(CNN) -- Iggy Pop invented punk rock. That's how cool he is. His songs have been covered by the likes of Guns N' Roses, REM, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Sex Pistols. Iggy Pop: The wildest man in rock music. He is the wildest wild man of rock and his four-decade career has been marked by drug addiction, self mutilation and onstage nudity -- and at 61 years old he is showing no signs of growing old gracefully. Born on April 21, 1947, in Muskegon, Michigan, James Newell Osterberg grew up in a trailer park. When he began learning the drums as a teenager his parents gave up their bedroom to house his drum kit. It wasn't long before he took his talent out of the bedroom, playing with high-school band The Iguanas, from which he later took his stage name. After graduating from high school in 1965, Iggy formed a blues band called the Prime Movers. Following a brief stint at the University of Michigan he moved to Chicago, playing drums with local bluesmen, before returning to Michigan with his sights set on fronting a rock band.  Watch Iggy Pop show CNN around Miami » In 1967, he recruited guitarist Ron Asheton, his drummer brother Scott Asheton and bassist Dave Alexander and formed The Psychedelic Stooges. It was after seeing the Doors in concert, and inspired by Jim Morrison's confrontational stage persona, that James Osterberg reinvented himself as Iggy Pop, a drug-fueled, crazed whirling dervish of a front man, who would strut semi-naked around the stage, roll around in broken glass and dive headlong into the audience. The band shortened its name to The Stooges and released its eponymous debut in 1969. Right from the start there was clearly something different about Iggy Pop. At the height of flower power, when The Stooges' contemporaries were singing about peace and love, Iggy was singing "No Fun" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog."  See photos of Iggy in action. » The album was a brilliant mess of raw, blues-influenced garage rock, but it sold poorly, as did the 1970 follow up "Fun House," later described by Jack White of the White Stripes as "the definitive rock album of America." Watch Iggy Pop show CNN around Miami By this time, Iggy had begun the Heroin use that would plague his career and in 1971, The Stooges split up after being dropped by their record label. That same year, Iggy met David Bowie, who took him to England, re-united The Stooges and produced 1973's "Raw Power." With "Raw Power," Iggy and the Stooges created the blueprint for punk rock and made an album that would one day be regarded as a landmark in rock music, an album that Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain listed as his favorite of all time. Nonetheless, it was another commercial failure and in 1974, The Stooges split again. By this time, Heroin had taken over Iggy's life and in 1975 he checked himself into a Los Angeles mental institution in an effort to kick the habit. Bowie visited him there and took Iggy along on his 1976 tour, before the pair moved to West Berlin in an effort to get away from the temptation of drugs. It was there that Bowie produced and co-wrote Iggy's 1977 solo albums, "The Idiot" and "Lust for Life." The latter included the songs "The Passenger" and "Lust for Life," which have since become staples of TV ads and movie soundtracks, spawning countless cover versions. More commercial than The Stooges' records, Iggy's solo albums were met with critical acclaim and better sales, but never breakthrough into the mainstream. Songs that Bowie wrote with Iggy during this period were later included on Bowie albums, with "China Girl" becoming a hit single for Bowie. Iggy carried on touring and releasing albums throughout the 80s, without much commercial success, although the single "Real Wild Child" was a hit in the U.S. and UK. But

Who co-wrote and produced Iggy's The Idiot and Lust for Life albums?

In what year did Iggy check himself into a mental institution?

Answer: he checked himself into a Los Angeles mental institution

Answer: David Bowie,

Answer: David Bowie,

Answer: 1975

Answer: 1973's

Summary:
Iggy Pop and The Stooges produced three classic albums in the 60s and 70s .
In 1975, Iggy checked himself into a mental institution in a bid to get off Heroin .
David Bowie co-wrote and produced Iggy's The Idiot and Lust for Life albums .
The Stooges re-united in 2003 and have since played all over the world .


(CNN) -- Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was absent again Tuesday from his Senate impeachment trial, but state senators who will decide whether to remove him from office heard him loud and clear on FBI recordings of his phone calls. Gov. Rod Blagojevich talks to CNN's Campbell Brown Tuesday night about his impeachment trial. Only four snippets of conversations were played for senators in the second day of the impeachment trial, and all pertained to horse-racing legislation. Prosecutors said the brief recordings focused on the governor's efforts to apparently raise campaign contributions in exchange for signing a horse-racing bill. In one recording from December 3, a lobbyist assures the governor that a race-track owner has pledged his "commitment." "He goes, 'I hope I'm gonna have it next week, but you have my commitment. I've always been there. I'm gonna be there,' " the lobbyist told Blagojevich of the race track owner. None of the recordings mentions money specifically. Meanwhile, Blagojevich continued an ambitious media blitz, appearing in interviews with CBS, CNN, Fox and The Associated Press. A day earlier, he appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live," ABC's "Good Morning America" and "The View."  Watch Blagojevich on "Larry King Live" » "I hate all of this," Blagojevich told CNN's Campbell Brown in an interview Tuesday. "This is a life-changing thing. I am about to be thrown out of office for accusations that are false and not true."  Watch Brown interview Blagojevich » He added, "But there's principles involved. And that is I did nothing wrong and I'd like an opportunity to prove it." The governor has railed against state Senate rules that restrict the calling of some witnesses and the presentation of some evidence. State Sen. Matt Murphy, part of the nine-member committee that put the Senate trial rules together, has said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald asked both sides to "defer to the criminal prosecution" of Blagojevich and "limit witnesses." The House prosecution in the Senate trial is operating under the same restrictions, he said. Senators also heard testimony Tuesday from FBI Special Agent Daniel Cain, author of a 76-page affidavit released in December, when the governor was arrested on federal corruption charges.  Watch proceedings from Tuesday's trial » Among other allegations, federal prosecutors said the governor tried to trade or sell the Senate seat that would become vacant after Barack Obama became president. Cain testified about transcripts of federal tapes in the affidavit, mostly replying in the affirmative when House prosecutor David Ellis asked whether the portions of the affidavit were accurate. "In the end, we were very confident that it was the governor's voice in those conversations," Cain told House prosecutor David Ellis. Cain said FBI agents repeatedly listened to the governor's recorded conversations to make sure they were accurate. "Agents would listen to the recordings repeatedly as many times as necessary to verify the accuracy and quote," he said. Later, as senators tried to ask Cain about the recordings, a representative from the U.S. attorney's office was on hand to block some answers. After Blagojevich's arrest, the state House impeached the two-term Democratic governor in two votes, with only one dissenting vote each time. The second vote was needed because of the seating of a new House. Blagojevich has said the House impeachment vote was politically motivated.

Who was absent from the trial?
who is absent from trial?
Who heard the recorded phone calls?
Who is holding interviews?
Who did the senators hear from?
From who was the testimony?
Who heard recorded phone calls?

Answer: Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Answer: Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Answer: state senators

Answer: Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Answer: Rod Blagojevich

Answer: FBI Special Agent Daniel Cain,

Answer: state senators

Summary:
State senators heard recorded phone calls about horse-racing legislation .
Governor absent from trial, holding interviews with media outlets .
Senators also heard testimony from FBI agent who wrote affidavit .
U.S. attorney has asked both sides to "defer to criminal prosecution"


(CNN) -- Illinois will become the 17th state on Thursday to ban texting while driving, a safety worry that has caught the attention of the federal government. Texting poses a greater risk than talking or dialing while driving, a study says. Gov. Pat Quinn will sign an amendment to the Illinois Vehicle Code that prohibits writing, sending or receiving text messages while driving, said the governor's spokeswoman, Marlena Jentz. The bill does make texting exceptions for drivers who pull over to text or shift their car into park or neutral to message while stopped in traffic. Illinois will join a growing list of states looking to curb accidents linked to texting. Oregon and New Hampshire banned texting drivers in July, and Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia already have laws in place. Four U.S. senators announced their plan to push for a federal ban on July 29. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the Obama administration will convene a summit to discuss how it can end accidents caused by distracted drivers. Despite the ongoing efforts to address the dangers of texting while driving, studies have not shown whether the laws affect accident rates, said Jonathan Adkins, communications director at the Governor's Highway Safety Association. The nonprofit association comprised of appointees from each state's governor's office has closely followed the texting while driving saga. But Adkins said that because of several factors that potentially play a role in an accident, to know whether texting caused an accident would require a subpoena or an admission by the driver. In New York and New Jersey, the impact has been measured by an increase in driving tickets, but too few states track that data, Adkins said. "With drunk driving it was important to pass tough laws, but the laws won't really have any effect unless they're enforced and the public knows about it and it's properly adjudicated," said Barbara Harsha the association executive director. "So passing a law isn't the solution, it's only part of it." Studies have shown that those who text while driving have an exponentially greater risk of an accident or near accident. A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study found that truck drivers who texted while driving were 23 times more likely to crash or nearly get into wrecks than undistracted drivers. Compared with dialing, talking, listening or reaching for an electronic device, texting posed the greatest accident risk, the study found -- most likely due to the almost five seconds researchers found the drivers' eyes were off the roadway while texting, said Rich Hanowski, the director of the Center for Truck and Bus Safety at the transportation institute. The focus on texting while driving comes after a some high-profile accidents. In September, a California commuter train engineer missed a stop signal while trading text messages with a friend, leading to a collision with a freight train that killed 25 people, according to federal investigators. A mass-transit accident in Boston, Massachusetts, injured 62 people in May. The operator of a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trolley was later charged with gross negligence after he admitted he had been texting seconds before the collision with another trolley, according to the Suffolk County district attorney and a National Transportation Safety Board official.

What do spSenators want a federal ban on?

What do studies say texting while driving increase the risk of?

How many states have banned texting while driving?

What causes increased risks of an accident?

Who wants a federal ban on texting while driving?

Who want a federal ban on texting while driving?

What does texting while driving increase?

Answer: texting while driving,

Answer: an accident or near accident.

Answer: 17th

Answer: 17th

Answer: those who text while driving have an exponentially greater

Answer: texting while driving,

Answer: Four U.S. senators

Answer: Illinois

Answer: accidents

Summary:
16 other states, District of Columbia ban texting while driving .
Studies say texting while driving increases risk of an accident or near accident .
It is difficult to measure success of no-texting laws, experts say .
Senators say they want federal ban on texting while driving .


(CNN) -- Imagine arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, one of the busiest and most bustling airports in the country. People are dashing about, waiting at checkpoints and scanning the screens for departure and arrival times. Invariably there are delays and since you aren't going anywhere anytime soon, you might as well enjoy the tunes playing over the public announcement system. Hey, isn't that the Peaches and Herb classic "Shake Your Groove Thing"? You haven't heard that in years! But wait, what are they singing? It sounds like "Shake Your Groove Thing," but the lyrics playing don't match the ones you know. Click on the image above to hear two of the airport's new songs. "Opening Day fresh, Opening Day fresh, Yeah, yeah Hartsfield-Jackson do it now Opening Day fresh, Opening Day fresh, Yeah, yeah Show 'em how we do it now! Show 'em how we do it now!" Welcome to parody with a purpose. As part of an initiative to keep the airport clean and get people excited about the airport's new shops and dining options, officials there bought the rights to three popular R & B classics: "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches and Herb, "Bustin' Loose" by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers and "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside. With rights secured, Doug Strachan, Creative Innovations Manager for the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation, rewrote the lyrics and invited the original artists to record the revamped songs. "Whereas words reach the mind, music reaches the heart," Strachan said. "These are hit songs that people love ... real powerful, catchy and make you want to dance. If you can make someone dance, you can probably motivate them to do other things." So "Groove Thing" became "Keep It Opening Day Fresh," "Bustin Loose" morphed into "We're Steady Cleaning Up," and "Fantastic Voyage" was reborn as "Our New Concessions." Clean music with a clean message -- literally. The concept of "opening day fresh" refers to keeping the airport as clean as if it were opening day, which means smelling fresh and looking as spotless as possible. The catchy tunes are a way to subtly remind visitors that it takes a team effort to keep the airport sparkling. "Our New Concessions" reminds travelers about the facility's retail offerings and food service. Strachan said much effort was put into making sure the songs were produced in such a way that they were respectful to the song and the artist. "The whole idea is to make it sound as much like the original as possible," Strachan said. "If it's not really done with deft, then it kind of detracts from it rather than enhances it." Herb Fame, half of Peaches and Herb, loved the idea and was pleased to remake his classic. "Shake Your Grove Thing" "was a worldwide song and people recognize the melody," said Fame, who continues to perform. "It was fun to do and every time I come through the airport I listen to it." Mark Wood, lead vocalist of the group Lakeside, said Strachan did a great job transforming "Fantastic Voyage" into a new, yet familiar song. "It's important to send the message in a way that the message will get through," Wood said. "Ours is a song that people may have grown up hearing or they may have played for their kids and so you might have generations that can relate to it." Such messaging can be extremely effective, said Matt Wallaert, lead scientist for Thrive, an online financial advisory company for young adults. Wallaert, an expert in behavioral finance and social psychology, said the airport is obviously attempting to do something his company also aims for -- offering useful information in a way that is less stressful for the user. "If you put up a sign that says 'Do

Visitors to what airport will hear familiar classics?

What are the re-recorded songs meant to do?

Answer: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International

Answer: tunes

Answer: the original artists

Answer: "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches and Herb, "Bustin' Loose" by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers and "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside.

Answer: make it sound as much like the original as possible,"

Summary:
Visitors to Atlanta's airport will hear some familiar classics .
Older R&B hits reworked to promote airport cleanliness .
Original artists re-record songs meant to gently prompt passengers .
Airport also using scent to help relax visitors .


(CNN) -- Imagine taking the best characters and elements of your favorite fictional universe and weaving them into a new story that captures the imagination of fans. In the dark, cinematic "Batman: Arkham Asylum," Batman must escape from a spooky psychiatric hospital. That's what Emmy-winning TV writer Paul Dini did in creating "Batman: Arkham Asylum," a video game coming out in late August. Buzz is building online for the dark, cinematic game, which reimagines a brooding Batman and his most notorious nemesis, the Joker, for an experience that's reminiscent of "The Dark Knight" blockbuster movie. You want mayhem, insanity and brutality? Get ready for all of it. "This is the Batman movie I would have liked to have written," said Dini, who was scheduled to discuss the game during a panel Saturday at Comic-Con International, the huge celebration of comic-book culture in San Diego, California. "This is him with all the good stuff." The atmospheric game pits Batman against Joker in a battle of wits and brawn after the Clown Prince of Crime traps the Caped Crusader inside Arkham Asylum, Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. After the trap is sprung, the Joker releases the inmates, including some of Batman's most ferocious enemies: Bane, Harley Quinn, Mr. Zsasz, Poison Ivy and Killer Croc. Batman has appeared in video games since 1986, but none as ambitious or complex as "Arkham Asylum," which draws much of its inspiration from the character's comic mythology. The game will be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Windows. It's being developed by Rocksteady Studios and will be published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics. (Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment is a division of Time Warner, which owns CNN.) As the lead writer for the game, Dini said he was given a clean slate to work from. Because there was no movie, graphic novel or comic tie-in to follow, he was able to create an original story. Dini's familiarity with the main character may help win the hearts and wallets of gamers. Winner of five Emmy awards, Dini has worked on Batman comic books and written episodes of "Batman: The Animated Series" and later, "Batman Beyond." Dini, who has also written for the ABC-TV hit "Lost," said he was influenced by Batman lore from character creator Bob Kane, the Batman comics of the 1960s and the Dark Knight graphic novels of Frank Miller. In creating his story's look and tone, Dini said he chose his favorite elements from different incarnations of Batman. For example, the game emphasizes Batman's intellect and use of technology by solving puzzles with the help of such tools as X-ray scanning and a pheromone tracker. "Detective work is a crucial game element," Dini said. "There are a lot of forensics aspects to the story." If you're expecting a Heath Ledger-like Joker in "Batman: Arkham Asylum," you may be disappointed. With his less-smudgy makeup, spiky green hair and maniacal cackle, Dini's creation looks and acts more like earlier versions of the iconic villain. Kevin Conroy voices Batman in the game, while the Joker is voiced by Mark Hamill, known to millions as Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" movies. Conroy and Hamill were scheduled to join Dini at Comic-Con this weekend. Both actors also did the voices in "Batman: The Animated Series," making the game feel very familiar. Sterling McGarvey, a senior editor for G4TV, said the game's developers were smart to rely heavily on the animated TV series. "An entire generation of Batman fans grew up with the animated Batman," he said. "It is a beloved, storied franchise with very few good games." The Internet is full of videos showing glimpses of the game, including movie-like trailers, demo gameplay, characters and layouts of

Who is the lead writer of the video game?

What is the video game being talked about online?

Answer: Mark Hamill,

Answer: the Joker,

Answer: "Batman: Arkham Asylum,"

Answer: Emmy-winning TV writer

Answer: Paul Dini

Answer: Paul Dini

Answer: Paul Dini

Answer: "Batman: Arkham Asylum,"

Answer: Paul Dini

Answer: "Batman: Arkham Asylum,"

Answer: late August.

Answer: Batman and his most notorious nemesis, the Joker,

Summary:
Online buzz is strong for upcoming "Batman: Arkham Asylum" video game .
Lead writer Paul Dini and others discuss the game at Comic-Con this weekend .
The game reunites a brooding Batman and his most notorious nemesis, the Joker .
There's no movie or comic tie-in to follow, so Dini could create an original story .


(CNN) -- Imagine the entire population of Kentucky forced out of their homes in the past 25 years, with many of the residents moving to a neighboring country. Displaced children at a camp in El Barrancon, Colombia, earlier this year. That's what has happened in Colombia, a country of 45 million where up to 4 million people -- roughly the population of Kentucky -- have been forced to flee fighting between government forces and an entrenched Marxist rebel group. So many Colombians have taken flight to escape violence that the nation has the second largest number of internally displaced people in the world -- surpassed only by Sudan in Africa. Oftentimes, the violence is not incidental. "Violence against civilians is a strategy of war for all the parties involved in the warfare," said Ellen Beattie, who worked for relief agencies in Colombia for 15 years. "That's the problem. They do it on purpose. They use it as a strategy. Vicious." Exact figures are hard to come by. Reliefweb, a United Nations Web site that provides information to humanitarian relief organizations, says nearly 400,000 Colombians were displaced last year. The Colombian government puts the number of displaced at 255,000 for 2008. Likewise, the Colombian government says nearly 3 million citizens have been displaced inside the country in the past few decades. But the non-governmental Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacements, known in Colombia as CODHES, estimates more than 4 million people have had to leave their homes since the 1980s. Mauricio de Vengoechea, a political analyst with the Newlink Group consulting firm, says about 200,000 Colombians have ended up in Ecuador, which has granted 5,500 residency permits in the past eight weeks. At the heart of the violence lies a guerrilla war with the Colombian government and paramilitary groups on one side and the FARC, which is the Spanish acronym for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, on the other. The FARC has been waging war against the government since the 1960s and has major strongholds in the jungles of southwest Colombia, near the 366-mile (590-kilometer) border with Ecuador. Narcotraffickers also have strongholds in the area and are often allied with the FARC, who provide security and intelligence. Many times the rebels and the narcotraffickers are one and the same. The guerrillas use drug money to buy weapons. "There are large parts of Colombia where the state has no presence, no police, no army, nothing," said Myles Frechette, the U.S. ambassador to Colombia from 1994 to 1997. "That's where the narcotraffickers hang out." That makes it valuable territory for the guerrillas and narcos, said Beattie, executive director of the International Rescue Committee office in Atlanta, Georgia. "They're more willing to fight over land that is strategic," she said. "You've poured gasoline on the fire with that." As the army, paramilitaries and the guerrillas fight for territory -- often retaking land one side or the other had held before -- the civilian population gets caught in the middle. When one side comes in, Beattie said, everyone living in the area is suspected of having collaborated with the enemy. That sometimes leads to massacres, or at least kidnappings and death threats. "The majority of displacements in Colombia are not because of combat, but because people are directly threatened," said Gustavo Valdivieso, spokesman in Colombia for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "They are told, 'Leave or be killed.'" Many times, indigenous populations in far-flung places suffer the most. That's what happened earlier this year to the Awa tribe in southwest Colombia. The FARC admitted in an Internet statement that guerrillas "executed" eight people February 6 in the town of Rio Bravo because the rebels believed the Indians were gathering information to give to the Colombian military. The Human Rights Watch organization said the guerrillas tortured some of the Awa before killing them with knives. Luis Evelis Andrade of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia said the FARC had targeted the Awa because the Indians don't want to get involved in the armed struggle and refuse to reveal

which occurred between the government and the Colombian guerrillas?

How long did civilians stay in a strategy of war?

Answer: "Violence against civilians is a strategy of war for all the parties involved in the warfare,"

Answer: "Violence against civilians is a strategy of war for all the parties involved in the warfare,"

Answer: war

Answer: 25 years,

Summary:
Colombian civilians caught in cross fire between rebels, government forces .
"Violence against civilians is a strategy of war," relief worker says .
Many civilians flee homes as a result of direct threats .
Ecuador is country closest to Colombia's killing fields, many flee there .


(CNN) -- In "Street Kings," Keanu Reeves' bad-boy cop Tom Ludlow may not play by the rules, but the film sure does. Keanu Reeves, second from left, and Forest Whitaker are shifty cops in "Street Kings." The movie is textbook Cop Noir. Directed by David Ayer, who wrote "Training Day" and directed "Harsh Times," from a script that originated with "L.A. Confidential" novelist James Ellroy, it's a story both men have told before and will doubtless return to again. Too bad that story -- the one about the constant struggle with an impure world, betrayal, disillusionment, retribution, all that jazz -- isn't told with much originality this time around. As Ludlow, a detective with a special LAPD vice squad, Reeves shoots first and asks questions much, much later. In his field the bad guys are easy to spot, and if Tom has to get his hands dirty, well, then he'll be careful to wipe away the residue before he calls it in. He works from the gut. We have Ludlow's number from the beginning: He wakes up, vomits, cleans his gun, and knocks back a couple of miniature bottles of vodka. Then he crashes a kidnappers' den and puts down four gangsters before they know what's hit them. "Don't worry," he tells the distraught little girls caged up in the back. "I'm a cop." It's probably superfluous to add that he's still nursing a grievous hangover from the wife who died in flagrante with a person unknown two or three years ago. It's also probably superfluous to mention that Internal Affairs (headed by Hugh Laurie) is beginning to sniff around Ludlow's unit. In particular, IA is talking to his ex-partner Washington (Terry Crews), a revelation that sends Ludlow reaching for his baseball bat. Before he can put Washington straight, though, his old pal is gunned down before his eyes by a couple of punks. Can Ludlow cover up his own potentially incriminating presence at the scene and still track down the cop killers? Hell, yes, even if he has to alienate everyone in the department before he's through. Reeves doesn't do much "acting" as such, but he doesn't need to: His performance is clean and spare, in synch with Ayer's clipped economy, and he has a doleful quality that goes some way to redeem a nasty and wretchedly naïve character. Alcoholism doesn't appear to have thrown off Ludlow's aim any, but it must have dulled his reasoning. A broody, intuitive detective should be able to piece together this boilerplate mystery without too much head-scratching, but Ludlow never stops to look even two steps ahead. (I guess he's not a James Ellroy fan.) But what he lacks in insight he makes up for in sheer determination, not to say blood-lust. In a neat touch, when it's time to cool off his public profile for a spell, the rogue cop is transferred to a desk in the complaints department -- surely his idea of purgatory, and, obviously, an utterly pointless occupation. Forest Whitaker boosts the energy level as Ludlow's paternalistic mentor, boss, and No. 1 fan: "You're the tip of the spear," he tells him. "Who else is going to hold back the animals?" Violent and cynical and a shade or two overdetermined, "Street Kings" ably demonstrates the pitfalls embedded in the pragmatics of "a necessary evil," or anyone who sets himself up as a law unto himself, but ultimately it can't conceive of a better alternative. After all, the rest is politics, a game that even the most hard-boiled anti-hero would never lower himself to enter. And, besides, he's seen it before. "Street Kings" is rated R and runs 107 minutes. For Entertainment Weekly's take, click here. E-mail to a friend

Which film is adequate with no surprises?

Who plays a rogue cop who finds self in awkward position?

Answer: Keanu Reeves'

Answer: Keanu Reeves,

Answer: cover up his own potentially incriminating presence at the scene

Answer: "Street Kings,"

Answer: Tom Ludlow

Answer: Keanu Reeves'

Answer: Keanu Reeves'

Summary:
"Street Kings" has been done better before, says CNN.com's Tom Charity .
Movie stars Keanu Reeves as rogue cop who finds self in awkward position .
Film is adequate, but no surprises for those who've seen "Training Day"


(CNN) -- In 1909, Alice Ramsey blazed a path across America's landscape and society. Millions of women have followed in her tracks, few more precisely than Emily Anderson exactly 100 years later.

Anderson was the lead driver in a re-enactment last summer of Ramsey's journey, when she became the first woman to drive an automobile from coast to coast. Both women drove a 1909 Maxwell DA from New York to San Francisco, California, but they traversed two very different Americas.

"It really was a tremendous effort by so many people to get us across the country," Anderson, an event planner from Seattle, Washington, said. "It showed me the heart of America was open to us in a big way that I don't think would normally be so open had we been in a modern-day vehicle."

Antique car enthusiast Richard Anderson recruited his 34-year-old daughter to drive the 1909 Maxwell DA he and two friends built from parts they scavenged from around the globe, and hand-fabricated when necessary.

"It all came down to a lot of books and manuals and guessing and putting a puzzle back together again with no instructions," Emily Anderson said.

They got the car built and running in time to launch the drive on June 9 at 1930 Broadway, the address where Ramsey's journey began. Several of Ramsey's descendants were on hand, including two who rode along for a few miles.

Anderson's Maxwell soon suffered the first of many breakdowns.

"That was a bit defeating, especially since it was our first day and we were pretty jazzed and motivated to get moving and get on the road," she said.

Temporary repairs carried the car and crew about 1,800 miles to western Nebraska, where a master mechanic worked for more than five hours to fix the problem in a more permanent way.

"It was amazing to me that people would just stop their lives and do whatever they could to keep us moving," Anderson said.

By Anderson's side was Christie Catania, her close friend and co-pilot.

Catania described the co-pilot's job as "navigation, waving, talking to people in the back seat; I was also the blinker, the mirrors, comic relief ..."

Librarian-storyteller Sally Barnett rode in the back seat most of the way.

"I love old cars, and I had read about Alice Ramsey years ago. She's one of my heroine-mentors," said Barnett, 67, of Huntsville, Alabama. "... My part was to dress up as Alice and tell her story."

The Maxwell's fourth seat was reserved for sponsors, dignitaries and special guests along the way, Anderson said.

When she wasn't in the rear of the Maxwell, Barnett was riding in the back seat of other antique cars that fell into formation along the way, forming what enthusiast Leta Nichols of Orangevale, California, called "a 3,000-mile parade."

High-speed collisions with flying insects were a hallmark of the trip.

"You don't realize how valuable a windshield is until you ride in a car without a windshield, Barnett quipped.

"We were really acting as human windshields and bug-catchers," Anderson recalled. "A couple times a day we had a teeth-cleaning."

But at least the 2009 group had well-mapped, paved roads to travel on, part of the reason they were able to cross the country in 30 days, half the time it took Ramsey, who followed the general path of what would become the Lincoln Highway.

"We traveled at a faster rate simply because we could," Anderson said. "Alice only had 152 miles of paved roadway in 1909, and those roads were primarily within the cities. ... Otherwise it was all wagon trails, and that's some difficult terrain to cross."

The social terrain was equally difficult.

Ramsey "fit a category of woman in the early-20th century, late-19th century who was interested in quietly demonstrating that women were as capable as

What were they driving/
Which vehicle was used for the journey?
What was recreated?
Where did the journey start?
What did Emily Anderson do?
What did Anderson's Maxwell suffer?

Answer: 1909 Maxwell DA

Answer: 1909 Maxwell DA

Answer: a re-enactment last summer of Ramsey's journey,

Answer: New York

Answer: the lead driver in a re-enactment last summer of Ramsey's journey,

Answer: first of many breakdowns.

Summary:
Emily Anderson recreates Alice Ramsey's 1909 coast-to-coast auto odyssey .
Both women made the journey from NYC to San Francisco in a 1909 Maxwell DA .
Passing trucks kicked up debris and wind around the open car during 30-day trip .
Anderson's Maxwell suffered many breakdowns and lots of people helped along the way .


(CNN) -- In 1967, the Mamas & the Papas had a hit with a song that detailed, with bittersweet harmonies, the checkered history of the band. The song, written by the group's John Phillips and his wife, Michelle, was called "Creeque Alley."

Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and John Phillips, here in 1998, were members of the Mamas & the Papas.

If the song were to be updated today, it might have to be retitled "Creep Alley."

With the claims by John's daughter, Mackenzie, that she had an incestuous relationship with her father, the story of Phillips and his group -- in music, models of California dreams and California dreamin' -- takes on a darker hue.

The story was already tangled, a motley love- and drug-soaked tale of excess set to the group's distinctive four-part harmonies.

Phillips left his first wife, Mackenzie's mother, Susan Adams, for 18-year-old Michelle, whom he'd met in a San Francisco club while touring in the early '60s, according to the band's biography on Allmusic.com.

The band's lead male singer, Denny Doherty, later had an affair with Michelle; she was forced out of the group for a time. The fourth member, Cass Elliot, had an unrequited crush on Doherty, the biography noted.

After the Mamas & the Papas' success with such singles as "California Dreamin' " and the No. 1 hit "Monday, Monday," the Phillipses bought a Bel Air mansion from which they ruled over the Los Angeles music scene.

In his 1986 memoir, "Papa John," John Phillips, who died in 2001, remembered hosting parties for the Beatles when they visited town.

John Phillips, the band's primary songwriter, was at least six years older than the others and did not shy from the task of addressing the group's pain and confusion in song. In such songs as "Got a Feelin'," "I Saw Her Again Last Night" and "Trip, Stumble and Fall," he cast a cold eye on the band's romantic entanglements, even as his melancholy and sometimes cutting lyrics were often belied by those sunny harmonies and Lou Adler's slick production.

"One doesn't try to hold Cass and Denny and Michelle together," he said in a 1995 interview. "It's a useless task to start with. You just sort of stay out of the way and let things roll as they can."

In 1968, the group split up. There was a 1971 reunion that produced the contractually obligated album "People Like Us," but the experience was "horrible," John Phillips recalled in the liner notes to the group's anthology, "The History of the Mamas and the Papas."

The group members had mixed success after the breakup. Elliot, who died of a heart attack in 1974 (and not by choking on a sandwich, as urban legend has it), pursued a solo career; she had a handful of hits. Doherty and John Phillips also tried their hands at solo careers; the latter's 1970 "John, the Wolf King of L.A.," produced a minor hit and is now considered a classic but sold relatively poorly upon release.

More common were the stories of trouble. Michelle and John Phillips divorced in 1970; late that year, Michelle was married to Dennis Hopper for eight days.

John Phillips, who married Genevieve Waite in 1972, became increasingly immersed in drugs, says his Allmusic biography, to the point where he couldn't finish an album commissioned by the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In 1981, he was convicted of drug trafficking.

By that point, daughter Mackenzie says, she was also a full-blown drug addict.

"I grew up in a place where there were no rules ... which did not serve me well, and everybody, I think, knew that," she said on a reunion special for her '70s sitcom, "One Day at a Time."

Did John Phillips have a live of excess?

Answer: a motley love- and drug-soaked tale of

Answer: John Phillips,

Summary:
John Phillips' reputation taking hit with claims of incest by daughter Mackenzie .
John Phillips, who died in 2001, lived life of excess .
Mamas & Papas were leading California group of '60s, with tangled romantic links .
John Phillips was heavy drug user, once convicted of drug trafficking .


(CNN) -- In 1979, Jarreth Merz, then a young boy in Ghana, saw the dramatic results of a military coup. Watching on an old black and white television set, he and a group of his friends witnessed one of the nation's generals being blindfolded and shot to death by a firing squad. Shortly afterward, his family fled the instability of Ghana and returned to his native Switzerland.

But Africa stayed with Merz, who told his story at the TED Global conference in Edinburgh, UK, in July. He grew up to become an actor and found that he was increasingly being cast as a violent African or a terrorist. "How many terrorists could I possibly play before turning into one myself?"

"I had become ashamed of the other, the African in me."

After 28 years, Merz returned to Ghana to film the nation's 2008 presidential election and, as it turned out, to learn more about himself. "I realized that, when I'd left the country, free and fair elections in a democratic environment were a dream. And now that I'd returned, that dream had become reality, though a fragile reality."

In the first round of voting in Ghana, no candidate attained the 50% of the vote needed to gain the presidency, and an inconclusive runoff was held. People began questioning whether the elections were being manipulated. Merz said there was gunfire and he saw discouraging signs of a possible breakdown in civil order. "And my heart sank, because I thought, here we are again. Here is another proof that the African is not capable of governing himself. And not only that, I am documenting it -- documenting my own cultural shortcomings."

But rather than erupt in violence, the crowd started chanting "We want peace," and eventually, after new voting, a winner was certified and power was transferred peacefully, Merz said. "Ghana taught me to look at people differently and to look at myself differently. And yes, we Africans can."

In his film, "An African Election," Merz told CNN in an interview, "The political system, the democratic system, is tested to the utmost."

The lesson: "You don't have to rebel. You have the freedom to choose, and with that choice comes a responsibility."

what did the election help show?
when did he return to ghana?
What did the election help ?
what did Merz witness as a boy?
What did Jarreth Merz witness as a boy?
Who witnessed violent coup in Ghana ?
when did Merz return to Ghana?

Answer: "You don't have to rebel. You have the freedom to choose, and with that choice comes a responsibility."

Answer: 2008

Answer: power was transferred peacefully,

Answer: one of the nation's generals being blindfolded and shot to death by a firing squad.

Answer: one of the nation's generals being blindfolded and shot to death by a firing squad.

Answer: Jarreth Merz,

Answer: 2008

Summary:
As a boy, Jarreth Merz witnessed violent coup in Ghana .
His family left for Europe, but he returned in 2008 to film Ghana's election .
After close vote and a runoff, a winner was declared and power transferred .
Merz: Election helped show that democracy is viable in Africa .


(CNN) -- In 1980, in the pre-Internet, pre-download days when R.E.M. formed in Athens, Georgia, there was no alternative. There was no Americana. There was no grunge.

If you listened to pop music, there were essentially three divisions: Top 40 of the type you heard on the rapidly fading AM radio, the corporate rock of album-oriented FM and what was then called college radio -- a catch-all for the punk, new wave, electronic, low-fi and oddball music that almost never crossed over to the mainstream.

R.E.M. helped to change all that.

They weren't the only ones -- the New York art-punks of the late '70s, notably Talking Heads and Blondie, had hit the Top 40, and fellow Athens scenesters the B-52's had established a national following with their party-down rave-ups.

But it was R.E.M. that, in the words of Allmusic.com's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "transformed the American underground." If, in the '60s, teenagers gathered in their parents' garages in the hopes of being the next Beatles, in the '80s young adults knocked around dormitories in hopes of being the next R.E.M.: melodic, guitar-based and determined not to sell out to the corporate-music crowd.

R.E.M. was the great hope of fame-fantasizing, used-record-store clerks everywhere.

"They did this grass-roots thing that nobody had ever done," said Angie Carlson, a former member of the band Let's Active, which toured with R.E.M. in the mid-'80s. "They sort of bypassed big marketing, and were at the clubs networking with the cool fellow record-store people."

In R.E.M.'s wake came a breadth of artists who turned college radio into a home for guitar-based rock and power-pop: the Replacements, Jason and the Scorchers and the Del Fuegos, among many others. Years later, Nirvana emerged and the whole world broke open. Kurt Cobain, in fact, was a big R.E.M. fan.

Now R.E.M. has come to an end.

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band," read a message posted on the group's website Wednesday. "We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening."

The band didn't easily fit labels. Its early sound, led by Peter Buck's ringing guitar arpeggios, might best be described as folk-rock, equal parts Byrds-ian harmony and punk snarl. Alongside was lead singer Michael Stipe's reedy vocals and, more distinctively, his resonant, nonsensical lyrics, full of phrases such as "Cages under cage" and "Hear the howl of the rope." (Pre-Internet, a popular music-geek parlor game involved deciphering R.E.M. lyrics.)

And underneath Buck and Stipe was the rock-solid rhythm section of bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry, filling spaces with melodic bass lines and powerhouse percussion. R.E.M. may have had its artsy flourishes, but the band also -- in "American Bandstand" parlance -- "had a good beat you could dance to."

The band formed at a time when "underground" really meant something, said Carlson, now of Figure Eight Publicity.

"You couldn't trade (music) on the Internet. You had to know somebody or you had to go the club," she said. "And that's the other reason a band like that was able to thrive -- people went to see live music.

"And they had such a cool vibe in person. They were smart, they were funny, they were charismatic. All of that played into it."

Moreover, the band worked hard, providing a model for others to follow. In the '80s, starting with the 1982 EP "Chronic Town," there was

What band helped lead the way for American bands?

Who  helped lead the way for generation of American bands?

Answer: R.E.M.

Answer: 1980,

Answer: R.E.M.

Answer: 1980,

Answer: R.E.M.

Answer: 1980,

Summary:
R.E.M. helped lead the way for generation of American bands .
Group was formed in 1980 in Athens, Georgia .
"They did this grass-roots thing that nobody had ever done," says fellow musician .
Group stayed true to muse, even after becoming million sellers .


(CNN) -- In 1991, Nirvana changed American rock music with an album that featured a naked baby on the cover. Fred Thorne played in bands for 18 years and says Kurt Cobain's legacy always stuck with him. Now, that naked baby is 17 years old and a high school graduate. The album, "Nevermind," is a classic beloved by music aficionados across the world. It soared to the top of the Billboard charts, swiftly ending the '80s era of dance pop and "hair metal" and replacing it with the "grunge" movement. In doing so, it irreversibly changed the tastes and even lives of millions of musicians and music lovers. "One song changed the way we look at rock music," said Russ Lancaster of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the first track on the record. "Just like the Beatles changed pop music 30 years prior, Nirvana's breakthrough album achieved the same level of power in terms of changing pop music. They weren't singing anymore about happy, funny songs. They were taking a real dark turn to pop music, and it changed everything. Back then it was really different to hear that on the radio. It opened up a floodgate of artists that might never have been heard before that." What artists, exactly? Lancaster says Pearl Jam comes to mind, and that the entire emo genre might never have come into existence if it wasn't for grunge. "It wouldn't have the visibility it has today without the stepping-stone that grunge gave it," he said. iReport.com: Passing grunge onto the next generation Pat Ferguson said grunge also was crucial to indie rock becoming mainstream. "What I appreciate 'Nevermind' the most for was paving the way for other indie bands that I really ended up liking to get put out into the mainstream. Not so much for the exposure they got, but so that everyone could more readily get their product," he said. "It was a world without iTunes, Rhapsody or Napster. The only way you got exposure to music that wasn't pop [or] country was living close enough to a university-run radio station or having a friend who had access to it. It wasn't long after the grunge era started that other indie rock bands like Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, Superchunk, fIREHOSE and a wealth of others broke out and started becoming a bit more accessible." iReport.com: 'A lot of bands owe a lot to that record' For Derek Ivy, the influence of Nirvana is a little more personal. Hearing "Nevermind" and the band's other albums inspired him to learn guitar as a teenager, and he still plays in a band called Golden Hours. "Nirvana taught me to play music," said Ivy. "Everybody has the first few songs they ever learn to play, and for me it was mostly this Nirvana stuff. When I hear this album or think of it, I recall the countless afternoons I spent playing these songs on guitar and, later, drums. I remember learning every song on it, and pretty much every other Nirvana song." Ivy said Nirvana front man and songwriter Kurt Cobain was an important influence in his life, musically and otherwise. "Kurt Cobain was one of my earliest and greatest musical influences, as I'm sure countless others can attest to. And he's a tremendous influence on me in a lot of different ways," he said. "When Kurt died, I felt like I'd lost a personal friend, even though I didn't know him and I was only 14 at the time. It was sort of like, here you go, here's adulthood." iReport.com: 'My teenage years would have been considerably less bearable were it not for this band' Cobain was also a profound figure in Fred Thorne's life. Thorne played in bands for 18 years, and he said Cobain's success on the charts and ultimate suicide led him to heed the Nirvana front man's advice: "Be careful what you wish for." "

What band paved the way for indie rock groups?

Who opened the door for indie rock groups in 1990s?

Answer: Nirvana

Answer: Kurt Cobain

Answer: Derek Ivy,

Answer: Kurt Cobain's

Answer: Nirvana

Answer: of dance pop and "hair metal"

Summary:
iReporters share their memories of Nirvana and the "grunge" era .
Pat Ferguson says Nirvana opened the door for indie rock groups of the 1990s .
Fred Thorne and Derek Ivy say they were profoundly influenced by Kurt Cobain .
iReport.com: Share your memories of the grunge era .


(CNN) -- In 2003, the BET Awards had a priceless moment when Michael Jackson surprised his idol, James Brown, by showing up on stage where the duo thrilled the audience with an electrifying performance. Michael Jackson performed with James Brown at the BET Awards in 2003. This year's show is dedicated to Jackson. Now, both the King of Pop and the Godfather of Soul are gone. Sunday night's 9th Annual BET Awards is sure to be filled with tributes to Jackson, whose videos and performances were a staple for the network in his heyday. BET has already paid tribute to the singer, going wall-to-wall with Jackson videos Thursday night. Many of the celebrities scheduled to attend the show were also fans of the singer and it is expected that the night will provide an opportunity for them to salute the star. "Words cannot capture the impact Michael Jackson has had on pop culture around the world," said Debra L. Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of BET Networks. "He changed the way we hear and feel and move to music; he epitomized what true musical talent and star power really mean. He is and always will be the King of Pop." Academy Award-winning actor and R&B singer Jamie Foxx is set to host the show. Several of the scheduled performers include artists, such as Ne-Yo and Beyonce, who have acknowledged the influence of Jackson on their music and careers. The annual event is a premier one for the network and this year's plan was to recognize the musical legacy and longstanding career of the legendary soul trio, the O'Jays, with the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Artists Alicia Keys and Wyclef Jean are to be honored with the Humanitarian Award for their respective charitable work. BET CEO Lee said Sunday's show will be dedicated to Jackson and will also pay tribute to his legacy. Lee reflected on Jackson's career and his importance to BET -- which stands for Black Entertainment Television -- in a prepared statement after his death, while also offering heartfelt prayers for the singer's family and friends. "Michael's influence is felt every day in so many ways at BET Networks, and it's been that way throughout our network's entire 29-year history," she said. "We watched him grow up and, like everyone around the world, he feels like he is a member of our family. "He will be missed more than we can say ... but his legend and memory live on in the artists, musicians, producers, dancers, fans and everyone else who looks to him for inspiration." The BET Awards is scheduled to run live on the cable network Sunday at 8 p.m.

Who will many of the attendees be paying tribute to?

What BET Awards are scheduled for Sunday night?

Who's influence the Network CEO say was felt every day?

Answer: "Words cannot capture the impact Michael Jackson has had on pop culture around the world,"

Answer: Michael Jackson

Answer: Brown,

Answer: 9th Annual

Answer: Michael Jackson

Summary:
BET Awards are scheduled for Sunday night .
Many of the planned attendees expected to pay tribute to Michael Jackson .
Network CEO: "Michael's influence is felt every day in so many ways"


(CNN) -- In 2004, a bullet ripped away Connie Culp's nose, cheeks and upper jaw. Metal fragments sprayed into her skull and stripped her face away, leaving nothing except for her eyes, her chin and forehead. Culp, an Ohio mother of two, lost the mid-portion of her face after a gunshot wound in September 2004. Without her nose, she could not smell. She breathed through a tracheostomy  -- a surgical opening in her neck. Without lips, she could barely speak. But Tuesday, when Culp, 46, the first recipient of a face transplant in the United States, stepped in front of the cameras at a news conference, she was whole. In a soft voice, the Ohio mother of two repeatedly thanked the medical staff and the deceased donor whose nose, upper lip, cheekbones are now hers. "I want to focus on the donor family that allowed me to have this Christmas present," she told reporters gathered at the Cleveland Clinic, where her surgery took place.  Watch Culp talk about the surgery » In December, Culp underwent a 22-hour transplant surgery. Although the hospital announced the facial transplant at that time, the patient had remained anonymous until the news conference. During the surgery, tissue from a deceased donor's face was shaped and fitted into position. Multiple layers of tissue, bone, muscle and blood vessels, nerve grafts and each artery and vein were connected. Culp received a nose, lower eyelids and upper lips, as doctors filled in the missing components of her face. Culp could not yet move her facial muscles to form a smile, but she laughed. "Well, I got me my nose." she quipped. Two months after the surgery, Culp was discharged from the hospital and returned home. Before the surgery, Culp could not eat solid foods. She could not taste. "Connie can now enjoy her food," said Dr. Maria Siemionow, who led the transplant operation. "She eats hamburgers and enjoys her pizzas, she's drinking coffee from the cup." Her new face allows her to "blend with society." "As you can see we have now a healthy person and happy person," Siemionow said. "She has reduced dramatically her pain and also she's able to walk on the street without being called names." Since the operation, doctors say Culp's new face has developed more movement. The new facial nerves are growing slowly, about an inch a month.  See before and after photos of Connie Culp » "While Connie can do several things now that she was unable to do in the past, as time goes on more and more of the facial nerves will grow," said Dr. Frank Papay, chairman of the Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. "She will become more animated." For years, Culp lived "in tremendous pain, chronic pain, over the entire time," said  Siemionow, director of plastic face transplant surgery research and head of microsurgery training at the hospital. Culp told a local television station in a 2008 interview that she had been shot in the face from just eight feet away in an attempted murder-suicide by her husband. In 2005, Culp came to the Cleveland Clinic for treatment. After 30 surgical procedures, none had restored her basic functions. "The last resort and the last option was to consider face transplantation," said Siemionow. Transplant recipients have to take immunosuppressing, anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their life. After the hospital's surgeons, ethical committee members, psychiatry and psychology specialists met with Culp, they decided "that Connie is the right patient," Siemionow said. Doctors involved in Culp's treatment said the surgery was not about aesthetics, but to restore Culp's basic abilities. "We are actually overwhelmed by how great she's doing functionally," Siemionow said.  "And I'm re-emphasizing that this is all about functional outcome. Someone who couldn't breathe through the

Who is the first woman to receive a face transplant in USA

Who is the firs US face transpact recipent?

What type of injury did the woman suffer?

Answer: Connie Culp's

Answer: Ohio

Answer: Connie Culp's

Answer: lost the mid-portion of her face

Answer: Connie Culp's

Summary:
An Ohio woman who suffered gunshot wound is first U.S. face transplant recipient .
Connie Culp regained breathing and speaking ability after transplant .
Doctors say she has shown major medical improvements .


(CNN) -- In 2009, a freshly elected U.S. president who campaigned on the themes of hope and change appointed a veteran negotiator to take a crack at the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Now, 32 months after President Barack Obama named former Sen. George Mitchell as his chief Middle East envoy, the peace process is stalled and the United States faces the diplomatically dangerous possibility of having to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution on Palestinian statehood.

How did it get to this point? The answers are in the intractable nature of the conflict, political pressures faced by the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships, and a steady waning of U.S. influence in the region, exacerbated by the Arab Spring protests that erupted last December.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday he intends to submit an application for statehood to the Security Council, according to U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky, setting up a possible vote as soon as Friday.

U.S. officials have made clear they will veto it, affirming the longstanding backing for Israel, the nation's strongest Middle East ally.

Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes negotiations are seeking to avoid a move certain to evoke Arab protests of American bias and even hypocrisy.

A U.S. veto would amount to Washington blocking an outcome it has publicly supported -- the creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel. However, the Obama administration insists that result must occur through a negotiated deal with Israel.

"We continue to believe and are pressing the point that the only way to a two-state solution, which is what we support and want to see happen, is through negotiations," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said late Monday.

Addressing the possible Palestinian statehood bid, she added that "no matter what does or doesn't happen, this will not produce the kind of outcome that everyone is hoping for, so we are going to stay very much engaged and focused."

Also Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was willing to meet with Abbas in New York to launch direct talks that would continue back in the Middle East after the U.N. General Assembly.

Netanyahu's offer was an obvious attempt to give Abbas a plausible reason to put off the statehood bid, an outcome desired by the United States.

"For President Obama, who came into office speaking about self-determination and promised the Palestinians that it's a new day and a new dawn for them, to go to the Security Council and cast a veto against the Palestinian state is politically problematic," Fouad Ajami, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute think tank, said Monday on CNN.

"It's really a catastrophe for him in the Arab world, but he has no choice but to pass the veto if it came to that," Ajami continued. "The hope is (that) between now and Friday, some exit, some other formula will be found to spare one and all in this confrontation at the Security Council."

Fran Townsend, a CNN contributor on national security issues, said the potential U.N. vote "puts the United States in a very awkward position."

"It is a veto that will most certainly undermine U.S. credibility as an honest broker in the peace process," at least in the eyes of the Arab world, Townsend said.

The latest developments come five months after Mitchell's resignation. He said he only signed up to tackle the world's toughest diplomatic job for two years, but he was clearly frustrated by the inability to restart direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Mitchell, who was 77 when he stepped down, traveled back and forth in the region trying to overcome the decades of hostility and mistrust that bedeviled the peace process. Face-to-face negotiations sought by the United States and its mediating partners from the United Nations, European Union and Russia never materialized.

The Obama administration came into office hoping to seduce the Middle East with a more sensitive and compassionate posture after eight years of the Bush administration that brought war in Iraq and tough posturing against Iran and other enemies of Israel.

In June 2009, Obama used a high-profile speech in Cairo

What will Palenstinians submit to the UN?

Who is the US backing through negotiations?

Answer: a move certain to evoke Arab protests of American bias and even hypocrisy.

Answer: an application for statehood to the Security Council,

Answer: it,

Answer: Israel,

Answer: Arab protests of American bias and even hypocrisy.

Summary:
U.S. backs an independent Palestinian state through negotiations .
Palestinians will submit an application for statehood to U.N.
U.S. officials have made it clear they will veto such a move .
Behind-the-scenes negotiations are trying to avoid a move certain to evoke Arab protests .


(CNN) -- In April 2007, UEFA's executive committee voted to accept a joint proposal from Poland and Ukraine to host the European football Championships in 2012.

Poland faces a struggle to upgrade many of its venues, such as Tenth Anniversary stadium in Warsaw.

The decision to award the tournament to Poland -- a former communist country -- and Ukraine -- a former Soviet Republic -- was viewed with surprise by many in the world of sport as they had defeated a rival bid from established football powerhouse Italy.

In addition to providing economic benefits -- hosting Euro 2008 was worth over $450 million to the Austrian economy according to its government -- staging such a high-profile international event would cap their remarkable transformation into credible democracies in the eyes of the world.

However, both countries have had to address a number of problems.  Watch more about Poland's bid Â»

Political instability remains an issue in Ukraine -- the fragile ruling coalition recently collapsed -- while Poland's national team narrowly avoided a suspension after football's world ruling body FIFA said its federation had done little to stamp out corruption. A match-fixing scandal in the domestic league in 2005 led to about 70 people being arrested, though no one has been prosecuted.

Significantly, neither country has hosted a major sporting event and concerns remain about the shortage of adequate stadiums, high-quality hotels and poor transport infrastructure in both Poland and Ukraine.

With the proposed semi-final venues in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk and the Polish capital Warsaw, fans would currently be faced with a 30-hour train journey to attend both games. Although there are plans to expand and improve the highway linking the nations.

The opening match is scheduled to be staged at a new 70,000-capacity National Stadium in Warsaw when construction work is completed in 2009 at a cost of $800 million. The final will be held at Kiev's redeveloped Olympic Stadium, however all 12 proposed venues need considerable work in order to comply with international standards.

The remaining games will be held in the Polish cities of Gdansk, Poznan, Wroclaw, Chorzow and Krakow, as well as the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk.

Concerns about the readiness of the co-hosts led to a warning in June this year from UEFA President Michel Platini that they risked losing the right to stage the tournament if stadiums in their capitals were not ready.

This prompted a defiant response from the prime minister of Poland, who vowed to prove the skeptics wrong and make the 2012 European Championship an organizational triumph.

"We are aware that there are countries interested in us failing and the only successful rebuke to that will be better coordination and solidarity in our actions," Polish premier Donald Tusk told reporters at the time.

Bizarrely, the head of Poland's Football Association, Michal Listkiewicz, offered Uefa an alternative option for 2012 after voicing his concerns about Poland's ability to overcome its transport issues.

"If the European Championships took place in 2016, we would have no problems about being ready then," Listkiewicz told Germany's Die Zeit Online.

"But realistically we are looking at having no good roads in time for 2012," he said. "From Gdansk (in Poland) to Donetsk (in the Ukraine) is more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles). This is not like in Austria and Switzerland where everything lies close together."

Both countries were given a partial reprieve in September this year after UEFA's executive committee met in Bordeaux to discuss a progress report on preparations for the tournament.

"The executive committee reconfirmed UEFA's commitment to organize Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine," Platini told uefa.com. "At the same time, the committee stressed a number of conditions must be met in order to bring forward the whole project."

"If we don't have the stadiums in Kiev and Warsaw, that's a problem. Ukraine can't afford to send everyone to a country where there is no capital city (ready),'' Platini said. "They are working very hard and we have confidence in them. The president and the prime minister tell me

Who warned both countries to up its progress?

Who claims corruption within it's domestic league?

What is the Polish FA working on fixing?

Who doubts Ukraine's ability to stage tournament?

Answer: UEFA's executive committee

Answer: UEFA's

Answer: FIFA

Answer: FIFA

Answer: shortage of adequate stadiums, high-quality hotels

Answer: Poland and

Answer: upgrade many of its venues,

Answer: UEFA President Michel Platini

Summary:
Doubts persist about Poland and Ukraine's ability to stage tournament in 2012 .
Polish FA fighting corruption claims within its domestic league .
Other issues include inadequate stadiums and a poor transport infrastructure .
UEFA warned both countries to speed up its progress .


(CNN) -- In Europe, the English have a reputation. They are notorious for prodigious drinking at Mediterranean resorts, a complete inability to master other languages and the habit of recalling World War Two every time England plays Germany at football -- or when it's time to remind the French of their spineless defeatism.

In turn, the words "perfidious Albion" have for centuries been part of a deep-seated French distrust of the English. "The English lie at mid-point between men and beasts," wrote the French author Robert-Martin Lesuire in 1760. Much more recently, French politicians have railed against "Anglo-Saxon" free-market capitalism as being responsible for the global financial meltdown. Just two weeks ago, French President Nicolas Sarkozy complained that globalization and free trade were at the root of the Eurozone crisis.

For their part, Germans are puzzled by the endless fascination of the British with the wars of the 20th century. "The older generation in particular see it as the last great act of national collective effort and self-assertion, the final episode in the history of the Empire before its imminent dissolution," writes the philosopher Gunnar Beck. He's not making it up. In 2010, an astonishing 850 books about the Third Reich were published in Britain.

Germans are relieved that the French don't have such visceral memories of war but wish they'd have more financial rectitude and a little less flamboyance. The Germans have fond memories of the deutsche mark, which rose out of the ashes with West Germany and was sacrificed for the euro. Chancellor Angela Merkel is conscious of a growing resentment among Germans that they must constantly open their wallets to support the more profligate Europeans.

This strange triangular relationship is often played out in the councils of Europe. But frequently Britain is the odd man out -- the semi-detached and half-hearted member of the European Union. The United Kingdom has always looked across the Atlantic as much as across the Channel to pursue its interests -- a sentiment only reinforced by memories of wartime Atlantic convoys that resupplied Britain and by the allied landings in Normandy.

By contrast, visionaries like Jean Monnet of France and Konrad Adenauer of West Germany, looking out at the ruins of Europe in the late 1940s, sought ways to bind together former enemies. The First World War had supposedly been the "war to end all wars." But this time, when they said "never again," they meant it. "Make men work together. Show them that beyond their differences and geographical boundaries there lies a common interest," Monnet said.

Last week, both Merkel and Sarkozy have summoned the ghosts of conflict to galvanize support for the European ideal, with Merkel warning the continent faces its gravest hour since 1945.

The ideal they are trying to save began modestly enough, with the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952: a single market for the coal and steel of six countries. But that common market was soon extended to become the European Economic Community (EEC), and gradually more aspects of national sovereignty were pooled. It was a Franco-German dream. Britain was too busy divesting itself of empire.

And when it turned from colonies to Europe, it bumped up against Charles de Gaulle, who dominated French politics for much of the post-war period. De Gaulle was innately suspicious of Britain and its "special relationship" with the United States. He twice vetoed British applications to join the evolving common market; and pulled France out of NATO's military command.

Once de Gaulle was gone, Britain -- under the leadership of the pro-European Conservative Edward Heath -- was finally accepted into the EEC. But Heath was in a minority among Britain's Conservatives, who would spend the next generation arguing over Europe.

The centrists saw Europe as essential to Britain's trading and financial future in a world of titans. The "Little Englanders" as they were often scornfully described, thought Europeans elitist, given to endless bureaucracy and determined to undermine a millennium of English self-rule.

And the Germans and the French were usually

What kind of relationship does Britain, Germany, and France have?

Explain how has Britain been the odd man out?

Answer: strange triangular

Answer: the semi-detached and half-hearted member of the European Union.

Summary:
Britain, Germany and France have long had a strange triangular relationship .
Britain has often been the odd man out, not fully buying into European unity .
Just who is coming along for the latest ride is not entirely clear .


(CNN) -- In India he's an icon and to the rest of the cricketing world he's simply known as one of the greatest ever batsmen. One the game's greats, Sachin Tendulkar is more than just a player in India, he's an icon. Sachin Tendulkar picked up a bat at the age of 4 in Mumbai and from that day on fell in love with the game. "The only thing that was on my mind was, 'I want to play for India one day,' and I was pretty sure and confident that one day I will," he told CNN in Mumbai. In fact he made his Test debut for India at the age of 16 facing Pakistan's fearsome bowling attack, just two years after making his first-class debut for Mumbai. Despite a baptism of fire in that first international match and getting hit on the mouth by a ball from Waquar Younis, he took his own game forward and has become known for the positivity of his play and the compact efficiency and brilliance of his shot-making. Making his first Test hundred at the age of 17 against England he has racked up the records in a 19-year career. In 2000 he became the first batsman to score 50 international hundreds, and is the highest scorer in One Day internationals. He joined an elite group in 2007 when he became only the third player to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket. Nicknames in cricket are common, but only if you're a really exceptional player do you get one that's complementary. Tendulkar has joined that elite as the "Little Master" which sits nicely next to other great batsmen, Viv "Master Blaster" Richards and Brian "The Prince" Lara. But perhaps no higher praise came from Australian cricketing legend Donald Bradman who once said that Tendulkar was the only player that reminded him of himself. Like all sportsmen he's suffered from injury, and now 35-years-old, many are wondering if his best days are behind him. Playing for India against England and Australia last summer and at the beginning of 2008, many commentators thought that his normal aggression and daring were missing from his game. His form was also heavily criticized after the 2007 World Cup, and injury forced him out of the international series against South Africa. But for the man used to batting away tricky deliveries, this criticism gets a typical positive response: "I'm not one to dwell on the past. I like to move forward and these challenges, these hurdles in between, they bring the best out of me. They motivate me even more." He's currently facing the challenges of the rapid-fire version of the game in the Indian Premier League (IPL), masterminded by Lalit Modi, that despite it's glitz and hype has been criticized for losing some of the finer points of the sport. "It's so full of excitement. I personally don't feel that it's dumbing-down the game. It's just another version of cricket. If the game is going to be globalized in the form of IPL, then why not? It's better for cricket," he told CNN.

What event was the cricket star the leading run-scorer at?

When did he begin his international career?

At what age did his international career begin?

Who is India's most familiar cricket player?

What was the age of the cricket star when he started his internation career?

What is his record in One Day Internationals?

Answer: One Day internationals.

Answer: at the age of 16

Answer: 16

Answer: Sachin Tendulkar

Answer: Sachin Tendulkar

Answer: 16

Answer: Sachin Tendulkar

Answer: India

Answer: 2007 when he became only the third player to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket.

Answer: 50

Answer: at the age of 16

Summary:
India's best known cricketer is one of the games best-ever batsmen .
Started his international career when just 16-years-old .
Leading run-scorer in One Day Internationals and holder of many other records .


(CNN) -- In Jacmel, Haiti, as light rain fell with the darkness Wednesday, Gwenn Goodale Mangine and a group of 35 people prepared to spend their second night sleeping outside on mattresses and cardboard boxes in her driveway.

Everyone is scared to be indoors. It is cold and damp.

The people of Jacmel line the streets, setting tires on fire to light up a town that has been reduced to rubble in many parts and is without power, she said. The flames are all that illuminate what remains of this town on the southern coast of Haiti, about 25 miles from the capital Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

"No one is wanting to go back into their homes, so they were all on the street. It's still like that," Mangine, 32, told CNN, speaking using a fleeting Internet connection. "Hundreds of people are all hunkered down for the night passing time and burning tires to light up the night."

The local airport has now become a refugee camp, she said. Buckets have become toilets. Residents shower using containers filled with water, if they can find it, she said.

Mangine and other residents of the town, with a population of about 34,000, spent Wednesday trying to stock up on supplies, while they remained fearful of continuing aftershocks, looked for survivors and tried to gauge the level destruction.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the perceived shaking from Tuesday's earthquake near Port-au-Prince would have been very strong in Jacmel, and they would be vulnerable to structural damage.

"Schools, homes, churches, businesses, hotels, old historic buildings -- dozens and dozens, gone," Mangine told CNN. "I just kept shaking my head and muttering, 'Oh my word,' over and over."

Mangine and her husband Nick have lived in Jacmel  since April 2009 working with the organization "Joy in Hope, " and are houseparents at a home for orphaned children.

Today, along with others in this town, they frantically searched for loved ones -- a task made harder by the power outages and Internet troubles in the wake of the devastation.

In one incident, a staff member's daughter was nowhere to be found after her home collapsed. They feared the worst, but eventually were elated to find out she was OK.

Mangine also helped a 24-year-old man named Hughes find his mother.

Mangine and Hughes drove towards Hughes' mother's house.

From the truck, he spotted her in the distance.

"He jumps out of the car as I am still driving and he yells, 'Manman, Manman!' [Mommy, mommy]," Mangine said. "He runs and hugs her and starts sobbing. His mother, Rosemary, is clinging to him, and sobbing too."

They embraced tightly for more than five minutes, Mangine said.

"Man, it tore my heart out," she said. "I couldn't help but sob myself."

Mangine said she has lived through tropical storms and floods that caused landslides and problems -- problems she attributes to poor construction.

Haiti was 'catastrophe waiting to happen'

At the Hands and Feet Project in Jacmel, Mark Stuart said he believes good construction is what kept their structure largely intact.

"I'm very, very thankful for the quality of the construction here," Stuart said. "It gives us a hope that we will make it."

Hope is alive in Jacmel, Mangine said, but the earthquake caused destruction she couldn't believe.

"This is a whole different scale," she said. "It's the most helpless feeling in the world. We've just heard story after story of people being trapped in piles of rubble -- and there's no way to dig them out. No big machinery. No tools. There's nothing. Nothing."

It lies in stark contrast of what it was more than a day ago.

Before the quake hit, she had just finished English and Creole lessons with a

What tore a big chunk of the hearts of the Haitian people?

Answer: a group of 35 people

Answer: earthquake

Answer: 34,000,

Summary:
Residents in Jacmel, Haiti, sleeping on mattresses, boxes in driveways .
Gwenn Goodale Mangine tells CNN schools, homes, churches destroyed in town .
Mangine: "There's no way to dig them out. No big machinery. No tools. There's nothing"
Earthquake tore a "big chunk of the hearts of the Haitian people," Mangine says .


(CNN) -- In Japanese legend they are known as The Kamikaze -- the divine winds -- a reference to two mighty typhoons placed providentially seven years apart which, in the 13th century, destroyed two separate Mongol invasion fleets so large they were not eclipsed until the D-Day landings of World War II.

Marine archaeologists now say they have uncovered the remains of a ship from the second fleet in 1281 -- believed to have comprised 4,400 vessels -- a meter below the seabed, in 25 meters of water off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan.

Scientists are hoping they will be able to recreate the complete Yuan Dynasty vessel from Kublai Khan's lost fleet using a 12-meter-long section of keel. The Mongols ruled China from 1271 to 1368.

According to Yoshifumi Ikeda, a professor of archaeology at Okinawa's University of the Ryukyus, and head of the research team, the section could go a long way to helping researchers identify all the characteristics of the 20-meter warship.

"This discovery was of major importance for our research," Ikeda told a news conference. "We are planning to expand search efforts and find further information that can help us restore the whole ship."

Discovered using ultrasound equipment, the research team says it is the first wreck from the period to have an intact hull, the planks of which are still attached to the keel with nails.

Scientists say its good state of preservation -- they were even able to establish that the planks were originally painted a whitish-gray -- is due to the fact it has been covered by sand.

"I believe we will be able to understand more about shipbuilding skills at the time as well as the actual situation of exchanges in East Asia," Ikeda told reporters in Nagasaki.

How to survive a shipwreck

More than 4,000 artifacts, including ceramic shards, bricks used for ballast, cannonballs and stone anchors have been found in the vicinity of the wreck, linking it to the Yuan Dynasty invasion fleet.

Ikeda said there were no immediate plans to salvage the hull and the first step was to conserve the find by covering the sites with nets.

The Kamikaze -- perhaps better known as the nickname given to the Japanese suicide pilots of the Pacific War -- were a nation-defining event for Japan and set the limits of Mongol expansion in the east.

Historians say the first Chinese attempt to invade Japan in 1274 ended in disaster.

Having initially engaged a numerically superior Japanese samurai force at the Battle of Bun'ei in First Battle of Hakata Bay, the Chinese retreated to their fleet of 300 ships and some 500 smaller craft after just one day of battle on land. A typhoon destroyed a third of the fleet that night and the remnants limped back to port in Korea which was then a vassal state of China.

Seven years later, Kublai Khan amassed an impressive armada of 4,400 ships carrying 40,000 Korean, Mongol and Chinese troops in a bid to finally subjugate Japan. The Japanese, convinced of a second invasion, had spent the intervening years building strategic seawalls which made it difficult for the Chinese to land.

Unable to gain a beachhead after initially taking the island of Iki and Tsushima, the fleet was decimated by a two-day typhoon that hit the Tsushima Straits.

It is believed about 80% of the fleet was destroyed and the Khan's troops either drowned at sea or slaughtered on the beaches by samurai.

According to a contemporary account cited in the book "Khubilai Khan's lost fleet: In Search of a Legendary Armada," by maritime archaeologist James P. Delgado, the losses were so great that "a person could walk across from one point of land to another on a mass of wreckage".

More than how many artifacts, including pottery shards, cannonballs and anchors were found near the wreck?

The vessel is thought to have been part of what?

What was the vessel thought to be part of

What have marine archaeologists found off the coast of Japan?

What is the vessel thought to have been part of?

Answer: More than 4,000 artifacts, including ceramic shards, bricks used for ballast, cannonballs and stone anchors

Answer: in 25 meters of water off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan.

Answer: 4,000

Answer: Kublai Khan's lost fleet

Answer: More than 4,000 artifacts,

Answer: the Yuan Dynasty invasion fleet.

Answer: the remains of a ship from the second fleet in 1281

Answer: More than 4,000

Answer: Kublai Khan's lost fleet

Summary:
Marine archaeologists have found a shipwreck dating from the 13th century off the coast of Japan .
The vessel is thought to have been part of Kublai Khan's massive invasion fleet .
More than 4,000 artifacts, including pottery shards, cannonballs and anchors were found near the wreck .


(CNN) -- In Mexico City, the government ran out of surgical masks after handing them out to one of every five residents. A mother and son wear face masks as protection from swine flu at Sydney international Airport in Australia. Manufacturers and pharmacies in Europe are also reporting a surge in demand for face masks. And a Texas-based surgical mask producer says it's ramping up to meet demand and expects a shortage of masks. But their real value seems to be in keeping people who are already ill from spreading the virus, rather than protecting healthy people, experts said. Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday in a press briefing that the "evidence is not very strong" for masks' value outside of health care settings, and outside of settings in which people come into face-to-face contact with a person with an infectious disease. "We would not recommend that people generally wear masks in their workplace as a precautionary measure," he said.  Watch for more on staying safe from swine flu » The World Health Organization (WHO) also warns against relying on face masks, especially for those not infected with the virus. "They are mainly useful for people who are already sick, to prevent spreading. Not so much to stop people from catching the virus," Sarah Cumberland of the WHO told CNN. The United Kingdom's Health Protection Agency also told CNN that the use of face masks was not necessary or recommended for protection against the swine flu virus. Although it's not known for sure how much benefit a surgical mask has in preventing the transmission of swine flu, people who have the illness may consider wearing one as a way to reduce the amount they cough and sneeze onto others, said Dr. Arthur Reingold, head of the epidemiology division at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. "I think that this is a perfectly reasonable thing for someone with a respiratory illness to do," he said. More effective than soft surgical masks is the N95, which is an example of a "respirator." This kind of tight-fitting face covering protects people against breathing very small particles, which may contain viruses. The downside is that it's more expensive, uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time and has to be custom fit, Reingold said, so it's suited for people working in high-risk laboratories. Masks carry both physical and psychological benefits, said Dr. Julio Frenk, former health minister of Mexico and current dean of the Harvard School of Public Health. Masks are a "reminder to people that they should avoid close contact with other persons," he said. "They also have this effect of isolating people and reminding them that they should not be kissing people, shaking hands, things like that." For health care workers, it's important to have high-efficiency masks, which protect better against infectious diseases, he said. But people in the United States should generally not have to wear masks because the cases are localized, he said. By contrast, it is more of a widespread problem in Mexico, especially in the capital city, a "huge urban conglomeration." Measures such as closing schools are the most effective in stopping the spread of the disease, he said. Mexico's schools are closed until at least May 6. By early Tuesday, the swine flu outbreak in Mexico was suspected in 152 deaths and more than 1,600 illnesses, the country's health minister said. Swine flu has reached  phase 4 (out of 6) on the pandemic scale, according to the WHO guidelines, but has not yet attained the status of global pandemic. During a flu pandemic, people should consider wearing a face mask if they are sick with the flu, live with someone who has the flu or need to be in a crowded place, the CDC Web site says. If you are caring for a person thought to have pandemic flu or will be close to someone who may have it, consider

What are Manufacturers and pharmacies are reporting a surge in demand for?

What is the more effective type of mask called?

Answer: face masks.

Answer: protection from swine flu

Answer: N95,

Answer: face masks.

Answer: surgical

Answer: physical and psychological

Summary:
Manufacturers and pharmacies are reporting a surge in demand for face masks .
It is unknown exactly how much protection a surgical face mask provides .
A more effective type of mask is called an N95, which is expensive .
Doctor: Masks carry both physical and psychological benefits .


(CNN) -- In a campaign to cleanse its national police force of "rotten apples," Honduras has placed 176 police officers under investigation for a range of alleged crimes, from corruption to murder.

All the officers belong to the same police post, which is based in a Tegucigalpa neighborhood known as "La Granja," or the farm, Security Ministry spokesman Silvio Inestrosa told CNN Friday.

Officers who worked at the post during the past five years are under investigation, he said.

The police scrutiny comes as distrust of police officers reaches new highs, following the killing of two university students, allegedly by police officers.

"As an institution, we have to strengthen the police, but we have to remove the rotten apples," President Porfirio Lobo said during a speech Thursday.

Honduras has the world's highest murder rate, with a rate in 2010 of 82.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. According to a recent report by the country's own human rights commission, that rate could increase to 86 per 100,000 this year.

Despite the high criminality, Hondurans don't always turn to the police for help. According to residents, the police are sometimes to be more feared than criminals.

This is the context under which two university students last month decided to flee from police instead of being pulled over. According to the national police, the officers shot and injured one of the students and headed toward a hospital. But along the way, police said, the officers instead decided to take the pair to a different location and execute them.

The officers implicated in the killings are from the same district that is under investigation.

Already, four officers who have been charged with covering up the killings have appeared before a judge. The four officers accused of actually carrying out the killings are fugitives.

The investigations and possible firings of the 176 is latest of a series of steps that the government has taken since the outcry over the killings.

Days after the incident, the national police shook up its top ranks.

"In these times of violence it is necessary to have new actions, vitality, energy and teamwork with the benefit of the Honduran people in mind," Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla said when he announced the changes.

Also, lawmakers on Thursday rewrote the country's policing laws, stripping the national police of its internal affairs department, and handing over such investigations to a new, independent force.

Journalist Elvin Sandoval contributed to this report.

Officers who worked at the post during which time period are under investigation?

176 police officers are under investigation where?

In Honduras, how many police officers are under investigation?

Answer: the past five years

Answer: Honduras

Answer: 176

Summary:
In Honduras, 176 police officers are under investigation .
They all worked at the same police post in Tegucigalpa .
Officers who worked at the post during the past five years are under investigation .


(CNN) -- In a case that drew national attention because it was to be videotaped, convicted murderer Andrew Grant DeYoung was executed by lethal injection Thursday night, a corrections department spokeswoman said.

DeYoung was declared dead at 8:04 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, said Joan Heath, the spokeswoman. His last words were: "I'm sorry for everyone I've hurt," according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which was one of the media outlets granted access to the execution.  The execution occurred after the state Supreme Court denied DeYoung's motion to take another look at a lower court judge's decision Tuesday allowing the state to replace sodium thiopental with pentobarbital as the anesthetizing agent in the execution, the court's statement said.

That lower court judge's ruling, however, did approve the rare videotaping of the execution at the request of DeYoung's attorneys, who argued that the substitution of drugs would cause needless pain and suffering.

For the first time in Georgia, a videographer was present in the execution chamber to document DeYoung's death and his reaction to a new three-drug lethal injection that anti-death penalty activists said caused unnecessary pain and suffering, according to reports in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  On October 13, 1995, DeYoung was convicted in Cobb County of fatally stabbing his parents, Kathryn and Gary DeYoung, and his 14-year-old sister, Sarah.

His final meal was an institutional one -- chicken and rice, Heath said.

DeYoung's special request for pizza, breadsticks, all-fruit strawberry preserves, Concord grape juice and vanilla ice cream was carried out on Wednesday, Heath said.

With Thursday's execution, Georgia has put to death 51 men since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973. DeYoung was the 28th inmate put to death by lethal injection, the state corrections department said.

CNN's Bill Mears and Michael Martinez contributed to this report.

What person was convicted of killing his family

What person was executed by lethal injection

Answer: fatally stabbing his parents, Kathryn and Gary DeYoung, and his 14-year-old sister, Sarah.

Answer: the rare videotaping of the execution

Answer: Andrew Grant DeYoung

Answer: Andrew Grant DeYoung

Answer: fatally stabbing his parents, Kathryn and Gary DeYoung, and his 14-year-old sister, Sarah.

Answer: convicted murderer

Summary:
NEW: Andrew Grant DeYoung is executed by lethal injection .
He was convicted of killing his parents and sister .
At the defense's request, a lower court allows for a videotaping of the execution .