Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- A U.N. maritime task force was scouring the stormy waters off the coast of northern Lebanon Friday, searching for survivors from a livestock carrier that sank the night before.

"The operation that commenced last evening continued through the night in difficult weather conditions," said a statement from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

As of 3:15 p.m. local time Friday, rescuers had found 42 survivors and four bodies, according to a release from UNIFIL. Four of the survivors were sailors who were picked up by other ships.

The Lebanese navy said there were 83 people aboard the cargo ship that was packed with sheep and other livestock.

The Panamanian-flagged carrier, the "Danny F II," sank about 12 miles off the coast of Tripoli.

The Lebanese navy sent a distress signal to UNIFIL indicating the ship had capsized Thursday night, the U.N. task force said.

"UNIFIL Maritime Task Force immediately responded to the location with three ships, the frigate 'Zeffiro' (Italy), mine hunter 'Laboe' (Germany) and supply ship 'Mosel' (Germany), that have since been engaged in the search and rescue operations in collaboration with the Lebanese Navy," Friday's statement said.

Searchers said the survivors, who are of different nationalities, received medical treatment on board UNIFIL ships before being taken ashore.

CNN's Nada Husseini contributed to this report

What ship sinks about 12 miles off the coast of Tripoli?

How many people did the Navy say were on board?

What sank about 12 miles off the coast of Tripoli?

What did the Lebanese navy say it found?

Answer: "Danny F II,"

Answer: about 12 miles off the coast of Tripoli.

Answer: 42

Answer: 83

Answer: "Danny F II,"

Answer: 83

Answer: there were 83 people aboard the cargo ship that was packed with sheep and other livestock.

Answer: 42 survivors and four bodies,

Summary:
Panamanian-flagged ship sinks about 12 miles off the coast of Tripoli .
Lebanese navy says it found 42 survivors and four bodies .
The navy says there were 83 people aboard the ship .
Authorities say people on board were wearing life jackets .


Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- Air traffic controllers in Lebanon were telling the pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines flight to change course shortly before it crashed into the sea, the country's transportation minister told CNN Tuesday.

An international search team was combing Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline for signs of life Tuesday amid fears that all 90 people aboard the Addis Ababa-bound airliner perished in the accident, authorities said.

Lebanese Transportation Minister Ghazi al-Aridi said Tuesday it was too early to determine whether pilot error had caused the crash.

He said the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders would need to be recovered to determine why Flight 409 disappeared from radar screens shortly after taking off from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport at about 2:30 a.m. local time.

The control tower lost contact with the plane before it made a course correction Monday, al-Aridi said.

In a statement, Ethiopian Airlines said the pilot of the flight had more than 20 years of experience flying various aircraft with the airline's network. The plane had been declared safe and fit to fly following a regular maintenance service on December 25, 2009, the airline said.

The Lebanese military reported Tuesday that 14 bodies had been found -- nine fewer than an earlier count. Confusion early in the search led to double-counting, they said. No survivors have been found.

The search included aircraft from the United States, Britain, France and Cyprus.

The U.S. military sent the USS Ramage -- a guided missile destroyer -- and Navy P-3 aircraft in response to Lebanese requests for assistance, according to U.S. defense officials.

"We don't believe that there is any indication for sabotage or foul play," Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said Monday.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is also sending an investigator because the plane was made by a U.S. manufacturer.

The Boeing 737-800 had eight crew members and 82 passengers -- 51 Lebanese nationals, 23 Ethiopians, two Britons and citizens from Canada, Iraq, Russia, Syria, Turkey and France -- when it went down, the airline said.

The plane crashed about 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) west of the town of Na'ameh which is 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of Beirut.

Government-owned Ethiopian Airlines is one of the largest carriers in Africa, serving Europe and three other continents. The airline has experienced two fatal crashes since 1980.

In November 1996, a flight bound for Ivory Coast was hijacked by three men who demanded that the pilot fly to Australia. The pilot crashed while attempting an emergency landing near the Comoros Islands off Africa. About 130 of the 172 people aboard died, according to published reports.

And in September 1988, a flight struck a flock of birds during takeoff. During the crash landing that followed, 31 of the 105 people aboard died.

CNN's Nada Husseini and Cal Perry contributed to this report.

Who was told to change course prior to crash?

What do you tell the pilot before crashing?

The pilot was told to do what, prior to the crash?

What combs Lebanese coast following Ethiopian Airlines plane crash?

Which airline owns the plain which crashed?

Answer: flight

Answer: 14

Answer: to change course

Answer: 14

Answer: change course

Answer: international search team

Answer: Ethiopian

Answer: No survivors

Summary:
Search teams comb Lebanese coast following Ethiopian Airlines plane crash .
Pilot was told to change course prior to crash, transport minister says .
Just 14 bodies found so far; plane was carrying 90 crew and passengers .
Plane disappeared from radar shortly after takeoff from Beirut on Monday .


Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- Searchers have found the flight data recorder from an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed Monday with 90 people aboard, the Lebanese army said Thursday.

The data recorder, commonly called a black box, was found at a depth of about 1,300 meters in the Mediterranean Sea.

The recorder had not yet been retrieved, the army said.

The Boeing 737-800, carrying eight crew members and 82 passengers, crashed into the sea after takeoff from Lebanon early Monday.

At least 14 bodies had been recovered from the crash of the airliner, which was bound for the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, officials said.

The plane crashed about 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) west of the town of Na'ameh, which is 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of Beirut.

Government-owned Ethiopian Airlines is one of the largest carriers in Africa, serving Europe and three other continents.

CNN's Nada Husseini contributed to this report.

what amount of bodies have been found so far?

Answer: Monday

Answer: 82

Answer: 14

Answer: at a depth of about 1,300 meters in the Mediterranean Sea.

Answer: flight data recorder from an Ethiopian Airlines plane

Answer: 14

Answer: Addis Ababa,

Answer: at a depth of about 1,300 meters in the Mediterranean Sea.

Summary:
Flight data recorder of downed Ethiopian Airlines plane found, Lebanon's army says .
So-called "black box" found at depth of 1,300 meters in Mediterranean Sea .
At least 14 bodies found so far; plane was carrying 90 crew and passengers .


Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- The leaders of Lebanon and Syria vowed to improve cooperation between their two countries Sunday, tying up a meeting aimed at thawing frozen relations. "We want to open new horizons between the two states," Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said at a news conference at the end of the two-day meeting, which happened in Damascus, Syria. "We had good and excellent discussions based on mutual clarity and honesty," he added. "We are betting on a better future for both countries and peoples, in economy, trade as well as all other levels." Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was not at the news conference. Official Syrian news agency SANA reported that both al-Assad and Hariri "saw the visit as a starting point to restore cooperation between the governments of Syria and Lebanon." "Both sides agreed that the institutions and ministries in both countries directly coordinate and communicate to remove all obstacles to the cooperation on all levels," SANA reported. Hariri has previously blamed Syria for the 2005 assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri, a former Lebanese leader who was a prominent figure opposing Syria's continuing presence inside Lebanon. A United Nations investigation found indications of Syrian involvement, but Syria denies responsibility. A U.N.-backed tribunal has been created to investigate the killing. The two leaders did not discuss that issue or the assassinations of other anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon, Hariri said Sunday. They also did not discuss requests by a Syrian court to question Lebanese officials. Asked whether any guarantees were exchanged regarding the Lebanese-Syrian relationship, Hariri responded, "I don't want to go into details." He added that the meeting proves "a relationship is being built in both countries' interest and in the benefit of future openness." A popular uprising after the elder Hariri's killing in 2005 helped lead to the withdrawal of Syrian forces after almost 30 years of military and political domination of Lebanon. Under international pressure, Syria opened an embassy in Beirut almost a year ago, and a Lebanese ambassador arrived in Damascus a short while later. It was the first time the two foes established diplomatic ties since their independence more than six decades ago. The United States, which also accused Syria of involvement in Rafik Hariri's assassination, withdrew its ambassador four years ago. President Obama decided to make an effort toward reconciliation and announced earlier this year that he was returning a U.S. diplomat to Damascus.

When did the relations between Arab nations collapse?

WHat is the name of the Lebanese prime minister?

With whom did the lebanese prime minister meet?

Answer: 2005

Answer: frozen

Answer: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad

Answer: "We want to open new horizons between the two states,"

Answer: frozen

Answer: Saad Hariri

Answer: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Summary:
NEW: Lebanese leader: "We are betting on a better future for both countries and peoples"
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Syria .
Relations between neighboring Arab nations collapsed after 2005 assassination of Hariri's father .


Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Northern Ireland's Martin McGuinness will be the Sinn Fein candidate for president of the Republic of Ireland when elections are held next month, the party's executive committee voted unanimously Sunday.

McGuinness, a former leader of the IRA, is now deputy first minister of Northern Ireland.

Accepting his party's nomination Sunday, he said republicans have an obligation to "heal the wounds of their actions."

McGuinness has admitted that he was a leader of the Provisional IRA during the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland between pro-British and pro-Irish forces.

In recent years, he has received death threats from hardline dissident IRA splinter groups because of his support for the peace process.

He referred to a recent upsurge in violence in the province in his speech Sunday.

"I know there will be a very strong temptation for people to drag us back to the past. God knows there are enough of them trying to do so, in a violent sense, at the moment," he said.

He described himself as a man of peace who can work across sectarian lines.

"People see me very much as a peacemaker, but, more importantly, they see me as a peacemaker who can be trusted," he said. "I have every confidence that the peace process will be strengthened by my participation in the presidential election."

"I am proud to have served in government alongside unionists," he said, referring to those who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom rather than uniting with the republic to the south.  "I can work with anyone. Times have changed in the North."

Sinn Fein won 14 seats in the Irish parliament, the Dail Eireann, in elections this year.

The party's leader, Gerry Adams, moved from his west Belfast constituency in Northern Ireland to win a parliamentary seat in the republic, topping the poll in the Louth constituency.

McGuinness will step down temporarily as deputy first minister in Northern Ireland's power-sharing government during the election campaign, to be replaced by Education Minister John O'Dowd, Sinn Fein said.

If elected, he would resign from his position in Northern Ireland.

Ireland's president is a largely ceremonial role, with national elections held every seven years.

The president is the guardian of the constitution and has the power to refer contentious laws to Ireland's Supreme Court.

Mary McAleese has been the president since 1997 and is nearing the end of her second term of office.

McAleese hosted a historic visit to Ireland by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in May, days before U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in the country.

Elections are due to be held October 27.

On Friday, Irish Senator David Norris said he intends to re-enter the race.

Norris -- previously tipped to be the first openly gay president of Ireland -- withdrew from the contest August 2.

He abandoned his bid after it emerged he had made a plea for clemency for a former lover convicted of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in Israel in the 1990s.

However, Norris told Irish television Friday night he had changed his mind and is seeking support to relaunch his campaign following a "consistent outpouring" of public support.

He now has to secure political nominations to get his name on the presidential ballot paper.

An opinion poll published Sunday showed Labour's Michael D. Higgins leading Norris, who might be backed by the Fianna Fail party.

But the Sunday Independent/Millward Brown Lansdowne poll was completed before Norris said he was rejoining the race and before Sinn Fein put McGuinness' name forward.

when Elections for the largely ceremonial post are scheduled?

Who is deputy first minister of Northern Ireland?

who is the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland?

who have a responsibility to heal wounds?

Answer: republicans have an obligation to "heal the wounds of their actions."

Answer: October 27.

Answer: Martin McGuinness

Answer: Martin McGuinness

Answer: McGuinness,

Answer: next month,

Answer: republicans

Summary:
The former IRA leader says republicans have a responsibility to heal wounds .
He says he can "work with anyone"
McGuinness is deputy first minister of Northern Ireland .
Elections for the largely ceremonial post are scheduled for October 27 .


Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Pop superstar Rihanna has been ordered to cover up by a Christian farmer who took exception to her "inappropriate behavior" while filming a music video on his land.

The controversy has erupted in Northern Ireland and was even discussed Tuesday by lawmakers in the province's elected Assembly in Belfast.

Rihanna, who was born in Barbados but has Irish ancestry, is in Northern Ireland this week for sold-out shows at Belfast's Odyssey Arena.

The 23-year-old had been given permission to film a video for the song "We Found Love" in a muddy barley field owned by farmer Alan Graham outside Bangor, about 10 miles from Belfast.

Graham explained Tuesday, "I didn't know who was coming. If the name 'Rihanna' had been mentioned, well, no disrespect, but it wouldn't have meant anything."

However, he says that when he went to get his tractor Monday and saw the singer stripping down to a bikini top, he stepped in to end the shoot.

The local political representative said he "asked the film crew to stop, and they did."

Graham insisted that "there were no hard feelings."

He added: "I had a conversation with Rihanna; we shook hands; we parted company on good terms. I found her very gracious, and I hope she understands where I'm coming from. I wish her well."

Word had quickly spread of Rihanna's surprise appearance in the Northern Irish countryside, and traffic came to a standstill as fans attempted to catch a glimpse of the star.

Graham's wife shed more light on the incident Tuesday, revealing that Rihanna had gone topless.

Said Mrs. Graham, who declined to give her first name, "What she was doing became more inappropriate. When she started to go topless, that's what Alan was particularly objecting to -- things were getting out of hand. There was a man as well, and the behavior was getting more inappropriate. ... It wasn't the sort of thing Alan wanted young people (those watching) to see on his land. We are Christians."

However, Mrs. Graham added: "The girl was very nice; she shook hands with Alan several times" after he asked for the filming to stop.

Not to be deterred, Rihanna was back filming again in Belfast on Tuesday.

But the controversy of the sexy shoot in the barley field rumbled on -- and even made it onto the agenda at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Graham is a local representative with the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (formerly led by Protestant preacher the Rev. Ian Paisley), and the Rihanna row led to a light-hearted exchange between lawmakers in the Northern Ireland Assembly on Tuesday.

Mike Nesbitt, of rival pro-British party the Ulster Unionists, addressed Democratic Unionist leader Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland's first minister.

Nesbitt said, "I wonder if the first minister has had an opportunity to assess the potential damage from the news that the pop icon Rihanna was foiled in her filming ambitions yesterday, which I believe were no more sinister than appearing in a field in red, white and blue." (The latter are the colors of the British flag as well as the American one).

Robinson replied, "I'm pretty sure there was no problem with the colors involved!"

Robinson had just been telling the Assembly of his recent trade mission to the United States to encourage Hollywood studios to make more movies in Northern Ireland.

Who says the Barbados-born singer went topless

Answer: Alan Graham

Answer: Graham's wife

Answer: Alan was particularly objecting to

Answer: "We Found Love"

Answer: to cover up

Answer: Rihanna

Answer: a music video

Answer: Belfast.

Summary:
Pop singer was filming "We Found Love" video on farm outside Belfast .
Farmer asked film crew to stop after he spotted Rihanna strip to bikini top .
His wife says the Barbados-born singer actually went topless .
Province's lawmakers even discussed the controversy .


Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Sectarian rioting broke out in eastern Belfast late Monday, with leaders from both Catholic and Protestant communities reporting attacks on homes overnight.

Police reported Molotov cocktails were being thrown as a large crowd gathered on the streets that separate Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in the area, a longstanding Northern Ireland flash point. Ambulance services reported two people injured early Tuesday, and reporters attempting to cover the disturbances were threatened.

The Irish republican party Sinn Fein said up to 100 masked men raided Catholic-owned homes in the Short Strand neighborhood after allegations by unionist politicians that Protestant homes were attacked Sunday. Police had no information on any of Sunday's reported attacks.

Sinn Fein blamed the attacks on Catholics on members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a loyalist paramilitary group that officially disarmed in 2009. Police had no immediate comment on the assertion.

After a long period of quiet in its ongoing "Troubles" between Catholics and Protestants, Northern Ireland has seen a resurgence of violence in recent months. Tensions also are typically elevated in early summer, when Protestant groups hold commemorative marches to celebrate the 17th-century victory of England's King William III over his Catholic predecessor, James II.

that has occurred in recent months in Northern Ireland

whats Ambulance services report two injured?

Answer: a resurgence of violence

Answer: resurgence of violence

Answer: Northern Ireland

Summary:
Molotov cocktails mark east Belfast clashes .
Ambulance services report two injured .
Northern Ireland has seen a resurgence of violence in recent months .


Below is an essay written by Steven Stanton's son Travis after he learned that his father was going to become a woman. The story of his father's transformation can be seen on "Her Name Was Steven" at 8 and 11 p.m. ET Saturday on CNN.

Throughout my whole life, I thought my dad was a really tough guy.

He went out with the cops and busted bad guys. He shot guns, fought fires, he was an aggressive driver, and he liked football and lots of sports.

Then, one day my thoughts changed about him when we had a family meeting and he told me how he felt about himself.

He said he felt like a woman on the inside and was going to change into one. He said he tried his best to be a manly guy, but he couldn't stop his feelings to become a girl.

I was very surprised to hear this.

At first, I thought I was in a dream.

It was very hard to believe such a thing. I thought he was a 100% manly man, like more manly than most guys. After a few days, I thought about it.

I knew he was making the right choice to become a girl.

Although I can't relate to his feelings, it must be really hard to hide something like that. It would be like having one million dollars and not being able to spend it. After just so long, your feelings would take over and spend it.

Now, though, I am very proud of my dad.  Read Travis' response to some viewer questions about his father

After I saw him, and saw that inside he was the same dad as he always was: he still likes football, he still likes to be an aggressive driver. He is still the same person, but just different on the outside.

I am very happy for him now that he is who he wants to be.

I think that everyone should be who they are and not try to be the same as other people.

If you ask me, this has got to be the manliest thing he has done in his whole life.

It takes a real man to come out of your shell and say, "hey, I am who I am" and take the responsibility of doing that.

In conclusion, I thought my dad was a man, like, gender wise, but now he is who he is meant to be.

He is himself.

who is the son of Susan Stanton, who underwent sex change operation

what kind of operation was subjected Susan Stanton

When we can watch "Her Name Was Steven"?

Answer: The story of his father's transformation

Answer: Travis

Answer: Travis

Answer: Steven

Answer: Travis

Answer: become a woman.

Answer: Now, though, I am very proud of my dad.

Answer: at 8 and 11 p.m. ET Saturday on CNN.

Summary:
Travis Stanton is son of Susan Stanton, who underwent sex-change operation .
Travis says he's happy for his father .
Watch "Her Name Was Steven" at 8 and 11 p.m. ET Saturday on CNN .


Below is an excerpt from HLN "Morning Express" anchor Robin Meade's new book, Morning Sunshine!: How to Radiate Confidence and Feel It Too published by Hachette Book Group.  The following  takes place when Robin was working as a weekend anchor in Chicago, Illinois. Robin Meade's book "Morning Sunshine!: How to Radiate Confidence and Feel It Too" hits shelves September 10. I looked down at the copy of the news story. My stomach clenched. My heart started palpitating. I think I held my breath without realizing it. The floor director gave me the cue, pointing at me as the camera came up on my face. I felt sweaty. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, the set seemed to fade into a gauzy haze. My breathing was jagged. The words came, but my voice was quivering so much it sounded like a kid singing into a big box fan on a humid summer day: "Bray-ay-ay-ay-king new-ew-ew-ews tonigh-igh-ight." My hands shook uncontrollably, and I was huffing and puffing as if I were running mile twenty five of the Chicago Marathon. These were not the controlled, measured tones of someone who had been doing this for a living for years. My heart pounded in my ears, and my face flushed. I was losing it, right there with who knows how many thousands of people watching. What the hell is happening? As I delivered the facts of the story, I didn't hear a thing that came out of my mouth. All I heard were my own thoughts. Oh, no, you're screwing up! Oh, no, your bosses are probably watching! You're going to get fired! How will you pay your mortgage? What will people think of you? And then, of course, Holy crapola, where is that sound bite? Can you see how the cause-and-effect relationship of my thoughts just engulfed me in doom and gloom? I couldn't keep my mind on the story. I totally slipped into imagining the future and the horrible repercussions of my screwup.  CNN's Virginia Cha talks to Robin about her on-air anxiety and her upcoming book » Because I'm writing this today, you can tell that somehow I lived to see the sound bite that evening. The whole looking-like-I-was-hopped-up-on-six-energy-drinks episode lasted only seconds. But it seemed like an eternity. Now Josh, the I'm-going-to-be-a-reporter-someday crew member, and Michael, the I-really-want-to-be-a-rock-star prompter operator, were around me, wearing the same expression you'd have after witnessing a car wreck. "Robin, are you okay? Do you need a glass of water?" Josh's eyes were wide open, as if he really wanted to shout, "Dude!" He didn't know what to make of this. "Yeah, please," I croaked. My mouth was cotton. I wished I had a trough to douse my head in instead of a tiny Dixie cup of water. "Everything okay out there?" the producer chimed in on my IFB, the earpiece through which the producer and director talk to anchors during the show without the folks at home hearing it. What to say, what to say? "Oh, sorry about that. Wow, that was weird! I lost my breath or something." I faked a half-laugh at the end of that statement for their benefit. When Josh handed me the glass of water, I was surprised to see my hands were still trembling. I noticed how incredibly weak I felt, and I noisily gulped down the water the way my dog does at his water bowl after he's been chasing squirrels for an hour. Get it together, Robin! Miraculously, by the time

What threatened to stop Robin Meade's career in its tracks?

Robin Meade's new book is released when?

Who's new book hits shelves September 10?

Answer: on-air anxiety

Answer: September 10.

Answer: September 10.

Answer: September 10.

Answer: Robin Meade's

Summary:
Anxiety attacks threatened to stop Robin Meade's career in its tracks .
Her compulsion to overachieve put Meade temporarily out of touch with herself .
Meade shares how she got her confidence, and her spontaneity, back .
Robin Meade's new book hits shelves September 10 .


Berlin (CNN) -- An opossum that gained worldwide fame for its comedic cross-eyed looks has been put to sleep after its health deteriorated, Leipzig Zoo said Wednesday.

The female opossum, called Heidi, became a German media sensation after her picture was published in late 2010 and had more than 330,000 fans on Facebook.

According to the zoo's website, she and a sister were probably born in May 2008. The pair were found as orphans and raised in a wild animal sanctuary in North Carolina before moving to a zoo in Denmark and eventually arriving in Leipzig in May last year.

Leipzig Zoo released a statement saying: "Heidi, our cross-eyed opossum, has closed her eyes forever today. She passed away having shown typical symptoms of her old age and having severely suffered from arthrosis.

"This illness has made it painful for her to move over the last couple of weeks and Heidi was treated with vitamins and other medicine. Following a short-lived improvement of her condition, her general state of health deteriorated over the last days despite continuous efforts by the veterinarians."

Heidi had to be put to sleep avoid her suffering pain, in accordance with animal welfare guidelines, the zoo said. Arthrosis is a degenerative joint disease.

The cause of Heidi's profoundly crossed eyes remains a mystery, although the zoo's website suggests the way she was fed when she was hand-reared in the United States may have played a role -- as well as the fact she was overweight, which led to "fatty deposits behind the eyes which are pressing the eyeballs slightly out of the eye sockets."

Her sister, named Naira, is also cross-eyed but the zoo's third opossum, a male called Teddy, lacks their distinctive looks.

Opossums, a type of marsupial found in North and South America, have a maximum life expectancy of four to five years, the zoo's website says.

CNN's Brian Walker and Stefan Simons contributed to this report.

where did heidi move to last year?
what did the zoo do?
where was heidi raised?
Who became a German media sensation?

Answer: Leipzig

Answer: Heidi had to be put to sleep

Answer: wild animal sanctuary in North Carolina

Answer: female opossum, called Heidi,

Summary:
Heidi became a German media sensation after moving to Leipzig Zoo last year .
She was raised in a North Carolina animal sanctuary after being found orphaned .
Her health worsened in recent weeks, the zoo says; she was put to sleep to avoid suffering .


Berlin (CNN) -- At least seven homemade explosives have been found along Berlin's railways within the last three days, police said Wednesday, severely disrupting traffic on several lines.

Two of the devices have exploded -- one Monday and one on Wednesday, authorities said, but nobody was killed or injured in the blasts.

Monday's explosion occurred next to a railway link between Hamburg and Berlin. The damage has not yet been repaired, authorities said.

Since Monday, at least 2,000 trains have been delayed due to the attacks, a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn told CNN Wednesday.

Another arson attempt -- this one on BerlinÂ´s central train station -- failed Monday because officials discovered the device before it exploded.

"The German national rail company Deutsche Bahn has become the victim of extremists. Nevertheless, our controls have been successful," said Gerd Neubeck, senior manager of the companyÂ´s security department, in a written statement Tuesday.

Deutsche Bahn is offering a 100,000 euro (U.S. $138,120) reward for information leading to the arrests of those behind the blasts, according to a statement from the company.

A group called the "Hekla Welcome Committee-Initiative for More Social Eruptions" has claimed responsibility for the explosions.

"This morning we slowed down the German capital and its function as a global player in the export of armaments," said a statement from the group released Monday on a leftist website.

However, the group said it is not acting "with the intention to endanger somebody's life."

The group blames GermanyÂ´s involvement in the Afghan war for the attacks.

"German soldiers kill in different parts of the world. For 10 years, the German armed forces are at war in Afghanistan -- without the agreement of the German people," Hekla said.

At the beginning of October, a poll by the opinion research institute YouGov showed that two-thirds of all Germans do not believe in a successful military operation in Afghanistan anymore.

The alleged attackers also demanded the release of U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning from jail and criticized U.S. military actions all over the world. Manning is accused of leaking thousands of classified U.S. military and State Department documents to the WikiLeaks website.

The incendiary devices found in the past few days were filled with fluid and usually placed on cables, officials said. An investigation by the regional German police agency Landeskriminalamt is under way.

"I have ordered an immediate increase in police patrols around Berlin," German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said in a statement Wednesday.

Sources from Germany's Office for the Protection of the Constitution told CNN Wednesday that the Hekla Welcome Committee was previously unknown to authorities. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. One source said German railways are a common target of leftist extremists. In May, a homemade explosive device hidden next to an important railway hub in the city's east caused massive delays.

In the 1970s, the leftist Red Army Faction terrorized Germany through bank robberies, kidnappings and assassinations. Its members were accused in more than 30 deaths.

A reward for information is being offered by whom?

Answer: "Hekla Welcome Committee-Initiative for More Social Eruptions"

Answer: information leading to the arrests of those behind the blasts,

Answer: "Hekla Welcome Committee-Initiative for More Social Eruptions"

Answer: Deutsche

Answer: a 100,000 euro (U.S. $138,120) reward for information leading to the arrests of those behind the blasts,

Summary:
NEW: Germany's railway operator is offering a reward for information in the case .
No one has been hurt in the explosions, police say .
A previously unknown group claims responsibility .
The group is opposed to Germany's presence in Afghanistan .


Berlin (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI met Friday with a group of people who had been sexually abused by clergy in his native Germany, where disenchantment with the Roman Catholic Church has grown in the wake of the scandal.

The meeting, which occurred at a seminary in Erfurt, came on the second day of the pontiff's four-day visit to his homeland. Besides talking with victims of sexual abuse committed by priests and church personnel, he also met with people "who care for those injured by these crimes," according to a statement from the Vatican press office.

"Moved and deeply shaken by the sufferings of the victims, the Holy Father expressed his deep compassion and regret over all that was done to them and their families," the statement added. "He assured the people present that those in positions of responsibility in the church are seriously concerned to deal with all crimes of abuse and are committed to effective measures for the protection of children."

The pope has had similar meetings elsewhere, in the face of outcries from many nations in Europe, North America and beyond criticizing the church for its handling of sexual abuse cases.

Friday's visit was unique in that it took place in the homeland of Benedict, where he'd also served as a cardinal. He himself got caught up in the scandal in at least one case, when he -- as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- approved the transfer of a man within Germany in the wake of accusations that the man had abused children.

But the archdiocese has said the then-cardinal was never personally aware of the details of the man's case. In March 2010, the priest -- then identified only as H -- was suspended, the archdiocese of Munich and Freising announced.

Five years earlier, enthusiasm was high in Germany's Catholic community when Benedict was named pope. But the sex abuse scandal, and a perception that a conservative church is unlikely to change its ways, has affected the church in the European nation.

According to Der Spiegel magazine, more than 181,000 Catholics have left the church since the scandal broke. And candidates for the priesthood have plummeted 62% since 1990, according to the German Bishops Conference.

While he has visited Germany three times since 2005, this marks Benedict's first state visit as pope.

On Thursday, he met with Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Christian Wulf. He also gave a speech before the Reichstag, Germany's parliament, in which he spoke of the "inviolable dignity of every single human person."

Benedict began his day Friday with a mass in Berlin and he met with 15 representatives of Germany's Muslim community. In a subsequent speech, he said, "the convictions (Catholics and Muslims) are becoming visible" while adding that "constant effort is needed in order to foster better mutual acquaintance and understanding."

"There can be a fruitful collaboration between Christians and Muslims," Benedict said in the speech, a transcript of which was provided by the Vatican. "We can offer an important witness in many key areas of life in society (such as) the protection of the family based on marriage, respect for life in every phase of its natural course or the promotion of greater social justice."

CNN's Rick Noack contributed to this report.

what is the pope name
who is meeting the victims
what does he expresed

Answer: Benedict XVI

Answer: Pope Benedict XVI

Answer: deep compassion and regret

Summary:
Pope Benedict XVI meets with victims of clergy abuse in his native Germany .
He "expressed his deep compassion and regret," the Vatican reports .
It is his first state visit to Germany, which included meetings with top officials .
The pope also pushed for "a fruitful collaboration" with Muslims .


Berlin, Germany (CNN)  -- A bomb scare that affected about 100 flights at Munich Airport in Germany on Wednesday may have been a false alarm, German police told CNN.

Police launched a huge manhunt Wednesday after a passenger appeared to flee from security officers when his laptop computer bag tested positive for explosives, they said.

Police originally said authorities wanted to take the man in for further testing after his bag set off suspicions, but he ran. They said a bomb squad was testing the bag to see if it really contained explosives.

But authorities later said the man may simply have been in a hurry, grabbed his things and left the airport.

They do not have the laptop case, they said.

They are still trying to find the man, they said, but are no longer describing the search as a huge manhunt.

Police earlier said they were reviewing airport security videos to try to figure out where the man went. It was not clear if that was what caused them to change their evaluation of the situation.

Police did not know which flight the man was booked on.

Part of the airport was shut down after the suspect fled, but was later reopened.

All planes in the area of Terminal 2, where the incident took place, were evacuated and all luggage was removed, police said. The passengers had to leave the secure area and be rescreened, an airport representative told CNN, adding that the airport was otherwise operating normally.

About 100 flights were affected by the security measures. Some were canceled and others were delayed, the airport said, adding that activity has slowly begun to return to normal.

The airport Web site was still showing some delays to flights leaving Terminal 2 several hours after the incident.

The incident took place as a United States Senate committee debated the foiled Christmas Day attack aboard a plane bound from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Detroit, Michigan.

The committee chairman, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Connecticut, said it is "infuriating" that the December 25 suspect, Nigerian Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, was able to board the plane in the Netherlands with a U.S. visa.

Janet Napolitano, secretary of homeland security, said AbdulMutallab "was not on the no-fly list, which would've flagged him to be prevented from boarding, nor was he on the selectee list, which would've flagged him for secondary screening."

"Furthermore, the physical screening performed by foreign authorities at airports in Nigeria and the Netherlands did not detect explosives on his body," Napolitano said. "As this incident underscores, aviation security is increasingly an international responsibility."

She said top Homeland Security Department officials are embarking on a multicontinent tour to meet with international counterparts about airline and airport security. She said she would leave Wednesday evening for Spain and a meeting with European Union officials.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report.

What did police say about why the man fled?

What terminal did passengers have to take?

what terminal did the Passengers have to leave ?

Answer: 100

Answer: his laptop computer bag tested positive for explosives,

Answer: huge

Answer: 2,

Answer: Police

Answer: laptop computer bag

Answer: They are still trying to find the

Answer: 2,

Summary:
NEW: Man who appeared to flee may just have been in a hurry, police say .
NEW: Police still seeking man, but search not being called big manhunt .
NEW: Passengers had to leave Terminal 2 for rescreening; about 100 flights affected .
Man left checkpoint after laptop bag tested positive for explosives .


Berlin, Germany (CNN) -- A 90-year-old man from northern Germany has been charged with 58 counts of murder for the killings of Jewish forced laborers in the final days of World War Two.

The man, who was not named, was a member of the feared SS serving in what is now Austria when he allegedly carried out the crimes, the state court in Duisburg, western Germany, said Tuesday.

A state office responsible for the prosecution of Nazi war crimes filed the charges.

On March 29, 1945, the man brought at least 57 Jewish forced laborers in several groups to a wooded area where they were forced to give up their valuables and kneel in a ditch, the court said.

"The accused and other SS members then shot the Jewish forced laborers cruelly from the back," the court said.

That day or the next, the court said, the man made other Jewish forced laborers who were "exhausted and no longer able to walk" to march near the town of Jabing, which was then in Germany and is now part of modern-day Austria.

He then "insidiously" shot them from the back, it added.

"The accusation is that the accused let himself be led by the National Socialist (Nazi) ideology, corresponding to an extremely hostile and inhumane attitude toward the victims, who he viewed as inferior," the court said.

The court said it must now decide whether to open proceedings against the man, who has two weeks in which to raise any objections.

How many were killed by man from northern Germany?

What is the number of killings he is charged with?

Answer: SS

Answer: 58

Answer: in the final days of World War Two.

Answer: 58

Answer: murder

Summary:
Man from northern Germany charged with 58 counts of killing Jewish laborers .
Killings took place just weeks from the end of World War II .
Man is accused of being part of an SS group that carried out executions .


Berlin, Germany (CNN) -- Four men were convicted in Germany on Thursday in connection with a foiled terrorist plot against Western targets, court officials said. The men had begun mixing a huge amount of explosive material that could have resulted in a strong blast, bigger than attacks in 2005 on London's public transport network and the 2004 Madrid railway bombings, authorities said. Three of the men -- two Germans and a Turk -- were arrested in September 2007. The other was arrested later. The Germans -- Fritz Gelowicz and Daniel Schneider -- were sentenced to 12 years in prison. Turkish citizen Adem Yilmaz received 11 years. Attila Selek, a German citizen of Turkish descent, received five years. Gelowicz, Schneider and Yilmaz were convicted of, among other things, being members of a terrorist organization, court officials said. The men had joined the Islamic Jihad Union in 2006. Selek received a shorter sentence because he was convicted only of supporting the organization. Three of the men had trained at camps in northern Pakistan with the group that had ties to al Qaeda, German authorities said. The group said it wanted to target the Ramstein Air Base and other U.S. and Uzbek military and diplomatic installations in Germany, German authorities said. The group also wanted to force Germany to stop using an air base in Uzbekistan as a stopover point for moving equipment and personnel in and out of northern Afghanistan. -- CNN's Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report.

How many men were convicted?
how many convicted are?
what says Authorities?
who are convicted as terrorist
What was the group linked to?
Where did they train

Answer: Four

Answer: Four men

Answer: The men had begun mixing a huge amount of explosive material that could have resulted in a strong blast, bigger than attacks in 2005 on London's public transport network and the 2004 Madrid railway bombings,

Answer: Four men were

Answer: al Qaeda,

Answer: camps in northern Pakistan

Summary:
Authorities say planned blast would have eclipsed London and Madrid bombings .
Three men convicted of being members of terrorist organization .
Three had trained in Pakistan camps with group linked to al Qaeda, authorities say .


Berlin, Germany (CNN) -- German President Horst Koehler resigned suddenly Monday over what he said was heavy criticism about comments he made on Germany's military role in the world, which he said had been misinterpreted.

It was the first time in German history that a president has resigned, the government-funded Deutsche Welle news agency reported.

Koehler said May 22 upon his return from a trip to Afghanistan that "in emergencies, military intervention is necessary to uphold our interests, like for example free trade routes, for example to prevent regional instabilities which could have a negative impact on our chances in terms of trade, jobs and income."

He later said he meant the protection of shipping routes along the Gulf of Aden against piracy, for example, and not any reference to Germany's role in Afghanistan. But his comments came in for widespread criticism.

Crticis said he was framing Germany's involvement in the Afghan war in economic terms having to do with self-interest, rather than as a duty in fulfilling a NATO mission in the fight against terrorism. Others said his comments indicated he would use the military unconstitutionally and for economic reasons.

Germany has 4,500 troops in a NATO-led force fighting a Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan.

Polls show that most Germans oppose the war in Afghanistan, but the government has not set a date for the withdrawal of troops.

Koehler, 67, made the surprise resignation announcement at a televised news conference with his wife standing next to him. He appeared visibly emotional, the Deutsche Welle news outlet reported.

"I am resigning my post as federal president with immediate effect," Koehler said.

"It was an honor for me to serve Germany as president," he said. "I thank the many people in Germany who have put their trust in me and supported my work. I ask for you to understand my decision."

The president's office is largely ceremonial. Chancellor Angela Merkel heads the government and holds the real power.

Merkel found out about the resignation a short while before Koehler's announcement, Deutsche Welle said.

She canceled a trip to northern Italy to visit the training camp of the German national soccer team as the squad prepares for next month's World Cup, the government news agency said.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Merkel said she was stunned by Koehler's decision.

'I deeply regret this resignation," Merkel said. "I must add that I of course told him also I respect his decision to resign."

Merkel also said she had "unsuccessfully tried to get him to change his mind," Deutsche Welle said.

The resignation comes at an inopportune time for Merkel, whose center-right coalition recently lost an important state election and suffered another resignation of a key ally last week, Deutsche Welle said.

The German constitution mandates that the head of the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament that represents Germany's federal states, will temporarily take over the president's duties. Jens Boehrnsen, the Social Democratic mayor of Bremen, holds the rotating position of Bundesrat leader this year and will assume the president's duties.

Boehrnsen will fill in for Koehler until an electoral college, the Federal Convention, elects a successor. The convention must convene within 30 days -- by June 30 in this case.

The president in Germany is not elected by the people, but by the Federal Convention.

The secret ballot vote is held without prior debate and requires an absolute majority to elect a president. If none of the candidates wins an absolute majority after two rounds of voting, the person with a simple majority in the third round is selected president.

The Federal Convention is Germany's largest parliamentary body. All of the members of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, can vote. A corresponding number of representatives from the federal states also are entitled to vote.

The convention, which had 1,224 members at the time, last met in May 2009 to re-elect Koehler.

Koehler, a former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, was first elected president

What did Koehler say the military's role is?

What happened for the first time in the country?

Answer: German President Horst Koehler

Answer: "in emergencies, military intervention is necessary to uphold our interests, like for example free trade routes, for example to prevent regional instabilities which could have a negative impact on our chances in terms of trade, jobs and income."

Answer: German President

Answer: intervention is necessary to uphold our interests,

Answer: Monday

Answer: a president has resigned,

Answer: Germany

Summary:
NEW: President's resignation is first in country's history .
NEW: Koehler had been criticized for comments on military's role .
He said comments were misinterpreted .
Resignation was sudden and unexpected .


Berlin, Germany (CNN) -- The head of the German army has resigned after a news report that he knew civilians could be killed in a September airstrike in Afghanistan, Germany's defense minister told Parliament Thursday.

Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan, the army's chief of staff, asked to be relieved of his duties following the report in Germany's Bild newspaper, said German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.

The Sept. 4 NATO airstrike in the northern province of Kunduz killed at least 90 people. The German commander in the area called in the strike after Afghans tried to siphon fuel from two tankers hijacked by the Taliban a day earlier.

The fuel had been earmarked for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Local Afghan officials said at least half of those killed were civilians, and NATO acknowledged soon afterward that civilians had been killed.

NATO and Afghan officials launched an investigation, the results of which are still classified, ISAF told CNN Thursday.

Bild, which said it had access to confidential documents and posted a video of the airstrike on its Web site, reported that German Colonel Georg Klein was not able to rule out the possibility of civilian victims before he ordered the strike.

Bild said a report dated September 6 -- two days after the strike -- made clear that it was impossible for Klein to verify information his informant had provided before he called in the airstrike.

CNN's Diana Magnay contributed to this report.

what is the number of killed in airstrike?

Who claims German army chief knew civilians could be killed in airstrike?

Answer: 90 people.

Answer: 90

Answer: Sept. 4

Answer: German Colonel Georg Klein was not able to rule out the possibility of civilian victims before he ordered the strike.

Answer: Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan,

Answer: Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan,

Answer: Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan,

Answer: 90

Summary:
General Wolfgang Schneiderhahn asks to be relieved of his duties .
Bild claims German army chief knew civilians could be killed in airstrike .
At least 90 killed -- many believed to be civilians -- in September airstrike .
NATO, Afghan officials investigating airstrike but results still classified .


Berlin, Germany (CNN) -- Thousands of people joined world leaders in the German capital Monday to remember the night 20 years ago when a euphoric wave of people power swept away the Berlin Wall and consigned the Cold War to history.

In scenes calmly mirroring the events of November 9, 1989, crowds thronged through the center of the once-divided city, joining German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a symbolic re-enactment of the first crossing of the breached Wall.

"It was worth fighting for," Merkel said, after crossing the Bösebrücker bridge on Bornholmer Strasse, the checkpoint where people first poured across the frontier.

Merkel, the first former East German to lead the reunified country, was accompanied by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Polish ex-president Lech Walesa as she kicked off events to celebrate the demise of the iconic structure and remember the darker sides of the communist regimes behind it.

"It is not only a day of celebration for Germans. It is a day of celebration for the whole of Europe," Merkel said.

Merkel was joined by Britain's Gordon Brown, France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a series of events, including solemn tributes and boisterous music concerts.

At the climax, a line of 1,000 giant dominoes was knocked over along a 2-kilometer strip where the Wall once stood --representing the domino effect the structure's collapse had in ending communism across Eastern Europe.

Memorials were to be held for the 136 lives lost of those who tried to eascape through the barrier that cut Berlin in two -- many in the so-called "death strip" at the heart of the Wall's fortifications.

Read more in our Autumn of Change special report

Thousands of people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of reunified Germany which once stood at the center of the no man's land between East and West Berlin.

Rock acts including Bon Jovi joined the festivities, echoing the popular music of the late 80s which soundtracked the cold night when rigid communist control gave way to an exhilarating tide of people clamoring for freedom.

Testament to the powerful legacy of the Wall's collapse have been the vivid memories recounted by many of the dramatic and emotional events before and after the fall.

"It was a circus-like atmosphere, people were enthused and exuberant and thrilled to see the Wall coming down," said David Paul Noel of Maryland, who was working for the U.S. State Department in Germany at the time.

Former CNN correspondent Richard Blystone, who watched the Wall collapse was struck by the difference in appearance of each side of the Wall

"On the west side, there was all this graffiti and dirty words, and names of rock groups and 'down with that' -- all the chaos of a pluralistic society," he said. "On the eastern side, it was clean and white, just so sterile."

Though dominated by nostalgia, Monday was also an opportunity to assess progress in a reunified Germany and democratized Eastern Europe, with many airing concerns that the world still has lessons to learn from the events of 1989.

With many in Germany feeling the economic, social and psychological divisions once demarcated by the Wall, Merkel said Monday that the country had yet to fulfil promises made when East and West reunited in 1990.

"Germany unity is not yet complete," Merkel told public broadcaster ARD earlier.

At an event in Berlin on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for renewed global action to liberate those still living under repressive regimes.

"Our history did not end the night the Wall came down," Clinton said. "It began anew. And this matters not only to tens of millions of Europeans, and to the United States, but to people everywhere."

She added: "To expand freedom to more people, we cannot accept that freedom does not belong to all people. We cannot allow oppression, defined and justified by religion or tribe to replace that of ideology.

"We have a responsibility to address conditions everywhere that undermine the potential of boys and girls and men and women

Angela Merkel leads ceremonies to mark how many years since collapse of Berlin Wall?

Answer: the night 20 years ago when a euphoric wave of people power swept away the Berlin Wall and consigned the Cold War to history.

Answer: Thousands of

Answer: Brandenburg Gate,

Answer: German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Answer: "It was worth fighting for,"

Answer: 20

Summary:
Angela Merkel leads ceremonies to mark 20 years since collapse of Berlin Wall .
Thousands of people converged on symbolic Brandenburg Gate in center of Berlin .
Merkel says Germany still has far to go in its unification process .


Berlin, Germany (CNN) -- Thousands of people joined world leaders in the German capital Monday to remember the night 20 years ago when a euphoric wave of people power swept away the Berlin Wall and consigned the Cold War to history. In scenes calmly mirroring the events of November 9, 1989, crowds thronged through the center of the once-divided city, joining German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a symbolic re-enactment of the first crossing of the breached Wall. "It was worth fighting for," Merkel said, after crossing the Bösebrücker bridge on Bornholmer Strasse, the checkpoint where people first poured across the frontier. Merkel, the first former East German to lead the reunified country, was accompanied by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Polish ex-president Lech Walesa as she kicked off events to celebrate the demise of the iconic structure and remember the darker sides of the communist regimes behind it. "It is not only a day of celebration for Germans. It is a day of celebration for the whole of Europe," Merkel said. Merkel was joined by Britain's Gordon Brown, France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a series of events, including solemn tributes and boisterous music concerts. At the climax, a line of 1,000 giant dominoes was knocked over along a 2-kilometer strip where the Wall once stood --representing the domino effect the structure's collapse had in ending communism across Eastern Europe. Memorials were to be held for the 136 lives lost of those who tried to eascape through the barrier that cut Berlin in two -- many in the so-called "death strip" at the heart of the Wall's fortifications. Read more in our Autumn of Change special report Thousands of people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of reunified Germany which once stood at the center of the no man's land between East and West Berlin. Rock acts including Bon Jovi joined the festivities, echoing the popular music of the late 80s which soundtracked the cold night when rigid communist control gave way to an exhilarating tide of people clamoring for freedom. Testament to the powerful legacy of the Wall's collapse have been the vivid memories recounted by many of the dramatic and emotional events before and after the fall. "It was a circus-like atmosphere, people were enthused and exuberant and thrilled to see the Wall coming down," said David Paul Noel of Maryland, who was working for the U.S. State Department in Germany at the time. Former CNN correspondent Richard Blystone, who watched the Wall collapse was struck by the difference in appearance of each side of the Wall "On the west side, there was all this graffiti and dirty words, and names of rock groups and 'down with that' -- all the chaos of a pluralistic society," he said. "On the eastern side, it was clean and white, just so sterile." Though dominated by nostalgia, Monday was also an opportunity to assess progress in a reunified Germany and democratized Eastern Europe, with many airing concerns that the world still has lessons to learn from the events of 1989. With many in Germany feeling the economic, social and psychological divisions once demarcated by the Wall, Merkel said Monday that the country had yet to fulfil promises made when East and West reunited in 1990. "Germany unity is not yet complete," Merkel told public broadcaster ARD earlier. At an event in Berlin on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for renewed global action to liberate those still living under repressive regimes. "Our history did not end the night the Wall came down," Clinton said. "It began anew. And this matters not only to tens of millions of Europeans, and to the United States, but to people everywhere." She added: "To expand freedom to more people, we cannot accept that freedom does not belong to all people. We cannot allow oppression, defined and justified by religion or tribe to replace that of ideology. "We have a responsibility to address conditions everywhere that undermine the potential of boys and girls and men and women

Who leads ceremonies to mark 20 years since the collapse of the Berlin Wall?

Who said Germany has far to go in its unification process?

Where did thousands of people converge in Berlin?

Who led ceremonies to mark 20 years since collapse of Berlin Wall?

Which country does Merkel say still has far to go in its unification process?

What Gate in Berlin was the historic site?

Answer: Angela Merkel

Answer: Merkel

Answer: Brandenburg Gate,

Answer: Berlin Wall

Answer: German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Answer: Germany

Answer: Brandenburg Gate,

Summary:
Angela Merkel leads ceremonies to mark 20 years since collapse of Berlin Wall .
Thousands of people converged on symbolic Brandenburg Gate in center of Berlin .
Merkel says Germany still has far to go in its unification process .


Bogota, Colombia (CNN) -- Members of a Colombian leftist rebel group released two more longtime prisoners Wednesday afternoon, bringing the total released since February 9 to six, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the Spanish acronym FARC, freed Police Maj. Guillermo Solorzano and Army Cpl. Salin Antonio Sanmiguel Valderrama on Wednesday afternoon in a rural area located in the departments of Cauca and Valley of the Cauca in southwest Colombia, the Red Cross said in a news release.

Solorzano had spent three years and eight months in captivity; Sanmiguel had been held for two years and eight months, it said.

Both men were handed over to former Sen. Piedad Cordoba, ICRC representatives and a member of the group Colombian Men and Women for Peace, the Red Cross said. The freed men were being taken to the city of Cali in a helicopter donated by the government of Brazil. From there, they were to travel to Bogota to reunite with their families.

"It pleases us that the relatives can be with their loved ones whom they have been waiting for for a long time," said Christophe Beney, the International Red Cross's chief in Colombia. "We are very satisfied that, in the end, the agreements assumed by the sides, as much by the Colombian government as by the FARC, have been carried out."

With the handover, the number of people freed by the FARC since February 9 rises to six, the Red Cross said.

The releases came three days after an initial attempt to retrieve the hostages failed when coordinates for their location proved to be inaccurate.

Solorzano, Sanmiguel, and police patrolman Carlos Alberto Ocampo were to have be released Sunday, but only Ocampo was freed. Colombian authorities were upset at what they said were wrong coordinates given by the Marxist guerrilla group.

In December, the FARC pledged to release five hostages as a humanitarian gesture. Wednesday's releases surpassed that number by one.

Some have suggested the hostage releases could fuel renewed negotiations between Colombia's government and the rebels. One of the freed hostages called for dialogue between the government and insurgents.

"Humanitarian exchange is the first step toward a friendly understanding, which permits the return of our brothers deprived of their liberty," politician Armando Acuna said last week after his release.

But Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has sharply criticized the FARC, accusing the group of having a "double standard" and creating an "absurd media show" in order to draw sympathy to its cause.

He said last week that he was tempted to call off the rescue mission after learning that two workers from the Carton de Colombia company had been kidnapped the night before in southwestern Colombia.

What were they taken by to be reunited with their families

How many hostages have been freed since February 9?

What form of transportation are they using to reunite them with their families?

Who were released in southwestern Columbia

How many hostages have been released since february

Answer: helicopter donated

Answer: six,

Answer: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,

Answer: helicopter

Answer: two

Answer: Police Maj. Guillermo Solorzano and Army Cpl. Salin Antonio Sanmiguel Valderrama

Answer: six,

Summary:
The two men were released in southwestern Colombia .
They are being taken by helicopter to be reunited with their families .
FARC's releases bring to six the number of hostages freed since February 9 .


Boise, Idaho (CNN) -- Five American soldiers have been charged with killing Afghan civilians for sport and staging the slayings to look like legitimate war casualties. The youngest of those five -- a now 20-year-old private from Idaho -- came home a changed man, his mother says.

And, said Dana Holmes, the Army not only should have known something had gone dreadfully wrong, but commanding officers should be held responsible.

"The man that came home was not my son," said Holmes. "He was very thin. He'd lost about 50 pounds. He said the Army told him he had a parasite. I made him his favorite sandwich, and it took him two days to eat the whole sandwich. Just couldn't eat; he didn't sleep."

Pfc. Andrew Holmes was a healthy, 185-pound 18-year-old when he joined the Army, his mother said. He came home on leave in April -- weeks before the Army launched an investigation into the suspected illegal drug use by his platoon, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, Fifth Brigade.

Holmes' family had him hospitalized in Idaho to restore his strength. He told his mother that he gave himself daily IVs of fluids in Afghanistan to keep hydrated, a claim that horrifies his mother, who cannot believe the Army would not treat a soldier who was clearly ill. During his time on leave, she said, he was paranoid, always asking the family their whereabouts, concerned that someone was going to harm them.

Shortly afterward, he returned to Afghanistan to rejoin his unit.

"I threatened to break his leg and keep him home, but he just hugged me and said, 'Mom, I've got a job to finish.' It was hard to put him on the plane. It was the first time I've seen him fall apart, when we put him on the plane. ... He was still hyper-vigilant about making sure we weren't alone," she said.

And not long after Holmes returned to action, the Army launched its investigation, which quickly grew in scope -- with a new main focus on the murder of Afghan civilians. Now, Holmes and four others face numerous charges, including drug use, premeditated murder, possessing body parts and possessing photos of corpses. Seven others in the platoon are charged with various other crimes, from assaulting a fellow soldier who blew the whistle on the group's hashish smoking to collecting body parts as war trophies and posing them in grisly photos.

Tapes describe killings for sport

Holmes and some of the others are being held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, where the platoon was based, to await courts-martial.

Dana Holmes thinks the Army should be held accountable for what happened at that forward operating post in Afghanistan.

"If they were smoking that much hashish, you can smell it," she said. "Where was the command? Did they just dump these boys off and say go forth and conquer?"

"How did they know what was going on? My son was a healthy 18-year-old kid when he went over there, and now he is a mess. And I don't understand why the Army is not going after the officers."

The highest-ranking soldier accused is a staff sergeant, Calvin Gibbs. His attorney has declined comment on the numerous charges Gibbs faces, including premeditated murder. He has not entered a plea.

Reports show Army sgt. tracked kills with tattoos

Gibbs has been depicted in documents and discussed in interrogation videos by some soldiers as the ringleader they feared. But no one above his rank has been charged with any offenses -- or, according to lawyers, disciplined for allegedly allowing the platoon to make up its own rules of war.

Holmes is charged with the first reported civilian killing in January. He is accused of conspiring with Cpl. Jeremy Morlock to shoot at the civilian and then toss a grenade to look like the soldiers were under attack.

Morlock's attorney disputes those accusations.

"As I stated before

Who should be "going after" officers in charge?

Who says "The man that came home was not my son"?

Was the man that came home dana holmes son

Answer: Dana

Answer: the Army

Answer: Dana Holmes,

Answer: his mother

Answer: "The man that came home was not my son,"

Answer: Five

Answer: "The

Answer: Five

Summary:
Dana Holmes: "The man that came home was not my son"
Holmes' mother says Army should be "going after" officers in charge .
His attorney says Andrew Holmes is innocent .
Holmes and four others are charged with murder .


Boston, Massachusetts (CNN)  -- Republican Scott Brown won a major upset victory in Tuesday's special election for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy.

Brown defeated Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate.

Brown's victory made real the once unthinkable prospect of a Republican filling the seat held by Kennedy, known as the liberal lion, for almost 47 years until his death from brain cancer in August.

Voters across Massachusetts braved winter cold and snow for an election with high stakes -- the domestic agenda of President Obama, including his priority of health care reform.

Brown's victory strips Democrats of the 60-seat Senate supermajority needed to overcome GOP filibusters against future Senate action on a broad range of White House priorities. Senate Democrats needed all 60 votes in their caucus to pass the health care bill, and the loss of one seat imperils generating that support again for a compromise measure worked out with the House.

In a subdued concession speech, Coakley said she expected a tough assessment of her loss and lots of "Wednesday-morning quarterbacking" after losing a seat held by Democrats for more than 50 years.

"I am heartbroken at the result," Coakley said, later adding: "Although I am very disappointed, I always respect the voters' choice."

Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin said last week that certifying Tuesday's election results could take more than two weeks -- potentially enough time to allow congressional Democrats to pass a final health care bill before Brown is seated.

But multiple Democratic sources said this is unlikely. Even if House and Senate Democrats could reach a deal to meld their bills and pass them in the next couple of weeks, there would be a huge outcry from not only Republicans, but also an increasingly distrustful public if they appeared to be rushing it through.

Galvin had predicted as many as 2.2 million of the state's 4.5 million registered voters would vote -- at least double the turnout from December's primary. In one sign of high interest, more than 100,000 absentee ballots were requested ahead of the election, according to Galvin's spokesman, Brian McNiff.

Coakley was initially expected to easily win the race to replace Kennedy, who made health care reform the centerpiece of his Senate career.

Until recently, Brown was underfunded and unknown statewide. In addition, no Republican has won a U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts since 1972, and Democrats control the governorship, both houses of the state legislature, and the state's entire congressional delegation.

However, Brown surged in the weeks preceding Tuesday's vote and led in all the final polls.

Democratic sources told CNN that Coakley called Brown on Tuesday night to concede.

In a sign of the high stakes involved, the Coakley campaign held an afternoon news conference Tuesday to complain that voters in three places received ballots already marked for Brown.

iReport: Send us your thoughts on the special election

McNiff confirmed that the secretary of state's offices received two reports of voters saying they got pre-marked ballots. The suspect ballots were invalidated and the voters received new ballots, McNiff said.

Kevin Conroy, the Coakley campaign manager, said the "disturbing incidents" raised questions about the integrity of the election. In response, the Brown campaign issued a statement criticizing Coakley's team.

"Reports that the Coakley campaign is making reckless accusations regarding the integrity of today's election is a reminder that they are a desperate campaign," Daniel B. Winslow, the counsel for the Brown campaign, said in the statement.

Obama has been both "surprised and frustrated" by the race, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.

Obama and former President Bill Clinton hit the campaign trail over the past three days in an attempt to save Coakley's campaign, which observers say was hampered by complacency and missteps.

Obama crushed Sen. John McCain in Massachusetts in 2008, beating the GOP presidential nominee by 26 points.

"If you were fired up in the last election, I need you more fired up in this election," Obama urged a crowd at a Coakley campaign rally on Sunday

Who felt frustrated by the Massachusetts Senate race?

Answer: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley,

Answer: 60-seat Senate supermajority

Answer: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate.

Answer: Obama

Answer: liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy.

Answer: the race,

Summary:
Democrat Martha Coakley concedes to Republican Scott Brown .
President Obama "frustrated" by Massachusetts Senate race, aide says .
Good turnout expected as Massachusetts votes to fill Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat .
Democrats would lose filibuster-proof majority in Senate with Brown win .


Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) -- In a stunning upset that reshaped the U.S. political landscape, Republican Scott Brown won Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy.

Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley, the state attorney general.

Brown's victory made real the once unthinkable prospect of a Republican filling the seat held by Kennedy, known as the liberal lion, for almost 47 years until his death due to brain cancer last August. Before Kennedy won the seat for the first time in 1962, his older brother John held it for nearly eight years until his election as U.S. president in 1960.

"This really does change everything, you know that?" said Mitt Romney, the former GOP governor of Massachusetts who introduced Brown at his victory rally.

Share your thoughts on the election results

Voters across Massachusetts braved winter cold and snow for an election with high stakes -- the domestic agenda of President Obama, including his top domestic priority, health care reform.

Brown's victory strips Democrats of their 60-seat Senate super-majority, needed to overcome GOP filibusters against future Senate action on a broad range of White House priorities. Senate Democrats needed all 60 votes in their caucus to pass the health care bill, and the loss of one seat now imperils generating that support again for a compromise measure worked out with the House.

"Forty one, forty one," chanted the crowd at Brown's rally, referring to his new status as the Senate's 41st Republican. Brown, a state senator until now, heralded his victory as the start of more election surprises in 2010.

No Republican had won a U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts since 1972, and Democrats control the governorship, both houses of the state legislature, and the state's entire congressional delegation.

"When there's trouble in Massachusetts, rest assured there's trouble everywhere, and they know it," Brown said of the Democratic Party.

Republican leaders sounded a similar theme, saying Americans were fed up with what they called Democratic arrogance in Washington.

"Americans are investing their hopes in good Republican candidates to reverse a year-long Democrat trend of ignoring the American people on the issues of health care, spending and the growth of government," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in a statement.

The seat vacated by Kennedy's death is currently held by his former aide and longtime friend Paul Kirk, who was appointed on an interim basis.

Obama called Brown and Coakley on Tuesday night, and a White House statement said the president "told Sen. Brown that he looks forward to working with him on the urgent economic challenges facing Massachusetts families and struggling families across our nation."

Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin said last week that certifying Tuesday's election results could take more than two weeks -- potentially enough time to allow congressional Democrats to pass a final health care bill before Brown is seated.

But multiple Democratic sources said that is unlikely. Even if House and Senate Democrats could reach a deal to meld their bills and pass them in the next couple of weeks, there would be a huge outcry from not only Republicans, but also an increasingly distrustful public if they appeared to be rushing it through.

Galvin had predicted as many 2.2 million of the state's 4.5 million registered voters would vote -- at least double the turnout from December's primary. In one sign of high interest, more than 100,000 absentee ballots were requested ahead of the election, according to Brian McNiff, Galvin's spokesman.

Coakley was initially expected to easily win the race to replace Kennedy, who made health care reform the centerpiece of his Senate career.

Until recently, Brown was underfunded and unknown statewide. Waging a nationally backed campaign that included driving his pickup around the state, Brown surged in the weeks preceding Tuesday's vote and led in all the final polls.

In a sign of the high stakes involved, the Coakley campaign held an afternoon news conference Tuesday to complain that voters in three places received ballots already marked for Brown.

McNiff confirmed that the secretary of state's

what political party is scott brown from

Answer: Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy.

Answer: won Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy.

Answer: working with him on the urgent economic challenges

Answer: U.S. Senate

Answer: Republican

Summary:
Republican Scott Brown upsets Martha Coakley to fill Ted Kennedy's seat .
Win leaves Democrats without crucial 60th Senate vote needed for health care overhaul .
Brown's platform includes backing tax cuts, being tough on terrorists .


Bountiful, Utah (CNN) -- It was two weeks after D-Day, a few miles from the bloody shores of Omaha Beach. An airstrip had been carved out of the Normandy countryside, costing the lives of 28 Army engineers at the hands of German snipers. A lone sniper still remained in the nighttime distance. Despite the risk, Capt. Jack Tueller felt compelled to play his trumpet. That afternoon, his P-47 fighter group had caught up with a retreating German Panzer division. As the U.S. Thunderbolts descended on their targets, they saw French women and children on top of the tanks. After an initial fly-by, the order was given to attack anyway. "We were told those human shields were expendable," Tueller said. Back at the airstrip, Tueller took out his trumpet. He'd used it on many a starlit night to entertain the men of the 508th Squadron 404th Fighter Group. "I was told, 'Captain, don't play tonight; your trumpet makes the most glorious sound,' but I was stressed," he said. He was so troubled that he was willing to take a chance the sniper wouldn't fire. "I thought to myself, that German sniper is as lonely and scared as I am. How can I stop him from firing? So I played that German's love song, 'Lilly Marlene,' made famous in the late '30s by Marlene Dietrich, the famous German actress. And I wailed that trumpet over those apple orchards of Normandy, and he didn't fire." The next morning, the military police came up to Tueller and told him they had a German prisoner on the beach who kept asking, "Who played that trumpet last night?" "I grabbed my trumpet and went down to the beach. There was a 19-year-old German, scared and lonesome. He was dressed like a French peasant to cloak his role as a sniper. And, crying, he said, 'I couldn't fire because I thought of my fiancé. I thought of my mother and father,' and he says, 'My role is finished.' "He stuck out his hand, and I shook the hand of the enemy," Tueller said. "[But] he was no enemy, because music had soothed the savage beast." "Boy, you have strong lips" Tueller had learned to play the trumpet as a child growing up in Wyoming. His mother, a nurse, died at 29, and his father, a bartender and alcoholic, left the next day -- leaving Jack and his brother, Bob, orphans. They left their home in Superior to live with an aunt in nearby Evanston. She gave Jack his first trumpet, and he quickly discovered he had a musical ear. "In 1939, I was playing in Yellowstone Park in a dance band of 22 musicians at Lake Hotel. The famous trumpet player Louis Armstrong came up to the band during intermission and said, 'You sound pretty good for white cats,' " Tueller recalled. He asked Armstrong what advice he would give a young trumpet player. "He said, 'Always play the melody, man. Look at them, see their age group, play their love songs, and you'll carry all the money to the bank.' " Tueller enrolled at Brigham Young University, where he met his future wife and fellow trumpeter, Marjorie. "This beautiful brown-haired gal with luscious lips said, 'Did you play the trumpet solo at the freshman assembly?' And I said, 'Yes, ma'am, I did.' She said, 'Boy, you have strong lips.' Being a sophomore, I said, 'Would you like to try me?' She nodded, and I went over and kissed her." In 1941, as war clouds gathered, Jack enlisted in the Army and was sent to fighter school because he was an "individualist," he said. "I wanted to fly it, fire it, navigate

What did Louis Armstrong say to Jack Tueller?

What did Tueller do during World War II?

What did Jack Tueller learn to play growing up?

What musicians have military experience?

Answer: 'You sound pretty good for white cats,'

Answer: 'You sound pretty good for white cats,'

Answer: play his trumpet.

Answer: his trumpet.

Answer: Capt. Jack Tueller

Answer: Wyoming.

Summary:
Jack Tueller learned to play the trumpet as a child growing up in Wyoming .
Louis Armstrong once told him, "Always play the melody, man"
Tueller became a World War II pilot and carried his trumpet in his cockpit .
He says his playing once prevented a German sniper from killing him .


Braddock, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- In 2001, I came to Braddock, the poorest town in Western Pennsylvania, to serve the community's severely disenfranchised young people by starting an employment and GED program. Their lives were the embodiment of what happened to Braddock and this region: chaos through abandonment.

However, tough times and severe hardship are nothing new. It's been this way for decades.

Once one of the most important steel manufacturing centers in the world, Braddock -- what's left of it -- solemnly affirms one of the great economic maxims of our society: socialism for the rich, and capitalism for the poor.

Since the massive banking bailout of 2008, I have often wondered what Braddock would be today, if 35 years ago, the U.S. government also channeled hundreds of billions of dollars (and trillions in guarantees) to save the steel industry, the hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs it produced and the families it sustained.

Instead, places like Braddock were allowed to descend into decades of disorder, poverty and desertion. Braddock went from a prosperous community of 20,000 residents, to a shattered town of fewer than 3,000 today. Braddock looks every bit the deserted battlefield it truly is: 90 percent of our town's people, buildings, businesses, and homes are gone and what remains, bears witness to the torment.

In 2005, those same young people I was privileged to work for helped elect me mayor. Senseless homicides long lost their ability to shock, so I began to tattoo the dates of the killings on my arm as a living document of our collective loss.

Upon taking office, we set out to help reinvent Braddock through diverse solutions ranging from effective policing and the arts, to urban agriculture and youth employment. Today, buildings have been saved and repurposed. We farm for organic produce from formerly overgrown land, and can offer full summer employment for our youth. Perhaps most importantly, no dates have been added to my forearm in over 20 months.

However, at the start of my second term as mayor, we have decades of work ahead and we'll never come close to replacing what's been taken. As the saying goes, we're not looking for a handout, but a hand up and the chance to ameliorate three decades of socioeconomic unraveling.

Towards those ends, the stimulus, known as American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, has been a true fiscal balm, especially since our community's hospital, and largest employer, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center announced it would be shutting Braddock Hospital later this month, taking jobs along with our residents' access to health care.

CNN iReport: Share your thoughts on the State of the Union

Braddock received $250,000 in stimulus funding for the EPA compliance upgrade of our sewer system and $30,000 that enabled us to hire an additional 30 young people this past summer who would have otherwise been unemployed.

Without question, these stimulus funds were a needed infusion of resources. However, I believe the greatest promise of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 remains untapped and now represents an unprecedented opportunity for growth and renewal.

In Braddock and in the surrounding areas, we have an abundance of quality, shovel-ready projects that range in complexity and scope from small-scale urban farming, and retrofitting a now-vacant 300,000 square foot hospital, to a $300 million-dollar repurposing of a former steel mill site into a green enterprise zone of economic redevelopment.

Investments like these will not only help reinvent communities like Braddock, but will also foster a boom in job creation and long-term growth. These and similar projects across the country represent but a tiny fraction of the resources spent to save feckless bankers and Wall Street from their own unchecked greed and hubris.

Perhaps equally important, I believe this kind of investment will help restore a sense of social justice that is completely absent in today's public debates. Consider the absurd juxtaposition of rescued banking executives defending multi-million-dollar bonuses, to our community at over 30 percent unemployment, widespread abandonment, and pervasive poverty while losing the area's only hospital and access

The population shrank from 20,000 to what?

What Pennsylvania town has been in decline for decades?

for how long has Braddock, Pennsylvania, been in decline

Answer: 20,000

Answer: fewer than 3,000

Answer: Braddock,

Answer: decades.

Summary:
For decades, Braddock, Pennsylvania, has been in decline as it lost jobs and people .
Mayor John Fetterman says the population shrank from 20,000 to fewer than 3,000 .
He says stimulus plan has helped reverse the tide in the old steel town .
Fetterman: Government bails out Wall Street  while allowing Main Street to suffer .


Brazilian coach Zico is leaving Turkish club Fenerbahce, after failing to reach an agreement over a new contract. Zico guided Fenerbahce to a league and Super Cup double intheir centenary year Fenerbahce recently suspended negotiations over a fresh deal with Zico because of reportedly high demands by the Brazilian. The Anatolia press agency published a club statement which said: "The contract of Arthur Antunes Coimbra (Zico) has now come to an end. " We would like to thank him for the successful work he has done with the club, and wish him all the best for the future." Last season Zico led Fenerbahce to the quarterfinals of the Champions League where they were defeated by Chelsea. Reports claimed that after that achievement Zico sought a new annual salary of $4.9 million. He has been earning $2.9million.. Zico, 55, joined the club in July 2006 on a two-year deal and he guided them to a league and Turkish Super Cup double in 2007, their centenary year. Spanish media reports have said that Fenerbahce have lined up current Spain coach Luis Aragones as a replacement. Aragones has led Spain to the semifinals of the Euro 2008 finals

what is he unable to reach in agreement?

Answer: Brazilian coach Zico

Answer: Luis Aragones

Answer: Brazilian coach Zico

Answer: new contract.

Answer: failing to reach an agreement over a

Answer: Fenerbahce have lined up current Spain coach Luis Aragones as a replacement.

Answer: Brazilian coach

Answer: Luis Aragones

Summary:
Coach Zico is leaving Turkish club Fenerbahce .
He has been unable to reach agreement over a new contract .
Media reports suggest that Spain coach Luis Aragones will replace him .


Brussels, Belgium (CNN) -- A man who killed five people and himself in a gun and grenade attack in Belgium feared going back to prison and losing the life he had built, his lawyer said Thursday.

The attack on a crowded market square in Liege Tuesday by Nourdine Amrani, which also left at least 130 people wounded, shocked the nation.

His defense lawyer in Liege, Jean-Francois Dister, told CNN Amrani had called him late Monday and early Tuesday after the police called him in for interview Tuesday afternoon over a sexual assault case.

"It wasn't so much life in prison that bothered him -- he'd served time already -- but it was he'd rebuilt his life on the outside, and he was worried about losing all this," Dister said.

The lawyer said he was stunned when he heard later that day that Amrani, whom he had known for two-and-a-half years, was responsible for the grenade attack.

"It's very shocking. I don't understand the reason why he did this, and I think I will probably never understand," he said.

Nonetheless, Dister's comments give the first real insight into what might have motivated Amrani to go on a rampage that targeted people waiting at a bus stop by a busy Christmas market.

After the attack, police also found a dead woman in a residence next to a workshop where Amrani once grew marijuana, a local police spokesman said Wednesday.

Amrani had previously served time in prison for rape and drug trafficking offenses, his lawyer said. He was released last year.

Dister said Amrani was also convicted on weapons charges in 2008 but later acquitted. Liege authorities have not said he was cleared on those counts.

Liege prosecutor Danielle Reynders told CNN Wednesday that the police interview involved a sexual assault case, rather than a rumored rape allegation.

"Because Amrani was convicted of rape in 2003, police obviously regarded him as a person of interest," Dister said.

Dister said his client, who had a Belgian partner whom Dister had met several times, feared losing everything.

"He was someone that was integrated into society. He felt Belgian. I'm not sure if he was a practicing Muslim but he knew about his culture and his roots," Dister said.

"When things were going well for him he was very pleasant and good-natured. I never had problems with him. But, that said, sometimes when legal proceedings were dragging on, or he was accused of things he claimed (he) was not responsible for he could become annoyed and agitated -- but it was in words only."

Dister said Amrani did not to his knowledge take drugs and had not been charged with drugs use.

Authorities will conduct an autopsy in part to see whether Amrani was under the influence of drugs during the attack, said a senior Belgian security source who has been briefed on the investigation but did not want to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

It is not yet clear how Amrani, who Reynders said was a Brussels-born Belgian citizen of Moroccan descent, obtained the pistol, semi-automatic rifle and three grenades he used in the attack.

Katrin Delcourt, a spokeswoman for the provincial governor's office, described Amrani Wednesday as having significant gunsmith and firearms skills.

For a period up to 2008, he held a French hunting license under which he bought at least one weapon, she said, but that license was revoked as a result of the police investigation that led to his conviction on arms and drugs trafficking offenses in 2008.

The weapons he owned then were destroyed and police are continuing to investigate whether the arms used in Tuesday's attack were bought on the black market, Delcourt said.

One of the weapons he had, a light automatic rifle, is a standard weapon in the Belgian army, she said.

Amrani left no explanation for his actions, investigators have said.

What had Amrani been called for an interview for?

How many were wounded after the attack in Liege?

Who spoke to the gunman before the rampage?

Answer: over a sexual assault case.

Answer: 130

Answer: at least 130 people

Answer: feared going back to prison and losing the life he had built,

Answer: five

Answer: going back to prison and losing the life he had built,

Answer: Jean-Francois Dister,

Answer: five people and himself

Summary:
Amrani's lawyer says his client feared losing the life he had rebuilt after a past prison term .
Lawyer Jean-Francois Dister spoke to the gunman shortly before he went on a rampage .
The attack in Liege left five people and the gunman dead, as well as at least 130 wounded .
Nourdine Amrani had been called to an interview with police over a sex assault case .


Brussels, Belgium (CNN) -- European Union leaders named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as the first "president of Europe" Thursday, edging out former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a still-vaguely defined job. "I did not seek this high position, and I didn't take any steps to achieve it," Van Rompuy said in accepting the job. "But tonight, I take on this task with conviction and with enthusiasm." Van Rompuy, a 62-year-old, soft-spoken fan of Japanese poetry, will become the face of European Union and represent its 27 member nations at summits overseas. His conservative government took office in December 2008. The Belgian is "well known as a consensus builder," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who added the selection was unanimous. And Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission -- the executive arm of the EU -- called Van Rompuy's selection "a tribute to Belgium," the EU's host country. " I think the European Union also expressed its gratitude for the work of Belgium and the constant support that this country at the heart of Europe has given to our common project," he said. In his speech, Van Rompuy pledged to lead the EU through a process of "dialogue, unity and action." "A negotiation that ends with a defeated party is never a good negotiation," he said. "As president of the council, I will listen carefully to everyone, and I will make sure that all deliberations turn into results for everyone." The presidency was created by the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, which came into force this month after years of torturous negotiations. Van Rompuy will serve a two-and-a-half-year term, replacing the six-month presidency of the bloc that rotated among the heads of its member states. But while the EU prides itself on being a club of democracies, the process of choosing its new leader was far from transparent or open. The people of Europe are getting no say, not even through their parliamentarians. Van Rompuy's new job was announced after a closed-door dinner for the EU's heads of state and government. The Belgian defended the process, telling reporters the selection was made by leaders "who were all democratically chosen." "I was chosen on the basis of a treaty," he said. "The treaty stipulates the procedure. The treaty was democratically approved by 27 member states." The EU leaders also named Catherine Ashton, a British trade commissioner and member of the House of Lords, as the union's High Commissioner -- its equivalent of a foreign minister. Unlike Van Rompuy, who was chosen by leaders of the EU's member states, Ashton must be confirmed by the European Parliament. Blair, who led Britain from 1997 to 2007, is currently the EU's Mideast envoy. He had been the early favorite for the presidency in recent weeks -- but Brown, his successor, realized that he lacked support among key decision-makers for new post, a Brown representative told CNN earlier. According his backers, who at first included French President Nicolas Sarkozy, he was just the sort of world-renowned figure to win attention for the EU and enable it to exercise its weight in world affairs. One Indian official told CNN before the announcement, "If the EU chooses as its worldwide representative the prime minister of Belgium or Luxembourg, I am not sure our leaders will have the time to meet him." But others were soon arguing that Blair's support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and his close alliance with former U.S. President George W. Bush made him a divisive figure in Europe. And as the one man who might have been able to take Britain into the European single currency, he had not even attempted to do so while he was Britain's prime minister. Public backing from Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, a joke figure to much of Europe and another Bush ally, did not help. Brown had realized earlier that Blair did not have enough support

What reason did UK PM give for Tony Blair being ruled out as successor?

Who was appointed first "president of Europe?"

Who will be will be first permanent chief of the European Council of Ministers?

Who will be the first chief of European Council?

Who was appointed first "president of Europe"?

Answer: he lacked support among key decision-makers

Answer: Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy

Answer: Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy

Answer: European Union leaders

Answer: Herman Van Rompuy

Answer: Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy

Answer: "president of Europe"

Answer: Gordon Brown,

Answer: the first "president of Europe"

Answer: Herman Van Rompuy

Answer: Tony Blair

Answer: Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy

Summary:
Belgian PM Herman Van Rompuy appointed first "president of Europe," British PM Gordon Brown says .
Tony Blair ruled out after his successor as UK PM realized Blair had insufficient support .
President of EC will be first permanent chief of the European Council of Ministers .
Selection conducted by heads of state and government, not by Europe's parliamentarians .