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NewsQA | (Oprah.com) -- When Chicagoan Tammy Jo Long visited Savannah, Georgia, ten years ago, she was delighted by its fountain-filled parks, corner cafés -- and grand architecture.
Long had always been a design aficionado, but the Italianate and Victorian homes she encountered in Savannah became "an obsession," she says. "I saw a mansion with enormous cornices and cast-iron window surrounds, and I was hooked." So hooked, in fact, that she decided to buy a second home there, closing the deal on her next visit.
Oprah.com: What's Your Design Style?
Her learning curve:
Long was determined to restore her new house to its original glory. Though she'd remodeled a few kitchens and bathrooms over the years, a historically accurate renovation that did justice to the Savannah architecture she loved was daunting.
Oprah.com: 5 things a professional organizer wants you to know
But the all-nighters spent poring over floor plans and scouring eBay for doorknobs paid off: Every detail of the home -- from the crown moldings to the brass finger pulls -- is as it was in the 1800s. Yearning to share her handiwork, Long turned the home into a vacation rental. Soon, enchanted out-of-towners were eagerly booking their stays.
Oprah.com: ingenious ways to decorate small spaces
Her business model:
In 2003 Long quit her job in sales and bought and restored four more homes, traveling between Savannah and Chicago (where she and her ex-husband share custody of their 9-year-old son). "Some of the properties had been vacant for 20 years," Long says. "They had rats you could put a saddle on."
Oprah.com: 5 savvy storage solutions from stylish women
They're now certified landmarks -- with 14-foot ceilings, elaborate plaster medallions, and sweeping staircases -- and can be experienced firsthand through Luxury Living Savannah, Long's vacation rental company. As much as she adores re-creating these relics, Long loves sharing them even more. "People get to stay in a piece of history," she says. "Women get to be Scarlett O'Hara for the weekend. I take great pleasure in that."
Oprah.com: 8 people who turned their dreams into reality
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TM & © 2011 Harpo Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | f1b36ff72d5246fb9bf92b76b9520332 | where are these houses located | [
"Savannah, Georgia,"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass died Wednesday evening, his former publicist said. He was 59.
Pendergrass, known for smash love ballads such as "Turn Off the Lights" and "Love TKO," died after a long illness, according to Lisa Barbaris, who described herself as a close friend and his last publicist.
He died at a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was born.
His family did not reveal details about his illness, but said it was related to complications from a 1982 car accident, Barbaris said.
"His beloved family surrounded him. The world has lost one of its greatest voices and performers," a statement from Barbaris said.
"His family is devastated. He has three children and, even though it was expected, it still hurts," she said. Gallery: The amazing Teddy Pendergrass
The crooner, who many affectionately knew as just "Teddy," started in music with a group called the Cadillacs in the late 1960s and was still with the group when it merged with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, according to his official Web site.
He started as a drummer, but soon began to sing lead after the group heard his powerful voice.
In 1972, Pendergrass's baritone could be heard on the classic Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes song "If You Don't Know Me by Now."
The song became a No. 1 hit across the country and led Pendergrass to many other hits and accolades.
After going solo, Pendergrass received several Grammy nominations, Billboard's 1977 Pop Album New Artist Award and an American Music Award for best R&B performer of 1978, Barbaris said.
In 1982, Pendergrass was involved in a car accident that left him paralyzed. But Pendergrass returned to the studio in 1984 in his wheelchair to record an album.
Before his death, Pendergrass was working on a musical documenting his life, called "I Am Who I Am." | 5504cfb9feed4e9b95cbdab49d468660 | When did the singer die? | [
"Wednesday evening,"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Heavy snow in northern and central China has killed 21 people since Monday, the country's Ministry of Civil Affairs said Friday, according to state-run media.
Xinhua news agency said the ministry did not provide the causes of the deaths, except to note that two school canteens had collapsed in Hebei and Henan provinces since Wednesday, killing four children.
The snow began to fall Monday on northern and central Chinese provinces, including Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hubei and Shaanxi, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Xinhua reported.
More than 9,000 buildings have collapsed since then, Xinhua said. Citing the ministry, it said the snow has caused an estimated 4.5 billion yuan (nearly $660 million) in damages.
The ministry said about 159,000 people have been evacuated from their homes or stranded vehicles, Xinhua reported.
Civil Affairs Minister Li Xueju has ordered local authorities to provide food, water and clothing to those who are still stranded, "and to make proper arrangements for people who lost their homes in the snow to get through the winter," Xinhua reported.
It said the Civil Affairs Ministry and the Ministry of Finance have allocated 20 million yuan (about $3 million) from their central budgets to Shanxi and Hebei provinces to help move those affected by the snow and to help them build houses.
Heavy snow has also fallen on Beijing, but no deaths have been reported there, Xinhua said. | 0e168136c3b94807aef09c8a434dea1c | On which day does snow begin to fall? | [
"Monday"
] |
NewsQA | Editor's Note: For more than two decades, world-renowned photojournalist Peter Turnley has covered nearly every significant news event and world conflict in Bosnia, Rwanda, Chechnya, Haiti, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq. His photographs have graced the covers of Newsweek, National Geographic, Le Monde, Le Figaro and The London Sunday Times.
Peter Turnley took this photo of an Obama supporter on Inauguration Day.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- On Sunday morning, I boarded a bus in Brooklyn with a group of approximately 40 citizens from New York, all African-American, each of whom would not have missed for almost anything the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
I have been a photojournalist for the past 25 years and have had the incredible opportunity to witness many of modern history's defining moments: the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989, the end of apartheid in South Africa and Nelson Mandela walking out of prison in 1991, and most of the world's conflicts of the past three decades. This moment means 'everything is possible' »
When our bus pulled into Maryland on the eve of the inauguration, I knew after hearing the words of my fellow passengers, in some sense fellow pilgrims, that I was in the midst of a moment of history like maybe no other I had ever witnessed -- certainly in terms of its historic magnitude, and certainly not in America.
It is the words of these passengers, and those of many others that I have met in the past two days, that are representative to some degree of what this moment means. Read more on the AC360 blog. | 0d7e2aa6eb6c40169f02c7951339a87a | What was the event they visited? | [
"the inauguration of President Barack Obama."
] |
NewsQA | LONDON, England (CNN) -- "Why do I find it hard to write the next line?" If you recognize the lyric then brace yourself for some good news.
Spandau Ballet, pictured aboard HMS Belfast, on Wednesday.
Twenty years since their acrimonious split, Spandau Ballet -- the pin-up boys who helped shaped the sound of 1980s glam pop -- have announced the first dates of what band members say will be a full world tour.
The Tony Hadley-fronted band, who enjoyed worldwide success with hits such as "True" and "Gold," will launch their comeback in Dublin, Ireland, on October 13 before playing seven dates across the UK.
Wednesday's announcement took place onboard HMS Belfast, a retired Royal Navy moored in the Thames that was the scene of a key early gig by the band in 1980 that launched them on the road to global stardom.
"It is impossible to stress too highly how achingly fashionable Spandau Ballet were in the winter of 1979 and the summer of 1980," GQ magazine editor Dylan Jones writes in a biography of the band.
Formed at a London school in 1979, Spandau Ballet went on to sell 25 million records worldwide, emerging out of the post-punk "New Romantic" music scene.
Along with fellow British band Duran Duran, their sound, style and attitude came to define an era dominated by ostentatious glamour, gold lame suits and big hair.
"Not only did their albums sell by the millions, but their look and style impacted on the fashion world and beyond," said a press release, summing up the band's influence on the decade.
"They created their own style, combining creativity with entrepreneurship and the 'can do' spirit of early 80s youth at a time of crisis and upheaval eerily reminiscent of 2009. Spandau Ballet are both commercially and culturally enormous."
Following the band's split in 1989, several members including Hadley unsuccessfully sued main songwriter Gary Kemp for a larger share of songwriting royalties.
Since then, Hadley has appeared in the London production of the hit musical "Chicago" and also won an 80s revivalist reality TV show "Reborn in the USA." Several other members of the band have carved out moderately successful acting careers. | a431ee3ef13b41a7bd5e8992de3563b7 | when will band play | [
"October 13"
] |
NewsQA | (Entertainment Weekly) -- "Whip It!" suggests what might have happened if Juno had gone to a high school as poky as Napoleon Dynamite's and decided that although her mother wanted her to be a beauty queen like Little Miss Sunshine, she'd rather just strap on roller skates.
Ellen Page plays roller derby competitor Babe Ruthless in "Whip It!"
Only here the petite, droll, feisty, Ellen Page-like heroine played by Ellen Page is named Bliss. And her idea of sass while chatting up a cute rocker (Landon Pigg) in this desexualized, slow-speed grrrl-power sports fantasy is "I'm Bliss, but I could change that."
Bliss does change her name, at least at the Roller Derby rink. She sneaks away from her square parents (Marcia Gay Harden as the U.S. Postal Service's least likely mail carrier and Daniel Stern as a nice schlub who likes beer) to roll with a sisterly Austin team who call themselves the Hurl Scouts.
There, she dubs herself Babe Ruthless, making up in speed what she lacks in muscled aggression. She's heck on wheels, or so we are asked to believe: The rink footage is pretty un-whippy.
Even Juliette Lewis, playing the film's designated bad girl and Bliss/Babe's nemesis on the rink, is more of a cute bee-yotch than a real threat.
The movie is Drew Barrymore's directorial debut (she also plays fellow Hurl Scout Smashley Simpson), and it's clear she's more attuned to grrrlishness than real athletic power: Smashley is the first to scream ''Food fight!'' and the 34-year-old actress leads the charge in kidlike mayhem.
EW Grade: C+
CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly | c33151edc8524ef8810c803313a49946 | Drew Barrymore's directorial debut starts with what? | [
"The movie"
] |
NewsQA | NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Bronx woman has been charged with murder and robbery in the death of an 89-year-old Nazi concentration camp survivor, and police said a man is still being sought in connection with the death.
Felix Brinkmann dances at a 2008 birthday party. "He was not the kind of guy who had enemies," his son says.
Angela Murray, 30, was arrested Saturday, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office, and is accused of strangling Guido Felix Brinkmann on Thursday in his Upper East Side apartment.
Murray was arraigned Sunday and charged with one count of murder in the second degree and three counts of robbery.
Brinkmann, a native of Latvia, was a Holocaust survivor who escaped death for a year while he was in the Mauthausen, Ebensee and Auschwitz camps. He had been slated for the gas chambers five times, but each time, he used his fluency in German to talk his way out, said his son, Rick Brinkman, who spells his last name differently.
After the war, he was stunned to discover his wife, who had also been shipped to Auschwitz, alive and well in Poland.
The Brinkmanns immigrated to America, where Brinkmann spent years in the bar and nightclub business, co-founding the Adam's Apple disco in Manhattan in 1971.
In recent years, he had been the real estate manager of a mixed-use building in the Bronx, working "seven days a week, without fail," Rick Brinkman said.
On Thursday, the building's superintendent grew concerned when Brinkmann did not show up for work. He notified Brinkmann's son and received permission to enter the father's apartment, where he had lived alone since his wife died last year.
Brinkmann was found face-down in his bedroom, his hands bound behind his back and his body showing blunt-force trauma wounds, police said. Brinkmann's blue 2009 Honda Civic had been stolen, along with one of two safes in his apartment, police said. The vehicle was later recovered in the Bronx.
Rick Brinkman speculated that the killing was random. "Anybody who knew him really liked him," the son said. "He was not the kind of guy who had enemies."
CNN's Jason Kessler contributed to this report. | a4a486d1b8494f939083db3310ccebde | Who was charged with murder? | [
"Angela Murray,"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Tough economic times are taking a toll across the spectrum of business and individual activity -- and the country's institutions of higher learning are no exception.
Andy Warhol is one of the artists in Brandeis University's acclaimed Rose Art Museum.
Brandeis University, in Waltham, Massachusetts, will be taking an extraordinary step to preserve its educational mission -- the school's board of trustees voted Monday to close its acclaimed Rose Art Museum.
The university will sell every one of the approximately 6,000 items in the museum, opened in 1961.
"These are extraordinary times, we cannot control or fix the nation's economic problems," university president Jehuda Reinharz said.
"We can only do what we have been entrusted to do -- act responsibly with the best interests of our students and their futures foremost in mind."
University spokesman Dennis Nealon said that the move to sell off the museum's exhibits was "a very hard and painful decision" but a necessary one for the school's survival.
He said the decision, which calls for the museum to close in the summer, will not affect the university's "commitment to the arts and the teaching of the arts."
The facility will become a fine arts teaching center with an exhibition gallery and studio space, he said.
The museum's collection includes iconic paintings by such luminaries of American art as Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz and Roy Lichtenstein.
Nealon said most of the museum's acquisitions are paintings and sculptures. The school has not undertaken a recent appraisal of the works, Nealon said, adding that the process may take as much as two years to complete.
Brandeis, founded in 1948, is the only non-sectarian, Jewish-sponsored university in the country. | 23a945b20d0640c7b2a4dbc67df97837 | What kind of artifacts does the collection include? | [
"iconic paintings"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Texas authorities on Sunday were searching for a convicted burglar who escaped from a medical facility by rappelling off the building using a string of bedsheets, officials said.
Joshua Duane Barnes, 21, was serving 35 years in prison for several convictions, including two escape charges.
Joshua Duane Barnes, 21, was last seen at 8:15 p.m. Saturday on the seventh floor of a Texas Department of Criminal Justice medical facility in Galveston, Texas, said TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark.
Fifteen minutes later, Barnes was gone, Clark told CNN.
Security officers noticed there was a hole in the wall and a vent had been removed.
According to Clark, Barnes busted a hole through a wall in his room and then broke through a thick window.
He apparently tied bedsheets together, rappelled down the side of the building to a roof, and then jumped to the ground, Clark said.
Barnes was serving 35 years in prison for several felony convictions, including seven burglary charges, two escape charges and an aggravated assault charge in the Texas Panhandle area, according to a TDCJ press release.
The inmate was being housed at a prison in Midway, Texas. He was transported to the medical facility in Galveston last week after being hurt in an altercation, TDCJ said.
The department of criminal justice has tracking dogs and dozens of officers searching the area, Clark said. Local police officers also joined the search.
Barnes began serving his sentence in January.
CNN's Chuck Johnston contributed to this report. | 3d23b106283a4dac9b5a9540525daf0d | what is the age ofJoshua Duane Barnes? | [
"21,"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Swimming legend Michael Phelps struggled in his attempt to adapt to the old-style racing suits at the World Cup short-course event in Sweden on Tuesday.
The 14-time Olympic gold medal winner qualified for finals in only one of three events in Stockholm, his best result being seventh of eight to go through in the men's 100 meter medley.
Racing for the first time since winning five golds and a silver at the world championships in July, the American missed out on the 100m freestyle after qualifying in 16th of 23 competitors.
His time of 47.77 seconds was 1.84 seconds slower than the leading mark set by Sweden's Stefan Nystrand.
The 24-year-old, who was disqualified in the 100m backstroke, set a time of 53.13 seconds in the medley. The fastest man, South African Darian Townsend, came home in 52.48.
Phelps was one of the few swimmers to revert to the old-style suits, which will become mandatory after January 1 as world ruling body FINA seeks to rein in the high-tech costumes which have sent records tumbling at an incredible rate in the past two years.
He will swim in the 100m butterfly and 200m medley heats on Wednesday, and then head to the next leg of the World Cup in Berlin at the weekend.
In Stockholm on Tuesday, Chinese swimmer Jing Zhao set a new world record in the heats of the women's 50m backstroke, clocking 26.08 seconds.
She beat the mark of 26.17 posted by Australia's Marieke Guehrer in the previous meet of the series in Moscow on November 6.
In the men's 50m butterfly, South Africa's Roland Schoeman was first in a new World Cup record of 22.29. | 850bac6f5c4d4715a4b7a9a6046d1aa3 | What caused Michael Phelps to struggle? | [
"the old-style racing suits"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini believes his squad is now "complete" and ready for the challenge of a new Primera Division campaign.
Manuel Pellegrini is encouraged with the performances of Cristiano Ronaldo and company in pre-season.
The Bernabeu club have invested heavily in their side over the summer, bringing in the likes of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema in a bid to wrest the domestic and Champions League trophies away from rivals Barcelona.
The pre-season signs have been encouraging, and they rounded off their preparations with a 4-0 rout of Norwegian side Rosenborg on Monday.
Pellegrini is hopeful it will all come together again when they kick off their Spanish Liga campaign against Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
"The pre-season has been very positive and we've managed to prepare the squad well, allowing every man to play more or less the same time," he told the club's official Web site.
"The team is solid in defence and has potential in attack. We keep possession more on our opponent's half of the pitch, allowing us to showcase our technical differences.
"This squad is complete. It gives us alternatives to try out different things. We still have to polish some aspects of our game, but I'm not worried about that."
Pellegrini has also been impressed by Ronaldo, although he believes the Portugal winger requires more time to settle in following his move from Manchester United.
"Cristiano Ronaldo needs a little time to adapt to his new team's style. Every player on the squad is working hard to be fit and play well," the coach added.
"Cristiano has experienced a change in style and now lives in a different country. He needs a little more time unlike those who already know La Liga."
Ronaldo himself is looking forward to the challenges ahead, with Real desperate to improve on their showing last term.
"The team is doing well. We are working hard and preparing for the start of La Liga," he said.
"I feel comfortable and relaxed. I am working hard and I am waiting for the league to begin. I'm sure things will turn out as we want them to.
"We must take things slowly, get in good shape and think positively at all times." | 0a47cba3e1924ca49d60f17c84c0e44d | In what ways have the giants invested? | [
"heavily in their side"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Wimbledon organizers have increased prize money for the men's and women's champions to £1 million ($1.53 million).
The All England Club has sanctioned the £150,000 rise to offset the effects of the falling value of the British pound against the US dollar and euro.
The total prize money for the event will be £13.725 million, an increase of £1.175 million on 2009.
The All England Club agreed to pay women the same prize money as men for the first time in 2007. The £1 million prize for the 2010 ladies singles' champion is more than double that of eight years ago.
"Wimbledon exists in a highly competitive global marketplace and it is the world's best players who create and drive the interest," said All England Club chairman Tim Phillips in a statement on the tournament Web site.
"It is important that we offer a level of prize money which is both appropriate to the prestige of the event and which gives the players full and fair reward."
Phillips also announced that this year's tournament, which runs from June 21 to July 4, will be a "World Cup-free zone", with football fans denied the chance to watch matches on the big screens at the All England Club.
"This is arguably the leading tennis tournament in the world and people come here to watch tennis," Phillips added.
"If people want to watch the World Cup they should go to South Africa or watch it on the TV."
Meanwhile, world number three Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the Barcelona Open in order to rest an ongoing knee problem.
Nadal, who won the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday, had been expected to attempt to win his sixth title in a row at him home tournament.
"I am really sorry not to be able to play in Barcelona, more than any other tournament, but this year after the win in Monte Carlo my body is asking me to rest," Nadal told his official Web site. | 04eb4d81f8d541b8a9356c428c778b0d | By how much greater is this total? | [
"increase of £1.175 million"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- An Air Force nurse has been charged with murdering three terminally ill patients by giving them fatal overdoses, the Air Force said Tuesday.
Capt. Michael Fontana is continuing to work at Wildford Hall Medical Center.
Capt. Michael Fontana, a nurse at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, also was charged Monday with conduct unbecoming an officer for changing a medical document.
"The charges are the result of an Air Force investigation that occurred after irregularities were discovered in Capt. Fontana's administration of medications which may have resulted in the death of an end-of-life patient," hospital spokesman David Smith told reporters.
The nurse was charged with three counts of violating Article 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. "It is considered murder," Smith said.
After an Article 32 hearing, akin to a civilian grand jury proceeding, the commander will decide whether the case goes to court-martial.
The three deaths occurred in July, Smith said. He cited the privacy act in refusing to divulge the suspect's age and hometown.
He said he did not know the motive but was confident no other patients were victimized.
"We know that there are no other patients involved in this case," he said.
Fontana, an intensive-care unit nurse who has been working at the hospital since 2006, the year he joined the Air Force, has been released on his own recognizance and is continuing to work at the hospital, though he is no longer involved in patient care, Smith said.
"As far as we can tell, he has been an exemplary nurse," Smith said.
Fontana also served as a nurse at the Air Force Theater Hospital in Balad, Iraq, Smith said. His work there was investigated, "and there was nothing found," he said.
A call to a San Antonio phone number listed as belonging to Michael Fontana got a message that said, "Thank you for calling. Due to the ongoing investigation, I have no comment for you right now, but I do appreciate your call and will talk to you soon."
Relatives of the dead patients have requested privacy, the Air Force said.
Wilford Hall Medical Center is the Air Force's largest medical facility. | a89f4333043b4addadf9c7a4bd8bca56 | What did the man do? | [
"murdering three terminally ill patients by giving"
] |
NewsQA | (EW.com) -- "Joyful Noise," a squeaky-clean pop-gospel fairy tale featuring Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah in canned catfights, reflects the inspiration of "Glee" and God, in that order.
The "Glee" side, at least in my book, doesn't exactly amount to a recommendation, but it does mean that the movie's musical numbers are catchy and rollicking and, in their bright sunshiny way, rather soulful. In the small town of Pacashau, Georgia, times are hard -- every other storefront is empty -- but the Divinity Church choir has lifted local spirits by rising to become a semifinalist in the National Joyful Noise Competition. Can these spunky vocalists go the distance?
Not until they learn to work together in harmony. Which means that Vi Rose Hill (Latifah), the choir's new director, has to stop feuding with G.G. Sparrow (Parton), widow of the former choir leader, over the direction of the group's music. Vi Rose, feisty and smart-mouthed, favors tradition, while G.G., whose grandson Randy (Jeremy Jordan) is the new songbird on the block, is out to shake things up.
Parton now looks like a "Spitting Image" puppet (the film makes plastic-surgery jokes about her so that we don't have to), but she still has a way with lines like ''I'd call you stubborn, but that'd be an insult to mules!''
"Joyful Noise" also finds room for a teenager with Asperger's syndrome (Dexter Darden) who loves one-hit-wonder songs (but can he learn to love himself?), as well as a romance between Randy and Vi Rose's daughter Olivia (Keke Palmer). These two are pretty -- and as bland as balsa wood.
But each time the innocuousness starts to get to you, you're woken up by Randy and Olivia's swooning ''Maybe I'm Amazed'' duet, or a kid-choir rendition of Billy Preston's ''That's the Way God Planned It,'' or the final ''I Want to Take You Higher'' blowout. These numbers create a deep river of feeling, even when stuck in the shallow banks of a movie like this one. B-
See the full article at EW.com.
CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly
© 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved. | c85f007ee1c3416db22ac81bb9a789bf | Who lifted local spirits | [
"Divinity Church choir"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- A Los Angeles-area man has been charged with murder in the death of his wife while on a cruise along the Mexican coast, an FBI spokesman told CNN sister network HLN.
Shirley McGill, 55, was found dead on Tuesday in her cabin on the Carnival Elation.
Shirley McGill, 55, was found dead in her cabin on the Carnival Elation on Tuesday as the ship, after a five-day cruise to Cabo San Lucas, was heading back to its origination point of San Diego, California, authorities said.
Robert McGill, who is in his mid-50s, is charged with murder on the high seas, FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter told HLN.
The FBI and the Carnival cruise line said that a domestic dispute Tuesday night resulted in the woman's death, but did not elaborate on how she was killed. The FBI said the cause of death would be determined through autopsy.
Another passenger became suspicious that foul play had taken place "for a variety of possible reasons," Slotter said, and notified ship security. When security checked the couple's room, Shirley McGill was found dead inside, he said. Authorities believe she had been dead for no more than a couple of hours. Watch Slotter describe how the body was found »
Robert McGill was arrested on board the ship and was kept in its brig for the remainder of the cruise, the FBI said. After the ship docked, he was taken into federal custody, as crimes on the high seas fall under federal jurisdiction. FBI agents boarded the ship to start the investigation as the vessel neared San Diego, with the Coast Guard transporting the agents about 10 miles offshore.
Agents were completing their work on the ship Thursday, having interviewed about 50 passengers and processed the crime scene, Slotter said.
He would not elaborate on the domestic dispute, saying authorities are still trying to piece together what happened.
The 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation had departed on the cruise July 11.
CNN's Scott Thompson contributed to this report. | 9a6aee65189d480887c233892771a9f0 | Who he was accused of murder? | [
"Robert McGill,"
] |
NewsQA | New York (CNN) -- Two Pakistani Muslims in Brooklyn are now running the oldest bialy store in the city, and keeping it kosher.
Zafaryab Ali and his business partner, Peerada Shah, were shocked on hearing through a friend that Coney Island Bialys and Bagels was closing. Ali had worked at the store for 10 years in the 1990s and remembers it always being crowded, with lines out the door and people waiting up to half an hour for fresh bialys. So Ali and Shah bought the store to keep the 91-year business alive.
Bialys are a lighter, softer cousin to the bagel, traditionally made with onion sprinkled on top.
"I know bagels and my partner knows management," Ali said. "If we work hard and pay attention, we'll build up and bring more customers in."
Ali and Shah are keeping everything the same -- ingredients, equipment, recipes -- all used when it was a kosher store under Jewish management. Ali is now on the hunt for a rabbi to come and give the store an official kosher certification.
They even have some of the same staff, like Ernie Devivo, a semi-retired baker who is still helping out around the shop.
"I'm glad we opened up again," Devivo said. "It's good for everybody."
Asked about seeing the store open again, after a short closure, one customer said, "It's good. It's beautiful."
According to the bakery's website, Coney Island Bialys Bakers Co. was started in 1920 by Morris Rosenzweig, who brought the bialy recipe with him from Poland. The family continued to make hand-rolled, traditional bialys for 91 years. The business passed to Rosenzweig's son Don and then to his son, Steve Ross, who began wholesaling the bialys as well, shipping them across the country. Then in August, Steve Ross decided to close.
"My son was going to take over, but with the area changing and business slowing down and the economy doing a double take on the recession, it wasn't worth keeping at that point," Ross said.
Ali and Shah reopened shop In mid-September, and say that business has been going well.
Ross is glad to see his family's store living on.
"I've got no problem whether they're black, white, purple, green, yellow. They came in, wanted to keep the business open and wanted to keep the industry going. ... I'm glad it's still there. I'm happy."
And Coney Island Bialys and Bagels is still a family business, with Ali, his brother and his nephew all working to keep its traditions alive.
"We're sticking with kosher," Ali said. | b8fb7f4f5ea24bd0bc01b735b99f7807 | What are they traditionally made with? | [
"onion sprinkled on top."
] |
NewsQA | NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Authorities are investigating reports that disabled children in India were buried up to their necks during this week's solar eclipse as a supposed remedy for their handicaps.
Hindu women pray as they bathe in the River Ganges after the total solar eclipse in India.
Officials said Thursday they were looking into reports that some 34 children aged 2 to 7 were buried in sand up to their chins -- with the consent of the parents -- in the belief that doing so during an eclipse would cure the children of their disabilities.
V. Anbu Kumar, caretaker deputy commissioner of Gulbarga district in the state of Karnataka, told CNN that everybody at the site had left when he and police officers arrived.
The act was apparently carried out in the early morning hours Wednesday, when the longest solar eclipse of the century turned day into night in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, China and parts of the Pacific.
Kumar denied that the ritual takes place during every eclipse, but said authorities are "launching an awareness campaign" against the practice.
A complaint has been registered for "knowingly endangering human lives," Gulbarg police chief B.A. Padmanayna told CNN. Stronger charges could also be pressed against the offenders, he said. Watch the 'exceptional' eclipse »
So far, police have made no arrests in the case.
Wednesday's eclipse reignited some superstitions in India. Most pregnant women hope to avoid giving birth during an eclipse, and Indian astrologers even advise expectant mothers to stay indoors when the event occurs. View the eclipse in pictures »
"It may not cause any physical harm to the baby, but it may affect the child's overall personality," said R.K. Sharma, who describes himself as a "remedial astrologer."
A solar eclipse, he says, weakens the sun god temporarily because of an encounter with dragon Rahu and leaves some cascading results everywhere.
"Bathing in holy rivers and ponds during this time thus helps protect health and develop positivism and greater will power," he explained. | da44ec1c86874a8cae2c10be4dfb2642 | What was it thought that the burials would achieve | [
"cure the children of their disabilities."
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- A legally insane killer who escaped in Washington state during a field trip to a fair was recaptured Sunday, the Spokane County Sheriff's Department said.
Authorities combed Washington state for Phillip Paul, a killer who escaped Thursday during a field trip.
Phillip Paul, who was on the run for three days, had been planning the break for "at least the last several months," Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said at a news conference.
Paul was recaptured at about 4 p.m. PT in Goldendale, Washington, sheriff's Sgt. Dave Reagan said. Goldendale is about 250 miles from the site of Paul's escape from a county fair in Spokane County, Washington.
Police received a tip Saturday afternoon that Paul was dropped off by a person he managed to dupe into giving him a ride to Goldendale, Knezovich said. Police spotted him hiding in a wooded area about 100 yards from the drop-off point Sunday and eventually arrested him while he was trying to hitch another ride, Knezovich said.
Sheriff's officials told CNN affiliate KREM-TV that Paul also escaped briefly in 1991 and assaulted a law enforcement officer. That same officer was involved in arresting Paul on Sunday, Reagan said.
Paul, 47, escaped at around noon Thursday.
Though Paul had been confined in a mental institution because of a murder confession, he was allowed to go on the trip to the county fair.
Paul had packed all his personal belongings in a large backpack before leaving on the trip, which the sheriff said should have been a sign that Paul was "about ready to do something this drastic."
Paul was committed to Eastern State Hospital after admitting he strangled and slit the throat of community activist Ruth Motley in 1987, KREM-TV reported. According to court documents obtained by KREM, Paul believed Motley was a witch and killed her in response to voices in his head.
He subsequently burned a deer carcass as a sacrifice, according to the documents.
Paul's escape Thursday prompted a massive manhunt and brought criticism from many, including state government officials and police.
"There was an extreme amount of anger throughout the law enforcement community that this event even took place," Knezovich said. "This is a situation, in my opinion, that should have never happened."
Knezovich also complained that hospital officials had not reported Paul's escape for two hours, which he said also hindered the investigation.
A review of the policy that allows patients to take trips has been launched, said Susan Dreyfus, secretary of the Washington's Department of Social and Health Services. Dreyfus said she was concerned about Paul's escape and another recent brief escape by a patient at a different local mental facility. | 9d8969c17b81470ea76c92a17fcc7284 | Was Paul's escape planned in advance? | [
"had been planning the break for \"at least the last several months,\""
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The White House unveiled a strategy to combat rising drug crimes along the border Friday, vowing to curb the flow of narcotics and weapons that has been endangering more and more U.S. communities.
Pedestrians cross the U.S.-Mexico border at the San Ysidro gate in San Diego, California.
"The National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy we introduce today provides an effective way forward that will crack down on cartels and make our country safer," Attorney General Eric Holder vowed in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the plan "calls for tougher inspections, more enforcement personnel and close coordination with our partners in Mexico as we work across federal, state and local governments. ... Together, we will continue to reduce the flow of illegal drugs across the Southwest border and ensure that those who ignore our laws are prosecuted."
The plan did not appear to contain any surprises. It focuses largely on increased intelligence, cooperation among law enforcement agencies and enhanced technology. A summary released by the White House also promises "targeted financial sanctions to disable drug trafficking organizations."
Rising drug violence in the United States is one of the administration's top domestic concerns.
Among the worst-hit cities in recent years is Phoenix, Arizona, where there's been an average of more than one reported kidnapping every day since 2007, virtually all linked to the drug trade. Home invasions have spiked as well.
As drug cartels have extended their reach in the United States, the violence has also been on the rise on the other side of the border.
More than 40 people, including two police officers, have been killed in shootings in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez since last weekend, authorities there said.
Gil Kerlikowske, President Obama's director of national drug control policy, will oversee the policy announced Friday.
"This new plan, combined with the dedicated efforts of the government of Mexico, creates a unique opportunity to make real headway on the drug threat," Kerlikowske said. "At the same time, we are renewing our commitment to reduce the demand for drugs in the United States, which will support this effort. The National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy will improve the safety of communities on the border and throughout our nation."
CNN's Terry Frieden contributed to this report. | 95a4a3eeddff4b179e5e9e4c20e73da0 | What is among the White House's top domestic concerns? | [
"Rising drug violence in the United States is one of the administration's"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Tiger Woods announced that he is taking "an indefinite break" from professional golf, according to a statement posted on his Web site Friday.
"I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children," the statement says. "I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I've done, but I want to do my best to try."
The 33-year-old golfer, who tops the sport's world rankings, has been mired in controversy since he crashed his car outside his Florida mansion late last month. The crash prompted authorities to cite him for careless driving and fine him $164.
Woods was not required to talk to police about the wreck, and declined to talk with investigators on several occasions.
In the week following the crash, Woods apologized for "transgressions" that let his family down, on the same day that gossip magazine US Weekly published a report alleging that Woods, who is married to Elin Nordegren, had an affair with a 24-year-old cocktail waitress named Jaimee Grubbs.
US Weekly's report followed a National Enquirer article before the crash that the athlete was having an affair with a New York nightclub hostess -- an assertion the hostess vigorously denied, according to The New York Post. See the statement on Woods' Web site
It was not immediately clear how Woods' hiatus would affect his sponsorships, though Nike, his main sponsor, issued a statement saying Woods "and his family have Nike's full support."
"He is the best golfer in the world and one of the greatest athletes of his era," Nike spokeswoman Beth Gast said in the statement. "We look forward to his return to golf."
The statement did not elaborate on whether Woods' announcement would impact his business relationship with the sports equipment and clothing company, which has worked with him for more than a decade.
Woods' other sponsors include Gillette, Gatorade and Electronic Arts.
The Professional Golfers' Association Tour said it supports Woods and looks forward to his return to the game.
"We fully support Tiger's decision to step away from competitive golf to focus on his family. His priorities are where they need to be, and we will continue to respect and honor his family's request for privacy," the PGA Tour said in a statement Friday. "We look forward to Tiger's return to the PGA Tour when he determines the time is right for him." | 2d91c04479f94303bf9d3e83de70631d | What is he deeply aware of? | [
"the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children,\""
] |
NewsQA | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A man has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly displaying hangman's nooses from the back of a pickup truck during a civil rights march last year in Jena, Louisiana.
A photo taken by I-Reporter Casanova Love shows a noose hanging from a pickup in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Jeremiah Munsen, 18, of Grant Parish, repeatedly drove slowly past a group of marchers gathered at a bus depot in Alexandria, which is near Jena, as they awaited buses to return them to Tennessee, federal authorities said Thursday.
As many as 20,000 marchers had taken part in the huge protests in Jena. Authorities there had been accused of injustice in the handling of racially charged cases, including the hanging of nooses in a tree after a group of black high school students sat in an area where traditionally only white students sat.
The noose incident at Jena was the beginning of months of racial tension that included the beating of a white student, allegedly by six black classmates. The black students were prosecuted, but the three white students responsible for the nooses in the tree were not.
Munsen and an unnamed conspirator had attached nooses to their pickup on September 20 and driven to Alexandria specifically to threaten and intimidate the marchers, the authorities said. View a series of photos of the truck »
A juvenile passenger was apprehended with Munsen, according to the arresting officer's report.
The juvenile told police he and his family are in the Ku Klux Klan and that he had "KKK" tattooed on his chest, the police report said. He also said that he tied the nooses and that brass knuckles found in the truck belonged to him, the report said.
"This indictment accuses the defendant [Munsen] of conduct that constitutes a federal civil rights conspiracy violation and a federal hate crime," said U.S. Attorney Donald Washington.
Washington and Grace Chung Becker, acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, announced the indictment, issued by a grand jury in Shreveport, Louisiana.
A photograph of the truck was sent to CNN by I-Reporter Casanova Love, 26, who said he is in the U.S. military. He was visiting his family in Louisiana and said he witnessed the event.
Love added, "If the police had not stepped in, I fear what might have happened." E-mail to a friend | 5cf6ccc33b164fed9688a995a2ba6492 | what did the louisiana resident do? | [
"displaying hangman's nooses"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- As the country was sinking into its worst financial crisis in more than 70 years, Security and Exchange Commission employees and contractors cruised porn sites and viewed sexually explicit pictures using government computers, an SEC investigation obtained by CNN showed.
"During the past five years, the SEC OIG (Office of Inspector General) substantiated that 33 SEC employees and or contractors violated Commission rules and policies, as well as the government-wide Standards of Ethical Conduct, by viewing pornographic, sexually explicit or sexually suggestive images using government computer resources and official time," said a summary of the investigation by the inspector general's office.
More than half of the workers made between $99,000 and $223,000. All the cases took place over the past five years.
"It is nothing short of disturbing that high-ranking officials within the SEC were spending more time looking at pornography than taking action to help stave off the events that brought our nation's economy to the brink of collapse," said Rep. Darrell Issa. The Republican is a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
"This stunning report should make everyone question the wisdom of moving forward with plans to give regulators like the SEC even more widespread authority," he said. "Inexplicably, rather than exercise its existing regulatory enforcement authority, SEC officials were preoccupied with other distractions." | d8616b1d48a54924bed235e768ecc994 | Who was teetering on verge of financial collapse? | [
"country"
] |
NewsQA | LONDON, England (CNN) -- A ship laden with toxic substances is due to arrive in northeast England for recycling Sunday, ending an odyssey that has seen it turned away from at least three other countries.
The scrapping of the aircraft carrier has been hugely controversial and a major headache for France.
The French Navy spent years looking for a site that would decommission the former aircraft carrier Clemenceau, now known simply as the Q790. The ship contains asbestos, which can cause cancer.
Greenpeace activists boarded the ship off the coast of Egypt in 2006 to prevent it being sent to India to be scrapped. The environmental campaign group said at the time it contained "high levels of asbestos and other hazardous materials." Two activists climbed the ship's masts and hung banners reading "Absestos carrier: stay out of India."
The group declared "victory" a month later when then-President Jacques Chirac of France recalled the ship after the country's Council of State ruled its export could violate European law, Greenpeace said.
The ship had earlier been rejected by Turkey and Greece, after the original plan to turn it into an artificial reef was scrapped for environmental reasons, the group said.
The British ship recycling company that will scrap it had to apply for special permission from the country's Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive.
But the company, Able Ship Recycling, hailed its arrival in the English city of Hartlepool as a milestone.
"The dismantling of the vessel will be the largest ship recycling project ever undertaken in Europe," the company said in a statement.
The work will take place at the company's Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre, where it will produce about 200 jobs in the economically depressed region.
Able chairman and chief executive Peter Stephenson said the contract was "crucially important... at a time when there are so many economic problems facing the world -- and especially a region such as the north-east of England."
"Recycling the Q790 will be the largest project so far handled by any European yard but, with the biggest dry dock in the world, we have the capacity to undertake the recycling of the vessel," he added.
Launched in 1957, the Clemenceau was the mainstay of the French naval fleet and sailed over a million nautical miles before being withdrawn from active service after almost four decades at sea, the company said. It will join the other three UK and four U.S. vessels also being recycled at the center, Able said.
Greenpeace is not opposing the transfer of the ship to England, but press reports suggest local activists are displeased. | 713686ee13f0427b9ebca926f22a3d06 | What kind of ship is it? | [
"aircraft carrier"
] |
NewsQA | Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Comedian Betty White -- currently enjoying a career resurgence at age 88 -- said Wednesday that she credits her longevity in the entertainment industry to "sheer blind luck."
"I'm the luckiest old broad that ever drew a breath," White told CNN's "Larry King Live."
After a cameo on a popular Super Bowl commercial in January and a series of comedic sketches on Craig Ferguson's "Late, Late Show," White's fans campaigned successfully via Facebook for her to host NBC's "Saturday Night Live."
White admitted to King that she was nervous about the May 8 show and said she finds herself questioning, "What are they doing with me?"
She said she had been approached to host "SNL" three times "many, many years ago," but declined because she associated the show with New York, and as a California girl, "I'm so not New York."
White got her start in show business in 1949 on a local television show. She went on to star in two hit sitcoms, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Golden Girls."
"I think the reason for the longevity is that ... several generations have gotten to know me over the years so I've become ... sort of part of the family," she said.
Most recently, she appeared in the blockbuster "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. And to add to her current hot streak, White recently signed on to be a series regular on a new TV Land cable channel sitcom titled "Hot in Cleveland" opposite Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Valerie Bertinelli.
"I'm not hot again, but I'm surprised to still be working," White said. "I just am amazed and I'm thrilled and I'm going along with it and enjoying it."
White has also continued her work for animal health and well-being, including a 46-year partnership with the Los Angeles Zoo, calling it one of her two loves in life -- alongside show business of course.
"It's such fun," she said. "Why should you stop something you enjoy so much?" | 27b5238cc3d346bd8ec1e00c27830c5f | What are White's two hit sitcoms? | [
"\"Golden Girls.\""
] |
NewsQA | BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Concerns were growing Wednesday for a polar bear born last month at a German zoo after its twin died and was possibly eaten by its mother.
One year ago Vera gave birth to Flocke, pictured here playing in her enclosure in April.
The young polar bear died Monday, less than two weeks after it was born, Nuremberg Zoo said.
The surviving twin was doing well, the zoo said, but added that it was concerned the mother may not be able to care for it properly.
Zookeepers watching a video feed from the bears' enclosure said they had noticed the baby bear looking thinner and weaker. They saw the bears' mother, Vera, nudging the dead bear with her nose and observing it -- and as of Wednesday, they said, the dead bear was nowhere to be seen.
"It is very, very sad," said zoo director Dag Encke. "it is unfortunately frequently the case that with twins, one of the animals doesn't survive."
Zookeepers had kept their distance from Vera and her babies, watching them only on camera so as not to make the mother feel threatened. Polar bears are known to eat their young if they sense any danger or interference.
"We have to worry more about the surviving young animal and take care that the polar bear with her baby is not disturbed," Encke said. "So far, Vera is caring for the surviving baby in an exemplary way."
One year ago Vera gave birth to Flocke, who became an instant celebrity across Germany. Flocke's first birthday is Thursday. | 77c0dc386b7944e8a1385f85a8efcf5e | What will mother bears do if they sense danger? | [
"any"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The Pentagon on Wednesday identified two U.S. soldiers who disappeared in Afghanistan this month, announcing the death of one of the men and saying that the whereabouts of the other remain unknown.
Both soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division disappeared in the Morghab River near Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan on November 4.
The Pentagon announced the death of Army Sgt. Benjamin Sherman, 21, of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Army Sgt. Brandon Islip, 23, remains missing. Islip is from Richmond, Virginia.
Both men were on a resupply mission when they disappeared, the Pentagon said.
Last week, military divers found Sherman's body. Family members said he jumped into the river when he saw a fellow soldier struggling in the water.
"I know, that day, he jumped into the river to try to save his comrade was because he didn't just see another soldier in the water; he saw his brother," Sherman's sister, Meredith, said in a statement to CNN affiliate WCVB in Boston, Massachusetts.
"He didn't jump in because he was trained to but because that's what his heart told him to do." | 43a3fa0fc11a4b15999eb986b5bc44f2 | who found body last week | [
"military divers"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir landed in Qatar on Sunday for an Arab League summit, a move that could put him at risk of arrest on war crimes charges leveled by a U.N. tribunal.
Omar al-Bashir is the subject of an ICC arrest warrant over allaged war crimes in Darfur.
Al-Bashir met with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, after arriving in Doha, Qatar's capital.
Earlier this weekend, al-Thani criticized the timing of the arrest warrant issued in early March by the International Criminal Court, arguing it has undercut his government's efforts to resolve the long-running conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.
"We believe that peace and justice should go hand in hand to settle the conflict in Darfur, or for that matter, any other conflict," al-Thani told Arab League foreign ministers Saturday in remarks carried by the Qatar News Agency. "But we also believe that justice cannot be reached in the absence of peace."
The March 4 arrest warrant is the first issued for a sitting head of state by the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, based at The Hague in the Netherlands. But the ICC has no arrest powers of its own, and depends on its 106 member states to take suspects into custody. Qatar is not a member of the tribunal.
Sudan refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the ICC, and has made no efforts to hand over two other officials indicted by the court. Al-Bashir has called the charges an attempt by Western powers to recolonize Sudan.
The court accuses al-Bashir of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in his government's campaign against rebels in Darfur, in western Sudan.
The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million have been forced to flee their homes because of the conflict.
Qatar had been mediating talks between Sudanese officials and representatives of one of the rebel factions, who signed a confidence-building agreement in February.
CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom contributed to this report. | 3c9ce0db039b4c7dbf4ff79ee4667458 | Who arrived in Doha, Qatar? | [
"President Omar al-Bashir"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- A former professional football player and his ex-girlfriend have been charged in the killing of her wealthy boyfriend for money, a breakthrough in a cold case dating to 1994.
Eric Naposki, a former football player, has been charged in the killing of an ex-lover's boyfriend.
Eric Naposki and Nanette Packard McNeal face the possibility of life sentences over the shooting of Bill McLaughlin, according to the Orange County, California, district attorney.
Authorities said Packard McNeal persuaded her ex-boyfriend to kill McLaughlin so she could claim a $1 million life insurance policy, inherit $150,000 and get the right to live in his beach house for a year.
She gave Naposki a key to McLaughlin's house and information about when he would be home, officials said Wednesday.
Naposki shot the victim six times, then went to work at a nearby nightclub where he was a bouncer, according to authorities.
Packard McNeal met McLaughlin after she ran a personal ad that said, "I know how to take care of my man if he knows how to take care of me," the district attorney said in a statement. He supported her financially when they were dating and bought her a beach house, authorities said.
Packard McNeal has been jailed once for writing checks to herself from McLaughlin's account without his knowledge, including a $250,000 check on the day he was killed. She pleaded guilty to that crime in 1996 and was jailed for a year.
The Orange County officials said new evidence prompted the arrests of the two suspects, who were charged with special circumstances murder for financial gain.
Packard McNeal is due to appear in court Friday. Naposki was arrested in Connecticut, where he lives. Orange County authorities have asked that he be sent to California to face trial.
Naposki, 42, played in the NFL for the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. | 880d238136f94211881f169778a9339b | Who persuaded Naposki to kill her boyfriend? | [
"Packard McNeal"
] |
NewsQA | MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- The Mexican Supreme Court has ordered the release of 20 people who were convicted in the massacre of 45 people in 1997.
Mexican Mayan Indian massacre survivors reenact the killings of 45 people in Acteal village in this 2003 photo.
The court ruled that authorities obtained evidence illegally and that the defendants were denied due process and lacked an adequate defense.
The 20 were convicted for taking part in a massacre in the community of Acteal, in the southern state of Chiapas. Four of five Supreme Court justices decided Wednesday to order their immediate release, the court said in a statement.
"It's obvious that the evidence was obtained illegally," said Judge Jose de Jesus Gudino.
Investigators say 45 men, women and children were killed in Acteal by people who suspected they had links to the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, a group that launched a rebellion against the Mexican state in January 1994.
It was nearly four years after that rebellion, on December 22, 1997, that the 45 unarmed indigenous peasants were massacred in Acteal. Then-President Ernesto Zedillo ordered an investigation that eventually led to arrests.
In addition to ordering 20 people released, the Supreme Court called for the review of cases involving six others who were convicted in the massacre.
Judge Juan Silva Mesa decried the judicial process that led to the convictions.
"For me there is no greater injustice than allowing them, under and in the name of the law, to commit injustice" and thereby "affect someone's fundamental human rights," he said.
CNN's Mario Gonzalez contributed to this report. | 7ce8420b33a943c5bb8d78c34de8285f | How many people convicted of the 1997 killings did Mexican high court release? | [
"20"
] |
NewsQA | Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia are the blind husband and wife team from Mali who first gained widespread international attention in 2005 with their album "Dimanche a Bamako".
Amadou and Mariam have made the crossover to find international pop success.
After writing and performing together since they met at Institute of Young Blind of Bamako in 1977, their international break-through came when world music heavyweight Manu Chao produced their commercial hit album.
With a more pop-friendly sound but with the couple's positive and mesmeric vocals and Bagayoko's guitar playing, the duo have been feted by musicians across the world; the played opening sets for the Scissor Sisters and will be the opening act for Coldplay on their latest tour.
Having made the transition from world music to international pop sensations the couple talk to African Voices about their journey through music, coping with the setback of blindness and how their careers are on a high over 30 years after they began singing.
Watch the show on CNN on Saturday July 25, 12.30, 21.30 GMT and Sunday July 26, 18.00 GMT. | 5a0069be34294bb08768322a58be25ec | Where did they first meet? | [
"Institute of Young Blind of Bamako"
] |
NewsQA | LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain is prepared to send more troops to Afghanistan, the head of the British Army said in an interview published Friday.
Britain currently has 8,300 troops in Afghanistan.
Richard Dannatt, the chief of the general staff, did not say how many troops he would be prepared to deploy. Britain currently has 8,300 troops in Afghanistan.
Dannatt told The Times newspaper that elements of the 12th Mechanized Brigade had been "earmarked for Afghanistan." He said there are no plans to send the whole brigade of 4,000 troops.
"If we're asked for more and we say we can, it's not going to be 4,000 -- it's going to be something in between" that and the current troop level, Dannatt told the Times. The Ministry of Defense confirmed his remark.
British defense sources told The Times that a rise of 1,700 to 2,000 was "the uppermost ceiling."
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce a new strategy for Afghanistan on Friday that includes sending another 4,000 troops to the country with hundreds of civilian specialists, senior administration officials told CNN.
The troops -- which are in addition to the 17,000 that the president announced earlier would be sent to Afghanistan -- will be charged with training and building the Afghan Army and police force. The plans include doubling the Army's ranks to 135,000 and the police force to 80,000 by 2011, the officials said.
Military officials told CNN earlier that the Afghan government had requested the additional troops. | c846a6feb1b149888967d090eab8b841 | What is the army waiting for? | [
"U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce a new strategy for Afghanistan on Friday"
] |
NewsQA | (PEOPLE.com) -- Liv Tyler highly approves of her rock-star father Steven's choices -- both in love and career.
Asked about the "American Idol" judge's recent engagement to Clear Channel executive Erin Brady, Liv tells PEOPLE that she's an enthusiastic supporter of it, explaining that the two have been together "for a long, long time" and adding, "I like her very much."
Speaking to PEOPLE at the Sundance Film Festival, where she's promoting her new movie "Robot and Frank," the actress, 34, also revealed that she's finally following in her father's footsteps -- into the music business.
"I got to record a cover of INXS's 'I Need You Tonight' for a Givenchy commercial," says the model, who has a longstanding beauty contract with the European cosmetics company. "It was fun and terrifying and wonderful," she says of recording the song, which is due out soon.
It's a logical step for a woman whose roots are in music.
"I always thought when I was a little girl that I'd be a singer," she says. "My mom [Bebe Buell] was always in bands. My dad. And my stepfather, Todd Rundgren, is an incredible musician."
As for her dad's dicey performance of The Star-Spangled Banner on Sunday? Liv hadn't seen it yet. "Somebody told me my dad just sang the national anthem," she said. "I've got to go Google it."
Or, you know, maybe not.
See the full article at PEOPLE.com.
© 2011 People and Time Inc. All rights reserved. | 63754dfa77b049ca89e2f704018a3f59 | What person said he liked her very much | [
"Liv Tyler"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Hamburg have moved up to fourth place in the Bundesliga, only behind Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg on goal difference, after a comfortable 2-0 home victory over Energie Cottbus on Sunday.
Ivica Olic celebrates his opening goal for Hamburg as they remain in touch near the top of the Bundesliga.
Croatian striker headed Hamburg into a 32nd-minute lead while a free-kick from winger Piotr Trochowski seven minutes later secured the points for the home side.
The result lifts Hamburg above Hoffenheim onto 45 points, with leaders Hertha Berlin remaining top of the table on 49 points following their 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Sunday's other match saw Werder Bremen pick up their first league win of 2009 with a 4-0 victory over Stuttgart, the first defeat in 10 matches for new Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel.
Sweden striker Markus Rosenberg struck twice for the home side who lie 10th in the table, while Stuttgart remain sixth, 10 points behind leaders Hertha Berlin. | 4e7bc124640944dea59c7f1e5d52a6ec | Who remains in the hunt? | [
"Hamburg"
] |
NewsQA | MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Dozens of gay and lesbian rights activists planning a parade in southwestern Moscow Saturday have been detained, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.
Gay and lesbian rights activists are detained in Moscow Saturday ahead of a planned march.
The arrests included Nikolai Alexeyev, a prominent gay activist in Russia, and his associate Nikolai Bayev, Interfax said, adding that more people trickling into the location were being arrested without explanation.
Officials of Moscow's gay community had announced earlier plans to rally at Novopushkinsky Park in central Moscow, Interfax said.
The arrests came ahead of Saturday night's Eurovision Song Contest, which is being held in Moscow. The contest has a strong following among the gay and lesbian community. Watch police break up the march »
Journalists from various countries gathered at the scene, as police barricaded the park with metal bars. Trucks with soldiers onboard were parked on nearby streets, Interfax said.
UK gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, in a statement on his Web site ahead of the march, said it was being held to coincide with the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
"This parade is in defense of human rights. We are defending the often violated human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Russians. They want legal protection against discrimination and hate crimes. I support their cause.
"Not all Russians are homophobic, but many are. Gay Russians suffer queer-bashing attacks, blackmail, verbal abuse and discrimination in education, housing and employment. This shames the great Russian nation."
The Eurovision Song Contest, which began in 1956, sees singers and groups from a short list of European nations perform a specially written song before telephone votes from each nation decide the winner.
In western Europe, the contest is regard as a light entertainment spectacular, with a strong following among the gay and lesbian community. Many fans dress up, hold parties and gather round the TV to watch the three-hour-plus televised marathon.
In recent years, however, eastern European nations, which take the contest much more seriously, have come to dominate.
The contest is also known for its political edge, as nations either give zero points to traditional enemies -- or, if they are enjoying good relations, the maximum number of points, as a sign of friendship.
The most famous winners of the contest were ABBA, who came to attention as the Swedish entry with "Waterloo" in 1974. In 1988, Celine Dion won the contest while singing on behalf of Switzerland. The dance show Riverdance first came to attention as an interval act when the contest was held in Dublin, Ireland, in 1994.
The organizers of the contest estimate it is watched by 100 million people worldwide. | 7bacc5f6c190460bb7d1a3b6592422f2 | Name the contest being held in Moscow? | [
"Eurovision Song"
] |
NewsQA | PARIS, France (CNN) -- The French trader accused of a multi-billion-dollar fraud at banking giant Societe Generale will go on trial next year, a lawyer for the bank said Tuesday.
Kerviel faces up to five years in prison if convicted of fraud charges.
Jerome Kerviel will face charges including forgery, breach of trust, and introducing fraudulent data into the bank's data system, Societe Generale lawyer Jean Veil told CNN.
He faces a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to €375,000 euros ($538,000), Veil said. The bank also will ask that Kerviel reimburse them for almost 5 billion euros ($7.1 billion), "which probably he will not pay," Veil said.
The trial is expected to start in the first half of 2010, perhaps in May or June, Veil said. It will take place at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris, he said.
Kerviel, who is now free on bail, was arrested last year after Societe Generale unveiled trading losses of more than $7.2 billion. The bank attributed the losses to fraud by Kerviel, who traded European index futures for the bank.
Kerviel is the only one charged in the case. His assistant, Thomas Mougard, was cleared of charges Monday, Veil said.
Societe Generale believes Kerviel alone was responsible for the losses, which the bank announced in January 2008. Kerviel maintains he was not acting alone, Veil said.
"The decision of the (court) confirms 100 percent the complaint of the bank, and that Kerviel was alone when he organized this massive fraud and that he was acting completely out of his (own accord)," Veil told CNN. | 2c50ab1595dc4b67854703da9cccdabc | What is the maximum penalty he will face? | [
"of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to €375,000 euros ($538,000),"
] |
NewsQA | NEW YORK (CNN) -- U.S. authorities arrested six people Wednesday on suspicion of smuggling African elephant ivory worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, law enforcement officials said.
Imports of African elephant ivory have been banned in the United States since 1976.
The defendants arranged to have ivory from Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Uganda shipped into the United States disguised as wooden snakes, guitars and statues, authorities said.
"The defendants plundered precious natural resources for personal profit," U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell and other officials said in a statement. "Their illegal trade threatens the continued existence of an endangered species and will not be tolerated."
Federal agents tracked at least eight shipments, including one worth an estimated $165,000.
Federal agents used surveillance and shipping, phone and bank records to track the suspect shipments. Arrests were made in New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Texas.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security were involved in the law enforcement operation.
One suspect told an undercover federal agent during a purchase that it was difficult to bring ivory into the United States, but easy to sell it at high prices, the government statement said.
Two other suspects also are accused of paying a courier $15,000 to bring a shipment of ivory from Cameroon into the United States.
The U.S. banned ivory imports in 1976, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora effectively outlawed trade in elephant tissue in 1989.
Illegal trade in African elephant ivory is considered to be a major cause of the continuing decline of elephant populations in Africa.
The defendants are expected to appear in court in New York on Wednesday. They face jail terms of up to 20 years if convicted. | 07758a50a7df440c9c71923a54844271 | Where was the ivory? | [
"Cameroon,"
] |
NewsQA | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Serving a 36-year-old government-issue cake at an Army retirement ceremony sounds like a classic bureaucratic mistake, but there was no mistake about it.
Retiring Army Col. Henry Moak uses a vintage P-38 to break the seal on government cake saved since 1973.
Retiring Army Col. Henry Moak served it up himself -- at his own ceremony.
Moak had saved the cake since 1973, when he got it while serving in Vietnam, and had long-standing plans to open it upon his retirement.
Pound cake served in a can was standard fare in military C rations back then. Moak said it was his favorite, and he could not get enough of it.
"I would eat it any chance I could get, but not all of the meals came with pound cake," he said before opening it.
In front of friends and family who attended his retirement ceremony Friday at the Pentagon, Moak eagerly opened the can.
Answering the question of whether the anticipation was the same now as back then, Moak said, "Yes, even more!"
"I won't eat it if it's black and moldy," he told onlookers.
"You can hear the pop of the air coming out," he said referring to the vacuum seal on the can.
To most people's surprise, the opened can revealed a still-edible yellow cake. The ceremonial sword used to cut Moak's real retirement cake was also used to dig into the can and cut out the cake.
Moak took a bite and put up his thumb, "It's good, it's still kind of moist," he declared. | 171933753b1644dfaba8f5b66c113700 | What goodie was eaten alongside the main dish? | [
"Pound cake served in a can"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon will return to Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, for the second time in as many weeks on Wednesday morning, a spokesman for the municipal police department said.
"For security reasons, details are nonexistent," police department spokesman Jacinto Seguro said.
Calderon will attend a meeting with local, state and federal officials, as well as civic and human rights groups, on Wednesday in Ciudad Juarez, which has been plagued by violence stemming from drug cartels.
The January 31 killings in southern Juarez of 15 people, most of whom were students with no ties to organized crime, has sparked outrage across the country. The slayings, which occurred at a house party, are thought to be the result of bad intelligence by a cartel and the gang that carried out the killings.
President Calderon, who has faced mounting pressure this month from Juarez residents to resign, will be visiting the city for the third time since assuming power in December 2006.
Last week in Juarez, Calderon apologized to the families of the 15 people killed and promised residents that their input would form part of the strategy against drug-related violence.
Residents of Juarez attempting to highlight the growing frustration with Calderon's war against organized crime took to the streets by the hundreds on Saturday. Many held signs targeted at Calderon reading, "Assassin."
On Tuesday, police said a business owner and his 24-year-old secretary were found slain inside a business near southern Juarez at 11 a.m.
"It's not new that the cartels target business owners, but killing his secretary, that's something that you don't see too often," Seguro said.
Also Tuesday, 20 students found skipping class and drinking in the street were detained by police as part of an effort to curtail unlawful street activity, Seguro said.
Violence in Juarez comes amid a backdrop of vastly increased numbers of homicides nationwide, as drug cartels battle each other and the Mexican government steps up its efforts to combat them.
The government has not released official figures, but national media say 7,600 Mexicans lost their lives in the war on drugs in 2009. Calderon said last year that 6,500 Mexicans died in drug violence in 2008.
Officials say more than 16,000 Mexicans have died since Calderon declared war on the drug cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006. | f0bbf5febcd54d548c7837d2d184cfc4 | On what date in 2006 did Calderon take office? | [
"December"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- A "faulty" flight instrument contributed to the crash of a Turkish plane last month in the Netherlands, an accident that killed nine people and injured more than 60 others, Dutch safety authorities said on Wednesday.
Turkish Airlines workers carry the coffins of four staff who died in the crash.
On February 25, Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 from Istanbul to Amsterdam dropped from the sky on approach to the landing strip at Schiphol Airport, shattering into three pieces in a muddy field.
Pieter van Vollenhoven, head of the Dutch Safety Board, said the instrument was one of the plane's two altimeters, which measure altitude.
Because of the "faulty" left altimeter, the plane on automatic pilot reacted as if it were lower than it was and started to behave as if it was touching down.
The plane was at 700 meters but the instrument indicated that it was at ground level. This caused the automatic throttles to slow the plane down, leading to a loss of speed.
The plane was on automatic pilot when it crashed. Van Vollenhoven said there had been misty weather and if it were clearer then the pilots might have noticed how far up they were.
He said that if such instruments don't function, automatic pilots should not be used for landings. Investigators said there had been faulty meter readings on two other flights but the pilots were able to land.
Van Vollenhoven said that the pilots realized the problem but failed to appreciate what had been happening until it was too late.
In the immediate aftermath of the crash investigators said the plane fell almost vertically to the ground indicating the aircraft did not have enough forward speed.
The plane crash less than 500 yards short of the runway.
Passengers described feeling the plane suddenly drop before impact, and at least one passenger said he heard the pilot trying to give more power to the engines before it went down.
Four of the crew and three Boeing employees were among the nine people killed in the crash.
Turkey's flagship airline is well-rated internationally for its overall safety record and the Boeing 737-800 has a good safety record.
The last previous fatal incident at the Amsterdam airport happened in April 1994 when a KLM aircraft crashed as it tried to return to Schiphol shortly after takeoff. | dd613e61bb19404b87c9f33692d2e6bc | Where did the Turkish plane crash? | [
"Netherlands,"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain scored the goals that gave Real Madrid a 2-0 win at Racing Santander on Sunday -- a result that sees Manuel Pelegrini's side return to the top of the Spanish Primera Liga.
Real's 12 consecutive league victory ensured that Real will face title rivals Barcelona in next weekend's crunch league match in pole position on goal difference.
Barcelona's 4-1 victory at home to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday ensured that Real needed another win to regain top spot and they took the lead in the 24th minute.
Ronaldo teased a foul out of Jose Moraton in the penalty area and from the resulting spot-kick, the Portuguese international fired home his 18th league goal of the season.
Despite dominating the match, Madrid had to wait until the 76th minute for their second goal, Higuain sliding the ball home from Guti's pass for his 24th goal of the season, two behind Lionel Messi at the top of the scoring charts.
Meanwhile, Spanish international striker David Villa took his season's goal tally to 20 with two late goals as Valencia defeated Osasuna 3-0, to take a firm grip on third position.
Joaquin opened the scoring in the 47th minute before Villa netted his first with a minute to go -- and then doubled his tally with an injury-time penalty. | 0098bfdb78e84e7f802f94761173f714 | What did Madrid return to the top of? | [
"Spanish Primera Liga."
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- What can 40 goats and 20 cows buy a Kenyan man? Chelsea Clinton's love, if you ask Godwin Kipkemoi Chepkurgor.
Hillary Clinton says she would let her daughter Chelsea know about a Kenyan man's unique marriage offer.
The Kenyan man first offered the dowry nine years ago to then-President Bill Clinton in asking for the hand of his only child. He renewed it Thursday after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked about the proposal at a Nairobi town hall session.
CNN's Fareed Zakaria, the session's moderator, commented that given the economic crisis at hand, Chepkurgor's dowry was "not a bad offer."
However, Clinton said her daughter was her own person.
"She's very independent," she said. "So I will convey this very kind offer." Watch Clinton's response to dowry offer »
The audience laughed, but Clinton's comments were no joke to Chepkurgor, who described the younger Clinton as a "beautiful, disciplined and well-natured woman."
"Of course I have never met her, but I like her family and how they stick together," Chepkurgor told CNN. "I've waited for a long time. I'm still waiting to meet her and express my love for her."
Chepkurgor operates a small electronics and computer shop in Nakuru, a major city northwest of Nairobi. He may still be waiting for Chelsea, but he's not exactly single. He married his wife Grace, a college classmate, in 2006.
"My wife has no problem with this," he insisted. "She listened to the answers given by Hillary and did not complain."
Polygamy is legal in Kenya, so Chelsea would be Chepkurgor's second wife.
"Is that allowed in your side of the world?" he laughed.
In Kenya, a man proposes with dowry for the prospective bride, Chepkurgor explained. He said he stands by his initial livestock offer until someone makes a counteroffer.
Chepkurgor, now 39, first made his intentions known when all three Clintons visited East Africa in 2000. He wrote a letter to the former president, offering himself as his only child's suitor. He said he had not expected the secretary of state to address the issue during her visit to Kenya this week.
However, he admits his chances might be rather slim.
"Unfortunately, I don't have their contact information," he said.
"I just want to convey my message of goodwill to the Clintons," he said. "And to all of America." | 92dab64eea54459abc6249c3676710d0 | What Hillary Clinton said about the offer? | [
"she would let her daughter Chelsea know"
] |
NewsQA | MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- One man was gored in the abdomen and another suffered facial injuries on the third day of the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, a hospital doctor told Spanish state television Wednesday.
A fighting bull leaps over a fallen runner at the Mercaderes curve during the running of the bulls.
A 22-year-old Californian, who was gored, was taken to a hospital and was "stable and conscious," said the doctor, Ignacio Yurss, medical director of Hospital de Navarra. The patient's name was not released.
The man who suffered facial injuries comes from Greece and was injured in the nose, Yurss added.
The latest injuries bring to 20 the number of runners who have been hurt in the first three days of the running. Watch the running of the bulls in Pamplona »
Two of those were due to bull gorings -- the Californian gored Wednesday and a Spaniard gored Tuesday. The other 18 injuries resulted from falls or collisions, the regional government of Navarra reported.
Ten of the injured are Spanish. The other 10 include three Americans and one each from England, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, South Africa, South Korea, and Romania, the Navarra government said. Many of the 20 have already been released from the hospital.
The running of the bulls in Pamplona started 400 years ago and became popular worldwide after Ernest Hemingway wrote about it in the 1920s.
The running is held for eight consecutive days, July 7 to 14, as six bulls and a pack of tame steers run from the corrals through Pamplona's old town to the bull ring, where the bulls will die later in the day in a bullfight.
A total of 13 people have been killed in the runs since 1924, when record-keeping began. The last was a 22-year-old American gored to death in 1995.
The runs begin off at 8 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) each day, with a few thousand runners participating daily, although crowds swell at the weekend. | 96cc5f50a0494b16bc2512c222df8615 | How many people were injured so far this year? | [
"20"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The driver of a Toyota Prius says he was taken on a wild ride Monday after the car's accelerator became stuck, reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph on a winding, hilly portion of a southern California interstate.
It took the California Highway Patrol to bring the car safely to a stop.
The driver, Jim Sikes, said he was traveling east on Interstate 8 outside of the San Diego area when he attempted to pass a slower vehicle.
"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car, and it just did something kind of funny ... and it just stuck there," he said at a news conference outside a Highway Patrol office. "As I was going, I was trying the brakes ... and it just kept speeding up."
Sikes said he called 911 for help, and dispatchers talked him through instructions on how he might be able to stop the car. But nothing worked.
At one point, Sikes said he reached down to try to pull the accelerator up, but it "stayed right where it was."
Alerted by emergency dispatchers, a California Highway Patrol officer was able to catch up to Sikes' Prius and used the patrol car's public address system to instruct Sikes to apply the brakes and the emergency brake at the same time.
The tactic worked, and the car slowed to about 50 mph. Sikes said he was able to shut off the car, and it rolled to a stop. The responding officer, Todd Neibert, positioned his patrol car in front of the Prius as a precaution to prevent it from moving again.
Toyota recently issued widespread recalls due to problems related to the accelerator pedal in several of its auto models. One theory behind the sticky accelerators is the vehicles' floor mats.
But Sikes said "my mat was perfect. There was nothing wrong with my mat."
Sikes said he took his 2008 Prius into a local Toyota dealership about two weeks ago for service and gave workers there his recall notice. He said he was told his car wasn't on the recall list.
"I'll be back there tomorrow," he said Monday, visibly shaken up.
CHP spokesman Brian Pennings said the ordeal lasted just over 20 minutes.
"We are extremely thankful that there was a safe end to this," Pennings said.
A Toyota spokesman issued a statement Monday night saying the automaker had been notified of the incident.
"Toyota has dispatched a field technical specialist to San Diego to investigate the report and offer assistance," the statement said. | 91c5dc6f39d14ba98eda2ce312220dd3 | Who did Sikes get help from? | [
"Todd Neibert,"
] |
NewsQA | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Police tightened security at airports across Pakistan Thursday after receiving reports of a possible suicide attack at the international airport that serves Islamabad.
Pakistan's capital was rocked by a suicide attack on the city's Marriott Hotel at the weekend.
Officers emptied the parking lot at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, on the outskirts of Islamabad, said Parvez George of the country's Civil Aviation Authority.
Flights were going out of the airport, but police cleared the terminal building of the large crowds that usually gather to see relatives arrive or depart, George said.
Muhammad Asghar of Islamabad Police told CNN that authorities placed the airport on high alert after intelligence reports indicated it was under threat of an attack.
The country's capital city is on edge since a deadly blast Saturday night at the Marriott Hotel. The explosion killed more than 50 people, including two U.S. military personnel and the Czech ambassador to Pakistan.
The bombing wounded more than 250 and sparked a fire that left the hotel in ruins.
On Thursday, the Danish intelligence service said one of its employees, Karsten Krabbe, was among the victims of the blast.
Krabbe, a 53-year-old married father of two, was a security adviser at the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, which was targeted by a suicide bomber in June. That attack killed six people and wounded more than 20.
"Karsten Krabbe lost his life in a cowardly and ruthless terror attack," the Danish intelligence service said in a statement.
Reacting to the Saturday's attack, the U.S. government barred employees from major hotels in several Pakistani cities, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan said.
The Embassy in Islamabad added Lahore on Wednesday to a list of three other cities in which U.S. personnel are no longer allowed to visit or stay in major hotels.
The Embassy took the measures because of general security concerns, said spokesman Lou Fintor Thursday. He did not comment on a specific threat.
In addition to the hotel restriction, the Embassy temporarily suspended visa and other routine consular services for Thursday and Friday. It said it will make available emergency services for U.S. citizens who need passports or are arrested.
And an advisory reminded Americans in Pakistan to avoid crowds and demonstrations and to keep a "low profile." It said Americans should vary times and routes while traveling to avoid setting patterns.
And it said a travel warning issued on August 7 still stands: U.S. citizens should defer nonessential travel to Pakistan due to continuing security concerns.
-- CNN's Zein Basravi and Reza Sayah, and Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report | dca7463198a34775a90c2e2860252c3b | What kind of attack was the airport in danger of | [
"possible suicide"
] |
NewsQA | MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Auto insurers report that about 60,000 vehicles were stolen in just over a year in Mexico, the highest figure in the past decade.
Mexico City, Mexico, has a well-deserved reputation for heavy traffic. Now car thefts may be added to the list.
That's no surprise to Guillermo Cruz, who has bought two new cars this year: the first after his original car was stolen, and the second three months later after two armed men pointed guns at him, got in and drove off with Cruz inside.
"They dropped me off in the street and I thought they had already left, and I went back" to where they had taken it, he said.
"And still they hadn't left; they were inside the car. And one man said to the other, 'Let's shoot him because he's becoming annoying.' "
According to the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions, the capital of Mexico City is a favorite site for car thieves to work.
"If we talk about data from the federal district, we can say that we have 16,000 automobiles stolen, an increase of 10 percent from October 2007 to September 2008," said Recaredo Arias, a spokesman for the association.
He said drug traffickers have contributed to the increase by pushing other bands of criminals into new lines of business.
"Perhaps they are taking up so much space from the point of view of the sources of income as from the point of view of supply and distribution of drugs to these bands and, as a result, the bands are looking for other types of crimes," he speculated.
Authorities say they are making efforts to fight the crime, though some observers predict that the incidence of car theft will rise further as the world economic crisis worsens. | 06c88f24138a40ed8e059e001dcd8a78 | What did one Mexican man say he's had happen to him? | [
"has bought two new cars this year: the first after his original car was stolen, and the second three months later after two armed men pointed guns at"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Severe storms hammered North Carolina on Sunday evening, but no fatalities had been reported as of Monday morning, and injuries were minor, officials said.
Residents reported as many as eight tornadoes touching down -- overturning mobile homes, ripping out trees and plunging neighborhoods into darkness.
Survey crews were meeting with local officials throughout the state to get a clearer picture of the storm damage, said Ernie Seneca, spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.
There were reports of damaged houses and downed trees, but injuries were limited, he said.
"It looks like people heeded the warning to seek shelter when the storm came," he said.
"It really did sound like a train. It was pure noise," said William Schlaeppi, who lives on a farm in High Point, North Carolina, where the National Weather Service reported damage to at least 20 homes. "I literally watched my fields disappear in front of me under a wall of water -- circular, spinning water."
A broad band of severe thunderstorms Sunday brought heavy rain and hail, and prompted tornado warnings from Florida to Virginia, the weather service said.
A tornado touched down in Oakland Park, Florida, just north of Fort Lauderdale, between 8 and 8:30 a.m. Monday, said Tyrone Mosley, a weather service specialist. There was debris but no immediate report of injuries, he said.
In North Carolina, at least eight unconfirmed tornadoes were spotted along the Interstate 85 corridor between Charlotte and Greensboro on Sunday evening.
Metal roofing was ripped off an industrial building in Belmont, west of Charlotte, littering nearby trees with clumps of yellow insulation.
News14: Spencer residents survey damage after storm
Multiple mobile homes were overturned in Linwood, outside of Lexington, and at least three people were reported injured.
And what looked like a huge funnel cloud loomed over High Point, near Greensboro.
"It's been a very active evening for most of central North Carolina," said Julia Jarema, spokeswoman for the state's Division of Emergency Management.
The storms caused power outages throughout the state, but because of the multiple bands of storms, "things are changing so rapidly, we haven't been able to confirm numbers," Jarema said Sunday night.
Is severe weather happening near you? Send photos, video
Local law enforcement reported another tornado north of Greensboro, the weather service said.
The storm also produced 70-mph winds and hail as large as baseballs.
Late Sunday, High Point emergency management officials were going house to house to check for injuries.
Schlaeppi said he spent much of the night in his darkened house, going out with his neighbors to clear downed trees whenever the rain let up.
CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras contributed to this report. | 1dfdee16e0654132ba535665460159a9 | Homes damaged outside which town? | [
"Lexington,"
] |
NewsQA | ZURICH, Switzerland (CNN) -- As I watched Cristiano Ronaldo receive the FIFA World Player of the Year award in Zurich, I couldn't help feeling a deep sense of satisfaction, as the 23 year-old Portuguese international once again proved all his doubters wrong.
Cristiano Ronaldo shows emotion after being named the FIFA World Player of the Year for 2008.
Especially the ones in England.
In the days leading up to the awards ceremony, there were various rumors circulating that the Manchester United star was going to be pipped by Leo Messi on Tuesday night.
I was asked several times in London whether I really thought Ronaldo was going to win. Whether he really deserved it.
It was as if many in the British press didn't want him to take home another award.
Do you think Cristiano Ronaldo is shown enough respect? Tell us in the Sound Off box below.
The fierce attack on his lifestyle by the tabloids after he crashed his Ferrari last week just accentuated the fact that in the UK, he still has earned little respect.
Never mind that he was about to become the first Premier League Player to win this prestigious award. Never mind he has been the competition's biggest ambassador and promoter overseas. Too many in the English media, he was still a diver on the field, and a petulant rock star off it.
Now I am not going to sit here and say that my compatriot Cristiano is perfect. He isn't and he makes mistakes. But the same can be said about Wayne Rooney or any of the other English internationals.
When Rooney charges down the referee and shouts obscenities in his face without even being booked, as was the case in last weekend's match against Chelsea, is he called arrogant or petulant? No. When he goes seven or eight matches without a goal, is he suddenly branded overrated? No.
So all I am asking for here is a little respect. If Ronaldo was English, I am sure in the eyes of the British press he would be virtually untouchable, but although he's not, just give him a break. After all, he had an incredible 2007/2008 season which saw him score 42 goals in 49 matches and win virtually every major trophy on offer.
And he's a great ambassador for the game.
Pedro Pinto is a CNN sports correspondent based in London. | 7e1d9643f46945f7a8ad05daba254452 | Who won the FIFA Player of the Year for 2008? | [
"Cristiano Ronaldo"
] |
NewsQA | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For the first time since media coverage was banned in 1991, the return of the body of a fallen member of the U.S. armed forces was opened to news outlets late Sunday.
A transport plane carries caskets of U.S. servicemen in this photo the Pentagon released in 2005.
The U.S. Air Force informed media on Sunday that the family of Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers consented to allowing coverage of his casket being returned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Myers, 30, of Hopewell, Virginia, was a member of an engineering unit based in Britain.
He died Saturday in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military reported.
In February, President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates overturned a policy that dated back to the first Persian Gulf war.
They agreed to allow reporters to observe the remains of American troops being returned to the U.S. military mortuary at Dover, as long as families agreed.
The policy was supposed to take effect on Monday, and no reason was given why reporters were allowed to view the proceedings on Sunday. Watch report on lifting of the ban » | 4145aa7a50b0423dba7db4b466226e34 | what was brought to Dover Air Force Base? | [
"casket"
] |
NewsQA | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Allegations that Blackwater USA -- whose operations were suspended after 20 Iraqi civilians were shot to death last weekend -- was "in any way associated or complicit in unlawful arms activities are baseless," the company asserted Saturday.
Blackwater employees patrol Baghdad by air in a February 2005 photograph.
Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that employees of Blackwater illegally purchased weapons and sold them in Iraq, according to U.S. government sources.
A U.S. government official has said the U.S. attorney's office in Raleigh, North Carolina, is in the early stages of an investigation that focuses on individual company employees, and not the firm.
Blackwater, which is based in Moyock, North Carolina, is a security firm hired by the State Department to guard U.S. staff in Iraq.
"The company has no knowledge of any employee improperly exporting weapons," the Blackwater statement said. "When it was uncovered internally that two employees were stealing from the company, Blackwater immediately fired them and invited the ATF to conduct a thorough investigation." Watch a report on Blackwater's response to the allegations »
The first public hint that an investigation was under way came earlier this week in a statement from State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard after he was accused of blocking fraud investigations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Krongard said the State Department has been cooperating with the prosecutors in the Blackwater probe.
"In particular, I made one of my best investigators available to help assistant U.S. attorneys in North Carolina in their investigation into alleged smuggling of weapons into Iraq by a contractor," Krongard's statement said.
Blackwater resumed normal security operations in Iraq on Friday, the State Department said, after a brief hiatus following the lethal incident last Sunday.
The Iraqi government was outraged by the shootings and disputes the U.S. and Blackwater's claim that the guards were responding to an attack. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Elise Labott and Kelli Arena contributed to this report. | cdde2535709042d4a54a540f4135a927 | Who made illegal arms deals? | [
"employees of Blackwater"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The son of a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander was found dead in a Dubai hotel room -- with his father's website calling the death "suspicious," though police insisted it was not.
Numerous Iranian media on Sunday reported the death of Ahmad Rezaie inside Hotel Gloria, a four-star hotel in the coastal United Arab Emirates city.
Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, head of the Dubai police's criminal investigations department, said there is no criminal suspicion surrounding the man's death. Al Mansouri, quoting the dead man's brother, added that Ahmad suffered from epilepsy.
Yet Tabnak, a website owned by the dead man's father, Mohsen Rezaie, claimed that Ahmad "was killed under suspicious circumstances."
The same site noted that the death was "concurrent with the martyrdom of Mohsen Rezaie's comrades in arms" on Saturday, referring to an explosion at a military base near Tehran.
At least 17 people were killed in that incident, after a munitions depot accidentally caught fire, lawmaker Hossein Garousi told state media. Lt. Gen. Ramezan Sharif reiterated Sunday that the blaze was accidental and dismissed the possibility of sabotage.
The Tabnak report did not elaborate on what connection, if any, existed between Ahmad Rezaie's death and the deadly explosion.
Shahram Gilabadi -- a spokesman for Iran's Expediency Council, of which Mohsen Rezaie is secretary -- told Tabnak, "The death is currently being investigated."
The semi-official Mehrs News Agency reported that Ahmad Rezaie died from an electric shock.
Mohsen Rezaie served for years as head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. In 2009, he ran -- unsuccessfully -- as a conservative candidate along with others against incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
He continues to play a leading role with the Expediency Council, which mediates between the parliament and the non-elected Guardian Council led by Ayatollah Khamenei. | 45c4a5b9d8d44740abaacf567f0457ff | What did his father's website call the death? | [
"\"suspicious,\""
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- A Pennsylvania prison guard accused of sexually and physically abusing more than 20 inmates has been arrested, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney's office.
Harry Nicoletti, 59, was arrested Tuesday evening in Pittsburgh, and faces 92 counts of institutional sexual assault, official oppression, terroristic threats and simple assault.
According to the criminal complaint, Nicoletti is accused of targeting male inmates convicted of sex crimes, particularly those convicted of crimes against children.
The 34-page report details what authorities describe as a pattern of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse directed at the inmates.
Nicoletti allegedly raped, slapped, bribed and exposed himself to inmates in the State Criminal Institution at Pittsburgh's "F Block."
One inmate said that he assaulted 15 other inmates under Nicoletti's orders and was rewarded for doing so. He did not elaborate.
Nicoletti told CNN affiliate KDKA that the allegations are false. CNN was unable to reach Nicoletti independently, and it could not be determined whether he has an attorney.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 7. | 146ca55b279d4a71b6bcf3db0c261b44 | what was his name? | [
"Harry Nicoletti,"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf has revealed he is flattered to be linked with a move to Premier League Chelsea but insists he will still be an AC Milan player next season.
Clarence Seedorf wants to remain with AC Milan, despite Carlo Ancelotti's recent switch to Chelsea.
There has been speculation that the 33-year-old midfielder could move to Stamford Bridge to link up with his former Rossoneri coach Carlo Ancelotti, who was confirmed as Blues manager on June 1.
But the player is not interested in moving to the English Premier League and has told his own official Web site: "It's beautiful news, that Ancelotti wants me in London, but next year I will still be playing for Milan.
"I have a contract with Milan and I am a player of Milan. I hope to still play for at the San Siro for at least three or four more years. After that I have a whole lifetime ahead of me to do good."
Seedorf played for six-and-a half years under Ancelotti at Milan. Together they won two Champions League titles, the Club World Cup, two European Super Cups, the Coppa Italia and Italian Supercoppa.
His comments will come as a welcome boost to Milan following the sale of Seedorf's fellow-midfielder Kaka to Real Madrid. | 6bc4dfb258dd4d858d3e579a4fa6afc7 | What is the name of his former coach? | [
"Carlo Ancelotti,"
] |
NewsQA | Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- In patches across the Haitian capital, many earthquake survivors are not waiting for an international clearing and rebuilding effort to begin. They are pulling out shovels, wood and cement to slowly repair and rebuild themselves.
"This is what we have to do now," Jean-Fritznel St. Claire said as he hammered away at huge, fallen slabs of a Digicel office building, breaking them into chunks to be shoveled into a truck and taken away. Digicel is a telecommunications company.
St. Claire and three friends working with him at Digicel expected the company to pay them for their hard labor, but the group insists that they and others who stayed in the earthquake zone are eager to start clearing rubble and building what they can.
"The people who left [Port-au-Prince] have no hope," he said, his face dripping with sweat. "We have hope. So we're here."
Elsewhere in Port-au-Prince, businesses and families repaired cinderblock walls and pounded new beams into fractured roofs. One work crew near the airport replaced several broken sewer pipes that were part of a system set up for their neighborhood.
But this individual rebuilding alarms teams of engineers studying the damage in Haiti after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake January 12.
"It worries me," said Reginald Desroches, a Haitian-American engineer from Georgia Tech who is part of a volunteer assessment team working with the United Nations' mission in Haiti.
Desroches and his crew say many Haitians are using broken pieces of buildings as construction material, including the metal rebar, or reinforcement bars, that critically strengthen concrete but now lie twisted and bent in the rubble. That makes the bars weak and potentially unsafe.
But Haitians are turning to what's available -- even though the materials might be deemed unsafe -- to rebuild structures that ultimately may be declared unsound.
"This is a problem," fellow engineer Jean-Philippe Simon said. "These things can just collapse all over again."
Indeed, the Digicel building where St. Claire is working contains massive cracks, is missing a two-story wall and leans over the area he's cleaning up.
Asked if he's worried that the place could collapse, undermining his backbreaking work, St. Claire responds, "We can't control that. That is up to God." | 3d80f8392ad248ac98b2711c78903b0e | Who cleaned up rubble of office building? | [
"Jean-Fritznel St. Claire"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Melissa Huckaby, the former Sunday school teacher accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, will face additional charges that she tried to poison two people, including another 7-year-old girl.
Melissa Huckaby is charged with killing Sandra Cantu and attempted poisoning of second child.
A revised complaint against Huckaby, 28, of Tracy, California, was made public just hours before she was due back in court on Friday.
The new charges caused another delay in the murder case, CNN afiliate KRON reported.
The complaint charged that Huckaby "did willfully and unlawfully mingle a harmful substance with food or drink" with the intent to harm the child, identified only as "Jane M. Doe."
Another alleged poisoning victim was identified as Daniel Plowman, but no age or other information was immediately provided.
The latest charges also include one count of child abuse endangerment relating to the unidentified child, who was allegedly in Huckaby's "care and custody." Read the complaint (PDF)
Huckaby did not enter a plea in the Cantu slaying in her first two court appearances last month.
At an earlier hearing, Judge Linda L. Loftis agreed to keep the autopsy and toxicology reports under seal, citing a "great danger of public outrage."
If convicted on the murder, rape and kidnapping charges, Huckaby, could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole, authorities said.
CNN's Alan Duke and Jim Roope contributed to this report | e84a9c80bbdd42818e527114aec75795 | what is melissa huckaby charged with | [
"killing Sandra Cantu and attempted poisoning of second child."
] |
NewsQA | LONDON, England (CNN) -- DJ and pop star Boy George has been denied a visa to enter the United States, his Web site said Tuesday.
In 2007, George spent five days cleaning the streets of New York to fulfill a community service sentence.
U.S. immigration authorities denied the visa because George, 48, faces trial in November in London on charges of false imprisonment relating to an April 2007 incident, according to a statement from Boy George's management, posted on his site.
"George is astounded at the decision and is having his lawyers here in the States look at it in the hope that someone will change their mind," the statement read.
Boy George, whose real name is George O'Dowd, was charged in London last November with false imprisonment following a complaint from a 28-year-old man, police said. The incident happened in East London the previous April, police said.
George is free on unconditional bail and is not barred from traveling as he awaits trial, his management said. His upcoming schedule includes a series of U.S. club dates in July and August.
George is best known as the singer of '80s pop group Culture Club, with hits including "Karma Chameleon" and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" He quit the band in 1987 and embarked on a short solo career before reinventing himself as a club DJ and launching a fashion label, B-Rude.
In August 2007, George spent five days cleaning the streets of Manhattan to fulfill a community service sentence for falsely reporting a break-in at his New York home. George's management said the denial of his U.S. visa had nothing to do with that case. | d782a9fd4c60476a8fa22184e13dd747 | When is the performer scheduled to play in the US? | [
"July and August."
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The suspect in the killing of a University of Virginia student was arrested in a 2008 incident in which he threatened a police officer and was shocked with a stun gun, according to a police statement.
George Huguely, 22, was arrested on suspicion of murder Monday, hours after a roommate found Yeardley Love's body in her off-campus apartment in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Huguely, who was also a UVA student until resigning after his arrest, and Love played on the men's and women's lacrosse teams, respectively.
CNN affiliate WDBJ got a police statement recounting an encounter between an intoxicated Huguely and Lexington, Virginia, Police Officer R.L. Moss.
Affidavit: Lacrosse player killed in fight after breakup
According to the statement, Moss came across Huguely as he stumbled into traffic outside of a fraternity house at Washington and Lee University in Lexington.
After ignoring the officer's calls to stop, Huguely was approached by Moss who, after speaking with Huguely, decided to arrest him for public drunkenness, the statement says.
At that point, Huguely started making threats, including death threats, against the officer, according to the statement.
"He became more aggressive, more physical towards me, started to calling me several other terms that I'm not going to state now," she told WDBJ.
Moss got into a brief "tussle" with Huguely before resorting to her stun gun to get him under control, the statement says.
At a court hearing the next month, Moss wrote she was surprised to learn that Huguely was so intoxicated that he didn't remember being shocked with the stun gun or threatening the police officer.
Court records show that Huguely pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and public intoxication, WDBJ reported. He was given a suspended jail sentence and a fine. | fcb20e3f59ab423fb51b6dc0db7e7d8a | What did the criminal plead guilty to before? | [
"resisting arrest and public intoxication,"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The owners of a cruise ship that ran aground in Marguerite Bay, Antarctica, are hoping high tide will dislodge the ship Wednesday, a company statement said.
The Ocean Nova, seen on a previous voyage, has a total of 106 people on board.
Connecticut-based Quark Expeditions said the M/V Ocean Nova became stranded Tuesday in the bay not far from an Argentine research base. Marguerite Bay is about 900 miles south of the tip of South America.
The ship is carrying 65 passengers and 41 crew members, Quark Expeditions said.
All those aboard the vessel "remain safe and calm," the company statement said.
The ship's captain is awaiting high tide to make another attempt to move the vessel.
"The midnight operation will occur in daylight, as the ship is below the Antarctic Circle, where the sun never sets during February. We anticipate a positive outcome," Quark Expeditions president Patrick Shaw said.
The captain is also waiting for divers from the Spanish naval ship the Hespérides to inspect the hull of the Nova to make sure it's not damaged, the statement said. | 11ad42b5f9e543508ea5665db9097723 | How far from South America was the OCean Nova stranded? | [
"900 miles"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Madonna was "devastated" to hear that a man was killed in an accident during construction for her upcoming concerts in Marseilles, France, a representative said Thursday.
Firefighters leave the Stade Velodrome stadium in Marseille after the accident on Thursday.
A 53-year-old French man was killed when a stage being built for the concert collapsed, a fire department spokesman in the southern French city said.
Another two people, one British and one American, are severely injured, and four are lightly injured, officer David Goddin told CNN.
"At this point we don't know how it happened, but we are confident no one else is still under the rubble," Goddin said.
"My prayers go out to those who were injured and their families along with my deepest sympathy to all those affected by this heartbreaking news," Madonna said in a statement issued by her representative, Liz Rosenberg.
At least one Madonna show has been canceled, Rosenberg told CNN.
A crane collapsed while lifting a large metallic truss into place, Lt. Thierry Delorme of the French Navy told CNN. In Marseille, the Fire Department is a part of the Navy.
An investigation has been launched into the cause of the collapse, he said.
In addition to the six injuries and the single fatality, 34 people received psychological support after the incident, he said.
About 27 fire engines and 80 firefighters responded to the emergency when the stage collapsed at 5:15 p.m. (1515 GMT).
"There were a lot of open fractures, of injuries, it was a messy sight," one of the rescue workers told Agence-France Presse.
Madonna was scheduled to play the first of five concerts for her "Sticky and Sweet" tour at the 60,000-seat Stade Velodrome on Sunday.
The singer was in Udine, Italy, when she heard the news, Rosenberg said.
CNN's Per Nyberg in London, England, contributed to this report. | 5f509c57d44b47cdb13dd793c40bc8f3 | Who is due to play in "Sticky and Sweet" tour? | [
"Madonna"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The U.S. Navy has captured seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden, the first arrests by a U.S.-led task force set up to curb rampant piracy off the Horn of Africa, a Navy spokesman said Wednesday.
Seven men suspected of trying to pirate a tanker raise their hands before their arrest in the Gulf of Aden.
Sailors from the cruiser USS Vella Gulf arrested the men Wednesday in the western Gulf of Aden -- a waterway between Africa and the Middle East -- after a distress call from the 420-foot (128-meter) tanker Polaris.
The tanker reported that men aboard a small skiff were attempting to board the ship using ladders, but its crew removed them before the would-be hijackers could get aboard, the Navy said.
The Vella Gulf found and boarded the skiff, and the tanker's crew identified the men aboard the skiff as their would-be hijackers.
The skiff's men were taken aboard the Vella Gulf, the flagship of the task force now patrolling the western Gulf of Aden, and eventually will be transferred to Kenya for trial, said Lt. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet.
Piracy has become a chronic problem off the Horn of Africa in recent years, with some pirates operating from largely lawless Somalia. Pirates attacked nearly 100 vessels and hijacked as many as 40 in the waters off the coast of Somalia in 2008, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
The task force led by the Vella Gulf was set up in January in an effort to clamp down on the attacks in the region, the southern approach to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. | b296c702614d4d2b9f370138d9e78bf6 | Who is part of the antipiracy task force? | [
"The"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- A 24-year-old teacher from Holyoke, Massachusetts, is in custody after allegedly leaving town with a 15-year-old student, city officials said Tuesday.
Lisa Lavoie, a 24-year-old teacher, is charged with enticement of a child.
Lisa Lavoie and the male student were found in Morgantown, West Virginia, Monday night after apparently being together for a week, Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan said.
Investigators have charged Lavoie with enticement of a child.
On February 13, the student's parents informed school officials of a possible relationship between the teacher and their son. That was late on a Friday afternoon, and when officials went to the school to question Lavoie, she was gone for the day. The next week was a vacation week for the school.
The student was reported missing on February 16, at the start of the vacation week. Lavoie wasn't reported missing until she didn't show up for school Monday.
Officials said the pair were in Vermont on Thursday before showing up in West Virginia on Monday. No details were provided on how their alleged movements were traced.
Officials couldn't take the pair into custody until after gathering enough evidence to obtain a warrant from the district attorney's office, said Holyoke Police Chief Anthony Scott. They got the warrant Monday and asked police in Morgantown to arrest Lavoie.
She has been placed on administrative leave pending conclusion of the investigation, Sullivan said.
If convicted, Lavoie could lose her teaching license in Massachusetts, the mayor said. She has been with the school only five months and her job is not protected under contract, he said. | c2b4e2c7a78a461d838a70d7d00ab16f | What are the charges? | [
"enticement of a child."
] |
NewsQA | (Mashable) -- Social payments are taking a giant leap forward. PayPal has unveiled a Facebook app that lets you send money to friends.
The app, simply titled Send Money, is just as straightforward as its name. You have the choice to send either an ecard with money or just money with no card. You select a card, choose a friend to send it to and then select how much money to send.
"The PayPal and Facebook infrastructure have now merged," PayPal's Anuj Nayar says. "This is another way to personalize the act of giving money."
While there are several ways to pay with PayPal via Facebook (Payvment comes to mind), this is the first app to enable peer-to-peer payments via Facebook and PayPal. And because it's a peer-to-peer transaction, there is no transaction fee, though PayPal's regular limits and international fees still apply.
"Sending money, person to person, is free," PayPal Senior Product Marketing Manager JB Coutinho said. "If it's funded by a PayPal balance or linked to a bank account, it's free."
And while the primary aspect of the Send Money app is its enablement of transactions across the world's largest social network, the ecard aspect is being emphasized as well. PayPal was quick to point out that more than 500 million ecards are sent every year, and that's why PayPal is offering dozens of choices for everything from birthdays to congratulations.
We can see the app really taking off. Users who see on Facebook that it's a friend's birthday can quickly fire up the app and send a card and some cash within a few minutes. The app is just as useful for things like lottery pools and reimbursing friends for lunch. It's a big step toward making social payments a reality.
If you want to learn more about the PayPal Send Money Facebook App, we've created a simple walkthrough of the payment process. Check it out in this gallery, and let us know what you think of the app in the comments.
See the original article on Mashable.com
© 2011 MASHABLE.com. All rights reserved. | 58fdea00d9714707b8ec41e8005486d8 | what is the name of the first app to enable peer to peer payments with facebook | [
"Send Money,"
] |
NewsQA | Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- A body was found in the landing gear bay of an airplane that arrived at Tokyo's Narita Airport Sunday, the airport announced.
The dead man was not carrying a passport or personal belongings, airport police said.
The man was of dark complexion and dressed in blue jeans and a red and dark blue long-sleeved shirt, police told CNN.
Police said he possibly froze to death and suffered a shortage of oxygen at high altitude, but did not provide a definite cause of death pending an autopsy.
A mechanic found the body in the landing gear bay, which was impossible to enter from the cabin, the airport said.
The Boeing 777, Delta Flight 59, which departed New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport at 12:53 p.m. ET Saturday arrived at Narita at 4:46 p.m. local time Sunday, the airport said.
"Delta is fully co-operating with the Japanese authorities, and there is (an) on-going investigation which is being led by the Japanese authorities. The airline has not issued an official statement at this time," a Delta representative told CNN.
CNN's Junko Ogura and Ayesha Durgahee contributed to this report. | 3ef36db8d54c43efab5558d8f89487ea | When did the flight leave? | [
"12:53 p.m. ET Saturday"
] |
NewsQA | Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Anti-government protesters poured a small amount of blood at the headquarters of the government in Bangkok on Tuesday, but the demonstration did not live up to their threat to douse the ministers' offices in blood.
The protesters had launched a blood drive earlier to collect enough samples for the demonstration.
Thousands of "red shirts" -- so named for their clothing -- held out their forearms to allow their compatriots to draw blood.
The protesters intended to collect 1,000 liters (1 million cubic centimeters) and then throw the blood on the grounds of the Government House, which houses ministerial offices, at 6 p.m. (7 a.m. ET).
"Red shirts" rally in Bangkok: Share your photos
If Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva still refuses to dissolve parliament, the demonstrators said they will collect another 1,000 liters of blood Wednesday and splash it on the headquarters of the ruling party.
The next day, they will collect 1,000 more liters and target the prime minister's residence, the demonstrators said.
What are the protests about?
Abhisit has repeatedly said he will listen to the protesters but will not accede to their demands.
The anti-government demonstrations began Friday. By Sunday, tens of thousands of protesters had poured into the center of Bangkok.
The rallies have been largely peaceful. Abhisit has said his government will not use force to quell the demonstrations.
The nation's tourism minister estimated the demonstrations might have resulted in a 20 percent drop in tourists. The impact on Chinese visitors appears to have been greater, with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce reporting a 50 percent cancellation rate.
The protesters are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006.
Thaksin was the only Thai prime minister to serve a full term and remains hugely popular.
He fled the country in 2008 while facing trial on corruption charges that he says were politically motivated.
The protesters say Abhisit was not democratically elected and have demanded that he call new elections.
Since Thaksin's ouster, Thailand has endured widespread political unrest that has pitted Thaksin loyalists against Abhisit supporters.
Two people were killed and at least 135 wounded in riots in April 2009 when protesters clashed with demonstrators supporting the government.
CNN's Kocha Olarn and Dan Rivers contributed to this report | 5f0fb3e52c32423ab4b379740fff703b | What did demonstrators threaten to splash blood on | [
"the grounds of the Government House,"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Philanthropist and billionaire businessman Ted Turner will receive 88 disease-free bison from Yellowstone National Park, Montana's Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks confirmed Tuesday.
The bison, which were facing slaughter, will be transferred for breeding to Turner's "Green Ranch," west of Bozeman, Montana, from a quarantine facility.
"The Green Ranch emerged as the best option we have for these bison right now," said Ken McDonald, said the state agency's wildlife bureau chief in Helena, Montana. "It gives us time to evaluate the social and biological factors that will come into play as we begin to plan for the future of bison management in Montana."
For several years, the bison were quarantined and spared from slaughter after concerns about brucellosis disease, an infectious disease caused by contact with animals carrying the bacteria called brucella.
All quarantined bison delivered to Turner's property, along with 25 percent of their offspring, will be returned to the state wildlife agency at the conclusion of the agreement, which will last up to five years, the release said.
Turner Enterprises' Green Ranch proposal describes 12,000 acres of suitable habitat, excellent handling facilities, years of experience with bison and secure living space for the animals. The ranch also will participate in continued disease testing and monitoring conducted by state and federal officials, the release said.
According to the Turner Enterprises Inc. Web site, Turner, who founded CNN in 1980, is the largest individual landowner in North America with an estimated 2 million acres. His Western properties consist of 15 ranches in seven states. His bison herd is about 50,000 animals, making it the largest private herd in the world, his Web site said. | 6b01b337be254e91b7d0f35ba8073524 | Who has the largest private herd in the world? | [
"Ted Turner"
] |
NewsQA | NEW YORK (CNN) -- Pfizer is near a deal to buy rival drugmaker Wyeth for $68 billion, according to news reports late Sunday citing people familiar with the deal.
Pfizer's world headquarters is in New York.
A deal was imminent and likely to be announced Monday, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported.
"It is our policy not to comment on rumor or speculation," said Michael Lampe, a Wyeth representative. Pfizer was not immediately available for comment.
Pfizer, the world's leading drugmaker in terms of sales, has been in talks to buy Wyeth. Pfizer's stock slipped 1 percent on the news Friday, while Wyeth gained about 8 percent.
On January 13 Pfizer said it was cutting up to 8 percent of its R&D staff, about 800 jobs. Spokesman Raymond Kerins said that was to "raise productivity."
But analysts say Pfizer is clearly trying to beef up its drug pipeline through an acquisition, adding that the company seems to have given up on its own R&D staff coming up with a blockbuster to replace Lipitor. This cholesterol-cutting drug peaked in 2006 with nearly $13 billion in annual sales but will lose its patent protection in 2011, when generic versions will become available.
Les Funtleyder, pharma analyst for Miller Tabak, said Pfizer is "not feeling that they're getting the efficiency out of their R&D unit." He said Pfizer would probably rather do a deal with Wyeth over other competitors, because there is less overlap in the companies' pipelines.
Funtleyder said Pfizer already has a diabetes franchise, which would overlap with Eli Lilly & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb, both of which also focus on diabetes treatments. Pfizer probably has its eyes on Wyeth's Alzheimer's drug pipeline, he said. But he cautions that a merger won't be a success unless Wyeth's pipeline is successful, which remains to be seen, he said.
"If Wyeth comes out with an Alzheimer's drug that works, then the deal works," he said.
Pfizer is probably also focused on Wyeth's blockbuster children's vaccine Prevnar, as well as its experimental biotech drugs, said Michael Krensavage of Krensavage Asset Management.
Sales of Prevnar, which combats meningitis and blood infections, jumped 12 percent in the first nine months of 2008 compared with the same period the prior year, to $2.1 billion.
If a deal does go through, Funtleyder warns, Wyeth staffers should brace for layoffs.
"I can say with pretty good confidence that this is going to lead to some head count reduction," he said. | 43e602b7a5a64f378c961c6dde43c1a7 | What did the Wyeth rep say? | [
"\"It is our policy not to comment on rumor or speculation,\""
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The flu has forced an early end to Billy Bob Thornton's musical tour of Canada, his publicist said Saturday.
Thornton's publicist says Boxmasters band member, crew, have flu; will rejoin tour on Tuesday.
The news was reportedly greeted with loud applause at a Friday night show in Montreal after Thornton called Canadian concert-goers "mashed potatoes with no gravy" in a radio interview Wednesday.
The Boxmasters' final Canadian dates -- in Montreal and London, Ontario -- were canceled because "one of the band members and several of the crew have the flu," said Thornton publicist Arnold Robinson.
Thornton's electric hillbilly band will rejoin Willie Nelson's tour when it returns to the United States for a show in Stamford, Connecticut, on Tuesday, after they have "a few days off to recuperate," Robinson said.
The trio was the opening act for Nelson until they were loudly booed in Toronto, a day after the actor-musician's bizarre interview with a CBC radio host.
Ironically, the comments that offended Canadians included Thornton's assessment that they were "very reserved" and "it doesn't matter what you say to them."
"It's mashed potatoes with no gravy," Thornton told CBC host Jian Ghomeshi.
"We tend to play places where people throw things at each other and here they just sort of sit there," he said. Watch Thornton's interview »
The audience at Thursday night's show in Toronto loudly booed the Boxmasters, with some shouts of "Here comes the gravy!" The Toronto Star newspaper reported.
Thornton's remarks about Canadians came near the end of his controversial interview with on the CBC's "Q" program, which began with the host's brief mention that, in addition to being the Boxmaster's lead singer and drummer, Thornton was an "Oscar-winning screenwriter-actor-director."
Thornton, apparently upset with any reference to his movie career, was unresponsive to Ghomeshi's questions until the men finally declared a truce to talk about music. Watch more about the controversy »
He "simply elected not to engage with the interviewer because of the direction of the interview from the outset," Robinson told CNN.
Video of the interview, which has been viewed by millions online, may leave the audience wondering whether this was a controlled performance by Thornton or a public breakdown that revealed true anger over a perceived insult of his music.
Thornton promotes a mythology that his "cosmic cowboy" music came together years ago after a fight over coleslaw at a Los Angeles chicken restaurant.
His long and successful career as an actor, director and screenwriter does not fit with his struggling musician story he tells in interviews about the Boxmasters. | 4f314d1af7ac4707b43242621c29427d | did Thornton describe the concert-goers? | [
"\"mashed potatoes with no gravy\""
] |
NewsQA | Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud is alive and remains in hiding, a spokesman for the group told CNN Thursday.
"Hakimullah Mehsud is alive and he is our chief," said spokesman Azim Tariq. "All the reports regarding his death are propaganda."
Tariq said Mehsud remains in hiding because he is being targeted by U.S. drone attacks but "is still in command of the mujahedeen."
Authorities have been looking into reports that Mehsud died after being wounded last month in a drone attack.
One news report, citing local sources and a correspondent, said he died and was buried. But Pakistani and U.S. officials said they have not been able to confirm Mehsud's status. | e9229fd1a9cc4613b348148e1ce7774c | What was reported | [
"Mehsud died after being wounded last month in a drone attack."
] |
NewsQA | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Coast Guard planes and ships were searching Friday for a Japanese balloonist who disappeared off the Alaska coast while flying from Japan to the west coast United States.
Missing Japanese balloonist Michio Kanda (R) with Naoki Ishikawa.
Friends of balloonist Michio Kanda, who was on a solo flight, last heard from him via satellite phone at 9 a.m. Alaska time (6 p.m. GMT) Thursday, said USCG Petty Officer Levi Read.
When he missed three subsequent scheduled calls over the next six hours, they called the Coast Guard, Read said.
Read said two Coast Guard C130 Hercules planes conducted searches Thursday 435 miles south of Adak, Alaska, the balloonist's last known position. The searches continued Friday and are ongoing, Read said.
Two Coast Guard cutters are also headed for the area, but both are at least a day away, he said.
Read said the balloonist, who was heading for Portland, Oregon, is equipped with provisions and a survival suit.
Kanda holds the world record for the longest-duration balloon flight, with a time of 50 hours and 38 minutes, according to the World Air Sports Federation.
In that January 1997 flight, he and Hirosuke Takezawa flew from the Canadian provionce of Alberta to the U.S. state of Montana, according to the federation. E-mail to a friend | b4a9ca8844ca4c3bb944942a391a3944 | Where is the US coast Guard searching? | [
"435 miles south of Adak, Alaska,"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has been ruled out for a minimum of three weeks after suffering a foot injury during the 3-0 Premier League win over title rivals Chelsea.
France defender Patrice Evra will be out for a minimum of three weeks after hurting ankle ligaments.
It was Evra's first game back after a four-match suspension imposed by the Football Association for his involvement in a post-match fracas involving groundstaff at Stamford Bridge last season.
The French left-back was hurt after firing over a cross for Wayne Rooney's goal and now faces another spell on the sidelines as United chase trophies on four fronts.
Evra suffered ligament damage and manager Alex Ferguson said: "He will be out for three weeks minimum and maybe four. It shouldn't be any more than that.
"He just went over on his foot and has done the little ligament in his foot, so we need to get the swelling down and that will take about 7-10 days."
Evra sits out Wednesday's Premier League clash with Wigan, the trip to Bolton three days later and next week's League Cup semifinal return at home to Derby when United will be expecting to overturn a 1-0 deficit.
Central defender Rio Ferdinand remains on the sidelines for at least another week although a scan on his back problem confirmed there is no long-term damage.
Ferdinand, out for a month, needs more rest and Jonny Evans will continue in central defense with Wes Brown still two weeks away from a comeback after ankle surgery.
Ferguson hopes Ferdinand will be back for the televised FA Cup fourth round home clash against Tottenham on Saturday January 24. | 0ea304868df34229ae5680518eccef2d | Name of Manchester United defender? | [
"Patrice Evra"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rattled Papua New Guinea early Friday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was centered about 200 miles north-northeast of Port Moresby and had a depth of 28 miles.
No tsunami warning was issued, according to the Tsunami Warning Center.
Papua New Guinea is on the so-called Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. | a4903f302385446995ae126043bc1aef | What is the Ring of Fire? | [
"an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions."
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The bodies of 11 more people have been recovered after the weekend collapse of a Russian oil rig in freezing north Pacific waters, a Russian news agency reported Monday.
That brings the total number of dead from the Sunday disaster to 16, according to the state news agency RIA-Novosti.
There were 67 people aboard the offshore drilling rig when it capsized during a storm in the Sea of Okhotsk, which lies between the Kamchatka peninsula and the Russian mainland, north of Japan. The rig was being towed from Kamchatka at the time, RIA-Novosti reported.
Fourteen people have been rescued and 37 others remain missing, the news agency said.
The director of the company that owns the rig, Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka, promised at least 3 million rubles ($93,640) in compensation to each crewmember's family.
The rig was carrying out work under a contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom, the news agency said. It was drilling a well about 3,500 meters (11,480 feet) deep, RIA-Novosti said.
Taimuraz Kasayev, a spokesman for the regional emergencies service, told RIA-Novosti on Sunday the accident poses no environmental danger because the rig's fuel stocks were hermetically sealed and would not spill.
The television channel Russia Today reported that the rig was being towed into position when pumps failed, causing it to take on water and sink. | aee869fdd5904ccb839bdd7160dbeb82 | What caused the oil rig to capsize? | [
"a storm"
] |
NewsQA | (CNN) -- The toddler whose body washed ashore in Texas last month has been tentatively identified as a 2-year-old girl, and her mother and a man identified as her boyfriend were arrested Saturday, the Galveston County Sheriff's office said Sunday.
Police believe two-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers may be "Baby Grace."
Investigators believe the child they dubbed "Baby Grace" is actually 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, the Galveston County Sheriff's office said Sunday.
DNA analysis is still in progress to confirm that identification.
The child's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 19, and a man identified as Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 24, were arrested Saturday on charges of injuring a child and tampering with physical evidence, the sheriff's department said.
The couple lives in Spring, Texas, a Houston suburb about 75 miles north of Galveston.
Their bonds were set at $350,000 each.
The arrests followed searches conducted Saturday after a November 7 tip, the sheriff's department said.
Deputies and FBI agents plan to release more information at a news conference Monday, Galveston County Sheriff's Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said.
The girl's grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, of Cleveland, Ohio, told CNN affiliate WKYC that Riley Ann has been missing since June. Watch Sawyers family describe their fears before child was identified »
On October 29, a fisherman discovered the body in a blue Sterilite plastic container on an uninhabited island in Galveston's West Bay.
Police dubbed the dead girl "Baby Grace," and asked the public for help in identifying her.
A medical examiner said the child's skull was fractured, and a forensic dentist estimated her age at 2 to 3 years.
In composite sketches, the girl is wearing a pink skirt and matching top -- clothing authorities said she was wearing when she was found. The other sketch, a close-up rendering of the child's face, shows a fair-skinned toddler with long blond hair.
"She is more to us than just a case number, more to us than just an unidentified body. She is very much a human being," Tutoilmondo said last month. "She is someone's child, someone's grandchild, someone's cousin, someone's best friend, and to us, that is the most important part about this case."
"We have adopted the name of Baby Grace because, there again, that is part of the emotional part of this case for us," he said, holding a tiny sneaker identical to one of those the child was wearing when she was found. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Hank Bishop contributed to this story. | 68f2203b30df4921af73edd1bb48ee4f | Who has been arrested? | [
"her mother and a man identified as her boyfriend"
] |
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