulf Coast city Monday, flooding historic streets, damaging buildings such as the iconic Superdome and disrupting nearby oil production, before the weakened storm saturated areas across the South.
Hypothesis: Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore Monday.
Premise: Employers created 144,000 new payroll jobs in August as the unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 percent, a modest improvement over the 5.5 percent jobless rate in July, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Hypothesis: The Labor Department said this sector has added nearly 1 of every 5 of the new jobs created during the last 12 months.
Premise: Israeli helicopters fired two missiles in separate attacks on a Palestinian refugee camp on Wednesday, killing four people in a stepped-up campaign the army says is aimed at rooting out militants in the Gaza Strip.
Hypothesis: Palestinian militants were killed while trying to infiltrate the Gaza Strip.
Premise: Liquid methane rain pelts Saturn's largest moon, Titan, and feeds rivers, lakes and seas that carve the surface like water does on Earth, images from a space probe show.
Hypothesis: Methane rain appears to be supplying rivers and lakes on the surface of Saturn's biggest moon.
Premise: A July 31 bombing at Hebrew University in Jerusalem killed nine people, including five Americans.
Hypothesis: A bomb in a Hebrew University cafeteria July 31 killed the five Americans and four Israelis.
Premise: The deal comes two weeks after another Baby Bell, SBC Communications (Research), agreed to pay $16 billion in cash and stock for AT&T (Research).
Hypothesis: The deal comes two weeks after a $16 billion deal was reached between AT&T Corp. and SBC Communications Inc.
Premise: Israeli security forces seized large amounts of cash from four Palestinian bank branches Wednesday, saying much of the money was sent by Iran, Syria and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas to fund Palestinian militants.
Hypothesis: The forces took millions of shekels in cash from the bank.
Premise: Befitting a young group, new voters have lower incomes, are less educated and are far more likely to be single than other voters.
Hypothesis: New voters are younger.
Premise: Orbach, best known for his long-running role as Detective Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order has died.
Hypothesis: Orbach, who achieved his widest fame as wisecracking Detective Lennie Briscoe on 'Law & Order,' died.
Premise: One of seven people killed in an explosion at a busy shopping centre near Helsinki was suspected to have carried out the attack, police have said.
Hypothesis: The teenage bomber behind a blast was one of the seven people who died.
Premise: The vehicles were stranded about 4 a.m. in 3 to 4 feet of snow on a 15-mile stretch of Highway 18 between Snow Valley ski resort and Big Bear dam, said Tracey Martinez.
Hypothesis: The snow storm on Highway 18 caused vehicles to slide on the roadway.
Premise: Quarterback Donovan McNabb was every bit Quarterback Tom Brady's equal for 48 passes Sunday night, throwing for 357 yards and three touchdowns in his Super Bowl debut for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Hypothesis: McNabb's 357 yards were the best postseason game of his career.
Premise: Foreign aid workers will have to take military escorts to areas of Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province deemed unsafe, but troops for such escorts may be in short supply, the Indonesian military said Thursday.
Hypothesis: Many parts of tsunami-battered Aceh province were not safe for the military.
Premise: They also come amid warnings from the Indonesian military that areas of tsunami-battered Aceh province may not be safe for aid workers.
Hypothesis: The military has warned aid workers that some regions are not safe.
Premise: Continuous tremors rocked Mount St. Helens for 90 minutes overnight, geologists reported Monday, and that sustained activity foretells what could be a volcanic eruption within the next few minutes or months.
Hypothesis: Tremors lasted 90 minutes Sunday night.
Premise: U.S. officials have been warning for weeks of possible terror attacks against U.S. interests in East Africa, particularly Kenya.
Hypothesis: The United States has warned a number of times of possible terrorist attacks in East Africa, specifically Kenya.
Premise: The case of the State of California vs. Michael Jackson is finally ready for a trial that promises to be like no other.
Hypothesis: The case against Michael Jackson is ready for a trial.
Premise: Five U.S. soldiers were killed in the capital and insurgents blasted polling stations across the country.
Hypothesis: Five US soldiers were killed.
Premise: Bush's top election lawyer resigned from the campaign Wednesday after it was revealed that he also was advising Veterans for Truth, a group airing TV ads attacking Kerry's war record and anti-war activism.
Hypothesis: One of Bush's election lawyers also advises a group running ads against Kerry.
Premise: Once a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 mph, Frances slowed and weakened to a Category 2 storm as it neared Florida.
Hypothesis: After hitting the Florida coast the storm lost some of its power.
Premise: A controversial film directed by the actor Mel Gibson has been criticised by some Jewish groups who claim it blames Jews for the death of  Jesus.
Hypothesis: A controversial film directed by the actor Mel Gibson which depicts the Crucifixion has opened.
Premise: Bob Geldof and Ultravox singer Midge Ure are teaming up to re-record the song 20 years after the original topped charts around the world, with proceeds going to famine relief in Ethiopia and Sudan.
Hypothesis: Midge Ure said Dominic Mohan approached him and Bob Geldof about re-recording the single.
Premise: More than 3,300 gay couples have married in San Francisco since the new mayor, Gavin Newsom, announced he would allow gay nuptials two weeks ago.
Hypothesis: Same-sex marriages have been performed in San Francisco.
Premise: Dan Rather, one of the United States' most respected news anchormen, has announced he is to retire as the lead of CBS main news programme next year.
Hypothesis: One of America's news presenters, Dan Rather, has announced that he is to give up his role as the face of CBS News next year.
Premise: Juan Manuel Alvarez who also apparently tried to slash his wrists and stab himself after the wreck, was brought to court in what appeared to be a hospital smock and had bandages on his wrists.
Hypothesis: Alvarez wore a hospital patient gown and bandages on his wrists.
Premise: Commissioner Gary Bettman announced Wednesday that players will be locked out starting Thursday, leaving the upcoming season in jeopardy.
Hypothesis: Commissioner Gary Bettman voted to officially lock out the players.
Premise: But this kind of technology would eventually replace transistors, just as they replaced vacuum tubes and vacuum tubes replaced electromagnetic relays, said the HP team.
Hypothesis: Transistors replaced vacuum tubes.
Premise: Palestinian militants resumed rocket and mortar fire at Jewish settlements in Gaza, signaling tough challenges ahead for Abbas and his call for a truce to help revive peace talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state.
Hypothesis: Hamas militants fired rockets at Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Premise: Lleyton Hewitt kept his dream of an Australian Open title alive with a four-set win over Andy Roddick in Friday's second semi-final.
Hypothesis: Andy Roddick had lost a four-setter.
Premise: Investors disappointed with lower-than-expected earnings from Amazon.com Inc. and low productivity gains from U.S. workers pushed stocks lower Thursday, ending Wall Street's three-day string of gains.
Hypothesis: Stocks finished lower Thursday.
Premise: Donald Trump's casino empire filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after months of negotiations with bondholders over restructuring a crushing debt.
Hypothesis: Trump's casino operation has filed for bankruptcy protection due to the accumulation of debt.
Premise: A report from UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, released on Tuesday, shows the number of adults and children living with HIV reached 39.4 million in 2004.
Hypothesis: There is an estimated 39.4 million people living with HIV.
Premise: Israeli security forces have arrested several Palestinian suspects in the July 31 bombing at Jerusalem's Hebrew University in which nine people, including five Americans, were killed, Israel Radio said Wednesday.
Hypothesis: The radio said the suspects were also responsible for a suicide bomb attack March 9 at Jerusalem's Moment Cafe in which 11 Israelis were killed.
Premise: Club officials, particularly in discussions between Bledsoe and Coach Mike Mularkey last week, afforded the classy veteran the opportunity to consider returning to the team as a backup, and at a reduced salary.
Hypothesis: Mularkey offered Bledsoe the chance to remain in Buffalo and serve as Losman's mentor and backup.
Premise: Hollywood studios said Thursday they will file hundreds of lawsuits later this month against individuals who swap pirated copies of movies over the Internet.
Hypothesis: Hollywood studios are to sue people who swap pirated copies of films over the internet.
Premise: Cate Blanchett won the supporting-actress honor Saturday at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for her role as Katharine Hepburn in the Howard Hughes epic "The Aviator."
Hypothesis: Cate Blanchett won supporting actress for her role as Katharine Hepburn in "The Aviator."
Premise: Joachim Johansson held off a dramatic fightback from defending champion Andy Roddick to reach the semi-finals of the US Open on Thursday night.
Hypothesis: Andy Roddick lost to Joachim Johansson in a U.S. Open match Thursday.
Premise: In the Gaza Strip, seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in two separate incidents Saturday, two days after Palestinian militants killed six Israeli civilians at a Gaza cargo crossing.
Hypothesis: Six Israelis were killed in an attack at a Gaza Strip crossing.
Premise: The original Band Aid featured artists including Duran Duran, U2, Sting and George Michael, selling 3.5 million copies in the UK alone to raise money for the Ethiopia famine.
Hypothesis: Many of the original acts, including George Michael, will appear on the new record.
Premise: Ukraine's election commission declared the Kremlin-backed prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych, the winner of the country's bitterly disputed presidential election, sharpening a crisis sparked by the opposition candidate's allegations that the vote was fraudulent.
Hypothesis: The Election Commission announced that Viktor Yanukovich has won Ukraine's presidential election.
Premise: If Bush wins West Virginia, one of the state's five Republican electors says he might not vote for Bush to protest the president's economic and foreign policies.
Hypothesis: Kerry has said he still stands by the vote to give Bush the authority to invade Iraq.
Premise: Jackson, 46, is set to face trial in late January on 10 charges that include felony conspiracy with 28 overt acts involving child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.
Hypothesis: Jackson is set to face trial in January for allegedly molesting a boy.
Premise: The White House acknowledged on Monday that Bush's plan to add private accounts to the Social Security retirement system would add tens of billions of dollars to the nation's budget deficit starting in fiscal 2009.
Hypothesis: Bush's budget allows younger workers to set up private accounts.
Premise: Two car bombs explode near a police station outside of Baghdad's Green Zone, killing seven police officers and wounding about 60 others.
Hypothesis: A pair of car bombs explode near government offices in Baghdad.
Premise: The raid Friday on the Abu Hanifa mosque left three people dead and was followed by a wave of attacks in several parts of Baghdad.
Hypothesis: The raid just after Friday prayers left three people dead.
Premise: Yasser Arafat has lapsed into a coma in a French hospital, a senior Palestinian official said Thursday, a day after the Palestinian leader was rushed to intensive care following a sharp deterioration in his health.
Hypothesis: Arafat was taken to intensive care after his condition worsened.
Premise: Microsoft Corp., on Thursday, posted higher quarterly earnings as revenue rose 12 percent, but its shares fell after the world's largest software market said current quarter sales would fall below Wall Street expectations.
Hypothesis: Microsoft showed revenue growth.
Premise: Insurgents exposed the vulnerability of Iraq's security forces again Sunday, killing at least 22 national guardsmen and their driver in a suicide bombing and 10 other people in separate attacks with elections just weeks away.
Hypothesis: A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle killing at least 14 people.
Premise: Asked whether economic conditions or terrorism would be more important to their vote this fall, 65% in the survey said economic conditions, and only 26% said terrorism.
Hypothesis: A majority of voters said the economy was more important to their vote than terrorism.
Premise: Visiting the Pakistani capital, the American Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Christina Rocca, praised Pakistan for its contribution to the US-led war on terrorism.
Hypothesis: Assistant Secretary of State met with Pakistani officials to discuss the global war on terror.
Premise: The chip will run at speeds of greater than 4 GHz, the firms said.
Hypothesis: Cell is said to run at clock speeds greater than 4 gigahertz.
Premise: Saturn's moon Titan is covered by "dirty" ice ridges and seas of liquid natural gas, a team of scientists said on Friday after a week of research into data from the space probe Huygens.
Hypothesis: Rain feeds river channels on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan, images from the Huygens probe show.
Premise: Kerry said Wednesday night that Bush bears responsibility for a misguided war in Iraq, lost jobs at home and mounting millions without health care.
Hypothesis: Kerry said 5 million people had lost their health care.
Premise: Temporary help firms added 32,000 and education and health care services gained 13,000 jobs last month.
Hypothesis: Service industries such as education and health care added 46,000 jobs.
Premise: The death toll of a fire that roared through a packed Buenos Aires nightclub climbed on Friday to at least 175, with more than 700 injured as young revellers stampeded to reach locked exit doors.
Hypothesis: At least 174 had been killed and more than 410 people injured.
Premise: Deputy state department spokesman Adam Ereli said the US had long assumed that North Korea had a nuclear capability, and stressed the importance of the six-party talks.
Hypothesis: The US has said it hopes to persuade North Korea to return to multi-party talks.
Premise: Exhausted survivors of southern Asia's giant earthquake and tsunami combed the rubble for food and belongings Tuesday as officials stepped up efforts to identify and bury the dead, whose numbers topped 60,000.
Hypothesis: Survivors still wandered amid rubble looking for food that had not arrived.
Premise: A 100-foot diameter asteroid will pass within 26,500 miles of Earth, the closest-ever brush on record by a space rock, NASA astronomers said.
Hypothesis: An asteroid with a diameter of 100 feet will pass close by Earth, astronomers said.
Premise: Former South African president Nelson Mandela has criticised US President George W. Bush over Iraq, saying the sole reason for a possible US-led attack would be to gain control of Iraqi oil.
Hypothesis: Former South African President Nelson Mandela aimed criticism at President Bush.
Premise: Insurgent attacks on pipelines have brought oil exports from southern Iraq to a complete halt, a senior oil official said Monday, part of a rebel campaign to undermine the nation's post-war reconstruction efforts.
Hypothesis: Insurgents have launched attacks on Iraq's oil industry.
Premise: US rounds up 400 Saddam diehards as group claims anti-US attacks in Iraq.
Hypothesis: US rounded up 400 people in Iraq.
Premise: A jammed flood gate forced the temporary evacuation of hundreds of people who live downstream from Lake Manatee as the swollen reservoir threatened to burst its banks following torrential rains.
Hypothesis: Hundreds of people living downstream from a lake evacuated.
Premise: The original Band Aid featured artists including Duran Duran, U2, Sting and George Michael, selling 3.5 million copies in the UK alone to raise money for the Ethiopia famine.
Hypothesis: The first Band Aid record was recorded in 1984 and featured artists including Duran Duran, U2, and George Michael.
Premise: Two car bombs explode near a police station outside of Baghdad's Green Zone, killing seven police officers and wounding about 60 others.
Hypothesis: 60 people are killed when a car bomb explodes near a police station in Baghdad.
Premise: American commanders moved their oversight of air operations in the region on Monday from here to a similar command center the U.S. built at the al-Udeid base in Qatar shortly before the Iraq war.
Hypothesis: The US military moved its air command centre to the al-Udeid air base in Qatar.
Premise: Kerry said Bush lied to Nevadans about his Republican administration's determination to build a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.
Hypothesis: Kerry says Bush lied about Yucca Mt.
Premise: A militant group beheaded three Iraqi Kurdish hostages, showing the killings in a videotape posted on a Web site yesterday, while another group announced that it had kidnapped at least 15 Iraqi National Guardsmen.
Hypothesis: A group claimed to have kidnapped 15 members of the Iraqi National Guard.
Premise: U.S. troops went on the offensive from the gates of Baghdad to the Syrian border Tuesday, pounding Sunni insurgent positions from the air and supporting Iraqi soldiers in raids on mosques suspected of harboring extremists.
Hypothesis: Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. soldiers, launched a series of raids on mosques.
Premise: On Monday Pakistan Prime Minister Jamali made a 10-minute telephone call to India's Prime Minister Vajpayee in a move Islamabad said had ended an 18-month impasse between the two sides.
Hypothesis: Prime Minister Jamali of Pakistan called his Indian counterpart, Vajpayee.
Premise: Roger Federer posted a huge win in the howling wind, beating two-time champion Andre Agassi 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 Thursday in a U.S. Open quarterfinal match suspended the previous night because of rain.
Hypothesis: Andre Agassi is keen to continue playing despite defeat to Roger Federer in the US Open quarter-finals on Thursday.
Premise: The leader of Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political party Saturday proposed 15 amendments to the country's draft constitution, one day after Shiite Muslim and Kurdish leaders said they had made their last, best offer.
Hypothesis: Shiites and Kurds made what they said was a final offer.
Premise: U.S. planned job cuts dropped by 15 percent in January and below the 100,000 level for the first time since August 2004, a report said on Tuesday.
Hypothesis: U.S. planned job cuts fell in January.
Premise: The 2004-2005 season was officially canceled yesterday when the hockey team owners and players couldn't agree on what players should be paid.
Hypothesis: The season has been cancelled after players and owners failed to agree on a deal.
Premise: Kerry said Bush lied to Nevadans about his Republican administration's determination to build a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.
Hypothesis: Kerry said the nuclear waste dump issue is important to all Americans, not just Nevada.
Premise: A study of the United States at war in the past 50 years has picked up one of the main awards at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival in Utah, in the US.
Hypothesis: Sundance Institute took over the former Utah/United States Film Festival.
Premise: In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded late Sunday near a police patrol in the fashionable Jadiriyah district, killing at least six people, including three police officers, and wounding 26 others.
Hypothesis: The bomb killed six people, including three policeman.
Premise: For all last year, business spending on equipment and software grew 13.4%, the largest increase since 1997.
Hypothesis: Business spending on equipment and software grew by 13.4 percent.
Premise: Iraqi forces backed by U.S. soldiers and Marines raided mosques Tuesday in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi and detained a prominent cleric following fierce clashes that hospital officials said killed at least four people.
Hypothesis: Insurgents had repeatedly used mosques as shelters.
Premise: North and South Korean delegates struggling to hold together a summit on economic co-operation have resumed talks in Pyongyang.
Hypothesis: South and North Korea resumed discussions.
Premise: England has come a long way in improving cancer survival rates in the past 30 years but still does not match up to Europe and the US, a report says.
Hypothesis: Overall survival rates were found to be increasing in England, but were still poor compared to Sweden.
Premise: At an international disaster conference in Kobe, Japan, the U.N. humanitarian chief said the United Nations should take the lead in creating a tsunami early-warning system in the Indian Ocean.
Hypothesis: Nations affected by the Asian tsunami disaster have agreed the UN should begin work on an early warning system in the Indian Ocean.
Premise: Mickelson finished a triumphant week in his second home, winning the FBR Open by five strokes for his largest margin of victory in a PGA Tour event.
Hypothesis: Mickelson won the FBR Open by five strokes, the largest margin of victory in his PGA Tour triumphs.
Premise: A mortar attack north of Baghdad killed four Iraqi national guardsmen and wounded 80 others Tuesday, while a top official from a prominent charity was kidnapped in the Iraqi capital.
Hypothesis: On Tuesday, a mortar attack killed four Iraqi guardsmen and injured 80 north of Baghdad.
Premise: Roger Federer posted a huge win in the howling wind, beating two-time champion Andre Agassi 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 Thursday in a U.S. Open quarterfinal match suspended the previous night because of rain.
Hypothesis: Roger Federer battled past Andre Agassi in five sets.
Premise: Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were looking for the company to post earnings of 38 cents per share on sales of $12.81 billion in the latest period.
Hypothesis: SBC reported earnings of 38 cents per share in the latest quarter.
Premise: The three-day hostage siege at a school in southern Russia ended in chaos and bloodshed Friday, after witnesses said Chechen militants set off bombs and Russian commandos stormed the building.
Hypothesis: The hostage takers want the release of Chechen rebels.
Premise: Saddam Hussein destroyed his chemical and biological weapons after the 1991 Gulf War and dismantled what remained of his mass-destruction weapons programs by 1996, the CIA's top Iraqi weapons adviser reported Wednesday.
Hypothesis: Saddam Hussein ended his nuclear programme in 1991, after the Gulf War.
Premise: The pope entered the hospital for a relapse of the flu and underwent the elective surgery to relieve respiratory problems, Vatical officials said earlier.
Hypothesis: The pontiff was struck by a relapse of the flu.
Premise: The South Asian neighbors have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan but which both claim in its entirety.
Hypothesis: India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.
Premise: Mount St. Helens emitted a large plume of steam on Monday, with fears of an eruption rising as scientists estimated the width of the volcano's crater had expanded by 15 to 30 metres.
Hypothesis: After a steam eruption scientists raised the alert level for Mount St. Helens.
Premise: Designers say their chip, code-named Cell and built from the start with the burgeoning world of rich media and broadband networks in mind, can deliver 10 times the performance of today's PC processors.
Hypothesis: Designers say the chip has the potential to efficiently handle several multimedia tasks at once.
Premise: Excluding those items, the company reported a net income of 79 cents per share, handily beating the estimate of 72 cents per share carried by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Hypothesis: Analysts surveyed by Thomson First call were expecting earnings of 72 cents a share.
Premise: On Social Security, Bush reassured retirees and those nearing retirement that the 70-year-old program "is strong and fiscally sound," promising he was proposing nothing that would change their benefits.
Hypothesis: The president said that the reform would not affect the benefits of current and near retirees.
Premise: Scientists on Monday announced the discovery of a frozen, shiny red world some 8 billion miles from Earth that is the most distant known object in the solar system.
Hypothesis: A frozen world 8 billion miles from Earth is believed to be the farthest known object within our solar system.
Premise: Rising wholesale prices and a jump in oil futures intensified inflation fears Friday, keeping stocks mixed and sending bond prices falling.
Hypothesis: Wholesale prices rose at the fastest rate in six years, causing a selloff on the bond market and pressured stocks as well.
Premise: The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said the civil suits would seek damages of up to $30,000 per film.
Hypothesis: The law states $30,000 damages can be sought per film.
Premise: Saddam Hussein destroyed his chemical and biological weapons after the 1991 Gulf War and dismantled what remained of his mass-destruction weapons programs by 1996, the CIA's top Iraqi weapons adviser reported Wednesday.
Hypothesis: Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons in the past.
Premise: Insurgents have attacked US troops, polling stations and Iraqi forces as security was tightened ahead of Sunday's landmark national election.
Hypothesis: Insurgents in Iraq attacked polling centers ahead of Sunday's elections.
Premise: Bush today said staying the course in the war on terror will make the world safer for future generations, though he said an all-out victory against terrorism may not be possible.
Hypothesis: Bush said that victory may not be possible.
Premise: Bush used his weekly radio address to try to build support for his plan to allow workers to divert part of their Social Security payroll taxes into private investment accounts.
Hypothesis: Mr. Bush is proposing that workers be allowed to divert their payroll taxes into private accounts.
Premise: US President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger John Kerry have clashed over homeland security, jobs, taxes and healthcare in the third and final of their televised debates.
Hypothesis: President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger John Kerry have clashed over domestic security in their last TV debate.
Premise: A statement distributed early today by the Governing Council said the members would reconvene Monday "to finalize" outstanding issues "and sign" the interim charter.
Hypothesis: Members of Iraq's Governing Council refused to sign an interim constitution.
Premise: Commandos stormed a school Friday in southern Russia and battled separatist rebels holding hundreds of hostages as crying children, some naked and covered in blood, fled the building through explosions and gunfire.
Hypothesis: The total number of hostages held in the school may have been as many as 1,200.
Premise: A huge car bomb killed Lebanon's former prime minister al-Hariri and at least 12 other people Monday in Beirut's most devastating attack since the 1975-90 civil war.
Hypothesis: A bomb blew up close to Hariri's motorcade in Beirut on Monday.
Premise: Such a margin of victory would give Abbas a clear mandate to renew peace talks with Israel, rein in militants and reform the corruption-riddled Palestinian Authority.
Hypothesis: The new Palestinian president combatted corruption and revived the Palestinian economy.
Premise: Andy Roddick could not hide his disappointment after his hopes of winning the Australian Open title were ended by third seed Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals on Friday.
Hypothesis: Lleyton Hewitt had a win over Andy Roddick in Friday's semi-final.
Premise: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday that Iran must live up to its international obligations to halt its nuclear program or "the next steps are in the offing."
Hypothesis: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned Iran it faces possible UN sanctions.
Premise: Palestinian officials and international officials Saturday, privately weighed the prospects of political life after Arafat, who remains in poor condition at a French hospital.
Hypothesis: Arafat is ailing in a French hospital.
Premise: The U.S. military staged a series of aggressive strikes Tuesday in insurgent strongholds west of Baghdad, including firing missiles into the streets of Fallujah and conducting raids alongside Iraqi commandos in seven mosques in Ramadi.
Hypothesis: Clashes broke out between U.S. forces and insurgents in Fallujah, killing one Iraqi.
Premise: The deal comes some two weeks after a $16 billion deal was reached between AT&T and SBC, a top rival for Qwest.
Hypothesis: The two firms sealed the deal despite what was thought to be a higher offer from rival US carrier Qwest.
Premise: The model for the new network is an existing system in the Pacific, which was established in 1965 and now provides early tsunami warnings to 26 nations.
Hypothesis: Japan's warning system can issue an alert for a deadly tsunami within minutes of an undersea quake.
Premise: Former South African President Nelson Mandela blasted the United States for 'undermining' the U.N. and President Bush for a desire to start a world 'holocaust,' Tom Fenton reports.
Hypothesis: Mandela said Bush is 'undermining' past work of the United Nations.
Premise: A huge car bomb killed Lebanon's former prime minister al-Hariri and at least 12 other people Monday in Beirut's most devastating attack since the 1975-90 civil war.
Hypothesis: A massive car bomb killed the former Prime Minister Hariri.
Premise: Phil Mickelson finished a triumphant week in his second home, winning the FBR Open by five strokes for his largest margin of victory in a PGA Tour event.
Hypothesis: Mickelson won by five shots last week, the largest margin of his career.
Premise: In one of the latest attacks, a US soldier on patrol was killed by a single shot from a sniper in northern Baghdad, the military said yesterday.
Hypothesis: A U.S. soldier was killed in a sniper attack in northern Baghdad.
Premise: A bomb blew up close to Hariri's motorcade in Beirut on Monday, killing at least 15 people and injuring about 120 others.
Hypothesis: Mr. Hariri died when a bomb exploded near his motorcade in Beirut on Monday.
Premise: The scientists said the existence of water or ice would significantly increase the chance that microscopic life may also be found on Mars.
Hypothesis: The frozen sea of sorts is the first large quantity of water ice on Mars.
Premise: Former European Ryder Cup winning captain Sam Torrance says Welshman Ian Woosnam is the right man to lead Europe at the 2006 match in Ireland.
Hypothesis: Torrance told BBC Sport: "I think Ian Woosnam should get it" (the 2006 captaincy).
Premise: With stars like Sluggers Barry Bonds under suspicion and lawmakers demanding action, Major League Baseball adopted a tougher steroid-testing program that will suspend first-time offenders for 10 days and randomly test players year-round.
Hypothesis: Baseball rolled out a tougher steroid-testing program  that includes penalties for first-time offenders and random, year-round checks.
Premise: Blanchett won the supporting-actress honor for her role as Hepburn in "The Aviator" and Morgan Freeman took the supporting-actor prize for "Million Dollar Baby" playing a sage-like ex-prizefighter.
Hypothesis: Morgan Freeman took the supporting actor prize for "Million Dollar Baby."
Premise: A German man has been able to eat his first proper meal in nine years after surgeons rebuilt his face using a pioneering jaw-bone graft.
Hypothesis: The man ate his first real meal in nine years.
Premise: Emergency-control managers began asking residents living near the lake and downstream along the Manatee River to leave yesterday morning.
Hypothesis: Emergency managers began asking residents along the Manatee River to evacuate.
Premise: A series of explosions ripped through Baghdad and a nearby city Friday, killing at least 35 people and injuring dozens on the eve of Shiite Islam's most important holiday, officials said.
Hypothesis: The attacks came on the eve of Shiite Islam's most important holiday.
Premise: U.S. ground forces began their long-awaited assault into Fallujah yesterday - capturing the city's main hospital and two bridges soon after Iraq's interim government declared martial law.
Hypothesis: U.S. forces launched an offensive against Fallujah.
Premise: Growth in the vast U.S. services sector slowed in August although managers seemed more willing to hire new workers, according to an industry survey published Friday.
Hypothesis: A report showed that growth in the vast service sector slowed in August.
Premise: 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,' the fifth installment in Rowling's wildly popular childrens' series about a boy wizard, comes out Saturday.
Hypothesis: The fifth Harry Potter book - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - is set to be released on Saturday.
Premise: Iraqi forces captured a key aide to Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi , who leads an insurgency affiliated with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, the government said Friday.
Hypothesis: Iraqi forces captured an al-Zarqawi aide the government said.
Premise: The 2004-2005 season was officially canceled yesterday when the hockey team owners and players couldn't agree on what players should be paid.
Hypothesis: Both owners and players admit there is unlikely to be much negotiating.
Premise: The militant group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the slaying and said another hostage - either an American or a Briton - would be killed in 24 hours.
Hypothesis: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group has beheaded one of the hostages.
Premise: A NASA spacecraft carrying solar particles that were captured a million miles from Earth slammed into the Utah desert yesterday and cracked open after its parachutes failed to deploy, possibly rendering the mission a failure.
Hypothesis: A U.S. space capsule returning to Earth crashed in a Utah desert yesterday.
Premise: The shooters escaped as other soldiers tried to give aid to the wounded.
Hypothesis: The gunmen escaped as other soldiers tried to help the wounded.
Premise: Commandos stormed a school Friday in southern Russia and battled separatist rebels holding hundreds of hostages as crying children, some naked and covered in blood, fled the building through explosions and gunfire.
Hypothesis: Hundreds of people were killed after terrorists seized a school building.
Premise: Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas declared victory in the Palestinian presidential election late Sunday after exit polls gave him a commanding lead over his rivals.
Hypothesis: Mahmoud Abbas won the vote in the Palestinian presidential election Sunday.
Premise: Packard Co. will start selling its version of the iPod digital music player next month and will add new flat-panel televisions, photo printers and computers that handle media to help the company tap consumer demand.
Hypothesis: Packard Co. Friday unveiled its version of the iPod digital music player.
Premise: The BBC has apologised for incorrectly broadcasting figures which suggested more Iraqi civilians had been killed by coalition and Iraqi forces than by insurgents.
Hypothesis: The BBC reported that coalition and Iraqi forces could be responsible for conflict-related civilian deaths in Iraq.
Premise: The Israeli army said in a statement that the car carried "three senior Hamas militants" who plotted attacks against civilians in the past and were planning more.
Hypothesis: The IDF said the air force targeted a car carrying "senior Hamas militants".
Premise: Shares of Apple Computer Inc. surged Thursday after the computer maker plowed through earnings forecasts with strong sales of its popular iPod digital music player.
Hypothesis: Apple said the iPod had helped its quarterly earnings more than quadruple.