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Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the most populous city in the Nordic countries; 942,370 people live in the municipality, approximately 1.5 million in the urban area, and 2.3 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Just outside the city and along the coast is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the capital of Stockholm County.
Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the country's GDP, and is among the top 10 regions in Europe by GDP per capita. It is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europe's top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). It hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the city's most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited non-art museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is well known for its decoration of the stations; it has been called the longest art gallery in the world. Sweden's national football arena is located north of the city centre, in Solna. Ericsson Globe, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. | What opened in 1950? | The Stockholm metro |
Wednesday night 7: 30 p. m. at the Chuckle Bar!
Starring Rodney Mann, Pedro Mendez and Larry Dunne!
Next Wednesday night at the Chuckle Bar we have an all star line up of comedians. Three of the world's best known comedians are coming together for one night only. Book your tickets by calling 1 900 555 6565 or be at the door early to buy them before the show begins.
Rodney Mann
Mann is famous for his jokes about average people and their life. Many of his jokes are social commentaries on everyday things. He loves to set his jokes in New York, the city where he grew up.
Mann's most famous opening line, "You know, I was walking down the street the other day. . . " is known all over the world. He is just back from his tour of Europe, and is appearing at the Chuckle Bar for one night only. Don't miss it!
Pedro Mendez
Pedro Mendez grew up on a small farm in Panama. He moved to the USA with his parents when he was ten, and has been telling jokes and making people laugh ever since. Recently, the 30 year old comedian began to film a new TV programme that he will both act in and produce.
Experience Mendez's unique Latin style humor for yourself. His routine, "I had a farm in Panama", is a classic that should not be missed.
Larry Dunne
Larry Dunne has been making people laugh all over the world for more than five decades. He began his career by performing for soldiers in Hawaii in the 1950s, and since then, he has been the host of his own late night TV programme. The videos and DVDs of his performances are the best sellers of any stand-up acts out there. As an old style comedian, Dunne uses lots of singing and dancing as part of his routines.
Dunne is best known for his jokes about life in the USA and how it has changed during his lifetime. This will be Dunne's last show before he retires, so don't miss it.
Call 1-900-555-6565 to reserve your tickets or be at the door by 7: 00 p. m. . | What significance does New York have for him? | he grew up there |
CHAPTER VIII
THE FIRST TRIAL BY FIRE
On the following day, while Owen sat eating his morning meal with a thankful heart, a messenger arrived saying that the king would receive him whenever it pleased him to come. He answered that he would be with him before noon, for already he had learned that among natives one loses little by delay. A great man, they think, is rich in time, and hurries only to wait upon his superiors.
At the appointed hour a guard came to lead him to the royal house, and thither Owen went, followed by John bearing a Bible. Umsuka was seated beneath a reed roof supported by poles and open on all sides; behind him stood councillors and attendants, and by him were Nodwengo the prince, and Hokosa, his mouth and prophet. Although the day was hot, he wore a kaross or rug of wild catskins, and his face showed that the effects of the poisoned draught were still upon him. At the approach of Owen he rose with something of an effort, and, shaking him by the hand, thanked him for his life, calling him "doctor of doctors."
"Tell me, Messenger," he added, "how it was that you were able to cure me, and who were in the plot to kill me? There must have been more than one," and he rolled his eyes round with angry suspicion.
"King," answered Owen, "if I knew anything of this matter, the Power that wrote it on my mind has wiped it out again, or, at the least, has forbidden me to speak of its secret. I saved you, it is enough; for the rest, the past is the past, and I come to deal with the present and the future." | What made him sick? | poison |
Three high students become heroes after their act of saving a baby's life.
Andrew Willis, 15, his brother Chris, 13, and friend Reece Galea, 14, were walking along Swallow Drive on their way to school on May 23, when Nicholle Price ran out of her house, shouting for help. Her six-month-old son Corey had swallowed an earring and the young mother couldn't ring for help because something was wrong with her phone. The three teenagers rushed to the aid of Ms Price, called an ambulance , calmed her down and waited with her until the ambulance arrived before heading to school.
Ms Price, Corey and his grandmother Joyce Finnie visited the school last Thursday to thank the boys for their kind action. "It's good to know that there are still some good people who will stop and help," Ms Price said. "While I was shouting for help, a woman walking her dog went straight past, without stopping. I don't know what would have happened if these boys had not stopped."
The teenagers were shocked at the attention they received at school for their heroic act but admitted that the incident was nerve-racking . "We heard her shouting so we knew something wasn't right," Andrew said. "We thought someone had died. It was scary but we just did what we had to do."
Just as proud as the boys' parents is their principal, Tim McCallum.
After two days in hospital, Corey has now fully recovered. "He's got two new teeth to show," Ms Price said. "I have to keep a closer eye on him. He's into everything now and grabs whatever he finds to put it straight into his mouth." | Who? | An unnamed woman. |
When Lew Alcindor was 13, and obviously still growing, a group of schools began offering him scholarships . The Alcindors decided to send their only child to Power Memorial Academy, a small school on Manhattan's West Side. At Power, Alcindor came under the control of Coach Jack Donohue, a strict young an who already gained his fame as one of the best coaches in the city.Donohue brought Alcindor along slowly.As a first-year student, the boy was not able to do much but wave his long skinny arms and shoot a basket now and then.But by the second year, when he was 15 years old and nearly 7 feet tall, Alcindor was quick and skillful enough to make the high school All-American team and to lead Power to an undefeated season. From then on he simply got better.Some rival coaches used to take their teams quickly away from the floor before Power warmed up so that their players would not see him any sooner than they had to.Wearing size 16 D shoes and sucking a lollipop , Alcindor would loosen up by starting his leaping lay-ups .Then he would casually shoot the ball with either hand, to the delight of the fans. When reporters and photographers began to follow Alcindor closely, Donohue protected his boy firmly.He simply ordered Lew to talk to no member of the press, and this suited Lew fine.He was not comfortable talking to grown-ups, perhaps because he towered over them.Discouraged photographers began following him in secret as though he were an easily-frightened giraffe.Once after ducking into a subway to escape, Alcindor told a friend that it was all becoming like policemen and robbers."People want you not for yourself," Donohue warned him, "but because you're a basketball player.Don't forget that." | Does he have many siblings? | no |
CHAPTER IV.
HAL STANDS UP FOR HIMSELF.
Hal now found himself in a tight situation. Felix Hardwick had him by the throat, and was slowly but surely choking him.
"Don't! don't!" cried Mr. Sumner, in great alarm.
"The miserable tramp!" cried Hardwick. "I'll teach him to call a gentleman a thief."
He continued his choking process, paying no attention to his employer's efforts to haul him away.
But by this time Hal began to realize that Hardwick was in earnest. He began to kick, and presently landed a blow in the book-keeper's stomach that completely winded the man.
Hardwick relaxed his hold, and Hal sprang away.
"Stop! stop!" ordered Mr. Sumner. "I will not have such disgraceful scenes in this office."
"But he intimated I was a thief," said Hardwick, trying to catch his wind.
"And he said the same of me," retorted Hal.
"So you are!"
"I never stole a thing in my life, Mr. Sumner." Hal turned to the broker. "And I am not a tramp."
"Then supposing we make it a poor-house beggar," returned Hardwick, with a short laugh.
Hal turned red. The shot was a cruel one.
"Hush! Hardwick," cried Mr. Sumner. "There is no necessity for such language."
The broker turned to Hal.
"You just made a strange statement, Carson," he said. "How do you know Mr. Hardwick contemplated robbing the safe?"
"Because I do."
"That is no answer."
"I overheard him and Mr. Allen talking about the bonds being in the safe."
"When?"
"The evening I came to New York." | What type of crime? | thieving |
At Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport, hundreds of migrant workers line up daily at the immigration counters, clutching newly printed passports and boarding passes. Many of them, though, are clueless as to where they're headed.
As a frequent traveler to the country, I've been approached many times by these men, asking me to help fill out their departure forms.
Usually, when I ask what country they're traveling to, I get the same answer: "I'm not sure."
They seem weary and lost but still hopeful that they can make their lives better.
This time, however, I'm at the airport to follow up on the repatriation of the most unfortunate of these migrant workers -- far too many of them make the return journey in caskets.
Almost every day, the remains of three or four workers arrive back in Nepal from the Middle East, according to Bhola Prasad Siwakoti, the secretary of the Nepalese Ministry of Labor and Manpower. Every other day, at least one dead body arrives from Qatar, he said.
"Nepali migrant workers have the lowest per capita income in Qatar," says Suryanath Mishra, who served as ambassador to Qatar from 2007 to 2012. "They get exploited the most out of all the migrant workers."
He cites lack of education and technical skills as the main causes.
We are waiting for the body of Kishun Das, who left Nepal for Qatar only eight months ago. The 38-year old was his family's breadwinner and the father of five children.
His younger brother, Bishun, is at the airport to receive the body. He also works in Qatar and is in Nepal on leave. I ask him why he's alone. | Who has the lowest income in Qatar? | Nepali migrant workers. |
Historically, the channel's programming consisted mainly of featured classic theatrically released feature films from the Turner Entertainment film library – which comprises films from Warner Bros. Pictures (covering films released before 1950) and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (covering films released before May 1986). However, TCM now has licensing deals with other Hollywood film studios as well as its Time Warner sister company, Warner Bros. (which now controls the Turner Entertainment library and its own later films), and occasionally shows more recent films. Turner Classic Movies is a dedicated film channel and is available in United States, United Kingdom, France (TCM Cinéma), Spain (TCM España), Nordic countries, Middle East and Africa.
In 1986, eight years before the launch of Turner Classic Movies, Ted Turner acquired the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio for $1.5 billion. Concerns over Turner Entertainment's corporate debt load resulted in Turner selling the studio that October back to Kirk Kerkorian, from whom Turner had purchased the studio less than a year before. As part of the deal, Turner Entertainment retained ownership of MGM's library of films released up to May 9, 1986. Turner Broadcasting System was split into two companies; Turner Broadcasting System and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and reincorporated as MGM/UA Communications Co. | Are more recent videos ever shown? | Yes |
CHAPTER TWELVE.
SAGE CONVERSE BETWEEN HAKE AND BERTHA--BIARNE IS OUTWITTED--A MONSTER IS SLAIN, AND SAVAGES APPEAR ON THE SCENE.
Not long after this an event occurred which produced great excitement in the new settlement; namely, the appearance of natives in the woods. It occurred under the following circumstances.
One morning Karlsefin gave orders for one of the exploring parties to be got ready to go out immediately. Karlsefin's plan from the beginning had been to class his men in two divisions. One half stayed at home to work, the other half searched the land,--always taking care, however, not to travel so far but that they could return home in the evening. They were careful also not to wander far from each other. Sometimes Karlsefin went with the exploring party, at other times stayed at home to superintend the work there, while Biarne or Thorward filled his place. On the occasion in question Biarne was in charge.
Soon after the party had started, Hake, who was one of them, observed a female figure disappear round a copse near the shores of the lake. At that part they were about to strike off into the thick woods, so Hake went up to Biarne and asked leave to go along by the borders of the lake, saying that he could overtake the party again before they had reached the Willow Glen, a well-known rendezvous of the hunters and explorers of the colony.
"Go as thou wilt, Hake," replied Biarne; "only see to it that ye overtake us before noon, as I intend to go on a totally new path to-day." | Who many groups was he forming? | two |
Abror Habibov, 30, operated kiosks at malls along the East Coast. He sold kitchenware and repaired mobile phones, according to a complaint unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
Last fall, Habibov hired Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, to work at kiosks in Savannah, Georgia; Philadelphia and Chesapeake, Virginia.
Abdurasul Juraboev, 24, a Uzbekistan native and legal permanent U.S. resident, worked at the Gyro King restaurant in Brooklyn. He asked his boss whether he could leave this weekend because he was traveling.
Until their arrests Wednesday in connection with an alleged failed attempt to join ISIS in Syria, Saidakhmetov and Juraboev appeared to live the mundane lives of ordinary Brooklyn immigrants.
They also appeared careless in planning their alleged plot. One man, for instance, showed up at U.S. Homeland Security offices to apply for a travel document, authorities said. They sometimes communicated online because they believed it would be harder for authorities to trace.
Juraboev allegedly discussed assassinating President Barack Obama, according to the complaint. But he told an FBI agent that he "currently does not have the means or an imminent plan to do so."
Juraboev and Saidakhmetov, authorities said, planned to embark on the journey to Turkey on Wednesday.
Read the criminal complaint against trio
One of them discussed the possibility of hijacking a commercial flight to Turkey and diverting it "to the Islamic State, so that the Islamic State would gain a plane," the complaint said. They also talked about joining the U.S. military in order to attack soldiers. | How old is he? | 19 |
A mosque (; from ) is a place of worship for followers of Islam.
There are strict and detailed requirements in Sunni jurisprudence ("fiqh") for a place of worship to be considered a mosque, with places that do not meet these requirements regarded as "musalla"s. There are stringent restrictions on the uses of the area formally demarcated as the mosque (which is often a small portion of the larger complex), and, in the Islamic "Sharia" law, after an area is formally designated as a mosque, it remains so until the Last Day.
Many mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls, in varying styles of architecture. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents. The mosque serves as a place where Muslims can come together for "salat" ( "ṣalāt", meaning "prayer") as well as a center for information, education, social welfare, and dispute settlement. The imam leads the congregation in prayer.
The word entered English from a French word that probably derived from Italian "moschea", a variant of Italian "moscheta", from either Middle Armenian ("mzkit‘") or Medieval Greek μασγίδιον ("masgídion") or Spanish "mezquita", from the Arabic "masjad" meaning "place of worship" or "prostration in prayer", either from Nabataean "masgdhā́" or from Arabic "sajada" meaning "to bow down in prayer", probably ultimately from Aramaic "sghēdh". | Do mosques serve many fucntions? | Yes |
Satirical TV anchorman Stephen Colbert may not have a dog in this fight, but his name alone may have helped a Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix puppy beat a 6-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel.
Stephen Colbert el dos rips the prize away from Mozart in the weekly competition.
In the online doggie beauty pageant, the canine Steven Colbert el dos won the latest weekly semifinal, which enables him to compete for a $1 million grand prize.
Colbert el dos from Georgia beat Mozart, or MoMo as he's known to his family and friends in New Orleans, Louisiana, to win cutest dog of the week.
"While it certainly would have been a lot of fun for MoMo to win this past week, we're excited for Stephen Colbert el dos and his owners. What a fun and entertaining ride it's been so far." said piano teacher Cara McCool, MoMo's owner.
"We're just happy for the attention this has brought to our charities as well as others supported by so many cute dogs in this competition," McCool said.
Her charities included: Redeemer Presbyterian Disaster Relief, Desire Street Ministries, Louisiana Teachers Save Our Students fund, Cavalier Rescue USA, Musical Arts Society of New Orleans, the Louisiana SPCA, and Teach for America.
Colbert el dos' winnings are pledged to attract a stork to his owners' house. The owners, Bryan and his wife, Allyson, are newlyweds and are hoping to use the prize money for in vitro fertilization treatments to start a family. Colbert el dos' owners asked not to have their last names published to protect their privacy. | Does he have a dog in the fight? | maybe not |
Ariel Castro used the promise of a puppy to lure Michelle Knight into the Cleveland home where he held her hostage for 11 years.
"He tells me, 'Just come in for a little while. The puppies are upstairs. You can take one home to your son,'" Knight said in an interview broadcast Tuesday on the syndicated "Dr. Phil" talk show.
But she soon realized there were no puppies inside Castro's home. And it wasn't long, Knight said, before he trapped her in an upstairs room and tied her up with an extension cord. From there, he took her down into the basement about 24 hours later, she said.
It was the beginning of more than a decade of torture, rape, starvation and beatings for Knight. The hope of seeing her son again, she said, inspired her fight to survive.
"I want my son to know me as a victor, not a victim," Knight told host Dr. Phil McGraw. "And I wanted him to know that I survived, loving him. His love got me through."
Castro lured Knight into his vehicle from a Family Dollar store in Cleveland in 2002, promising to give her a ride. She was the first of three women he would capture and imprison in his home for about a decade. They were freed in May after one of the women, Amanda Berry, called out to neighbors for help.
In August, Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years after he pleaded guilty to 937 counts, including murder and kidnapping. He committed suicide in his prison cell in September. | What else? | a ride |
CHAPTER VIII
AN INFORMAL COURT
One morning, soon after Fuller and his daughter had gone home, Dick stood at a table in the testing house behind the mixing sheds. The small, galvanized iron building shook with the throb of engines and rattle of machinery, and now and then a shower of cinders pattered upon the roof; for the big mill that ground up the concrete was working across the road. The lattice shutters were closed, for the sake of privacy, and kept out the glare, though they could not keep out the heat, which soaked through the thin, iron walls, and Dick's face was wet with perspiration as he arranged a number of small concrete blocks. Some of these were broken, and some partly crushed. Delicate scales and glass measures occupied a neighboring shelf, and a big steel apparatus that looked rather like a lever weighing machine stood in the shadow.
Where the draught that came through the lattices flowed across the room, Bethune lounged in a canvas chair, and another man, with a quiet, sunburned face, sat behind him. This was Stuyvesant, whose authority was only second to Fuller's.
"Brandon seems to have taken a good deal of trouble, but this kind of investigation needs the strictest accuracy, and we haven't the best of testing apparatus," Bethune remarked. "I expect he'll allow that the results he has got may be to some extent misleading, and I doubt if it's worth while to go on with the matter. Are you sure you have made no mistakes, Dick?" | Where in relation to Bethune? | behind him. |
Christine and Elena grew up in the same suburb of Sydney and first met at kindergarten. They took to each other immediately and became inseparable friends throughout their school lives. Elena's parents had moved from Greece to Australia, and her grandparents still lived on the small Greek island of Santorini, When she was 16, Elena visited her grandparents for the first time. On returning to Australia, she talked endlessly about her grandmother's next-door neighbor, Mara. When Christine expressed puzzlement at Elena's obsession with people next door, Elena admitted that Maria had a handsome son called Nicos. She showed Christine a photo of him, standing next to his prize possession, a motorbike. Elena and Nicos exchanged emails for a while, but suddenly Nicos stopped writing. While not heartbroken, Elena was nevertheless hurt. A year later, when Christine announced that she was going to visit Greece, Elena begged her to visit Santorini and say hello to Maria and Nicos. Christine agreed to do so.
When she flew into Athens on an unseasonably cold day in September, she quickly realized that she hadn't brought enough warm clothes. Walking through the streets of the Greek capital, she happened to see a nice coat in a shop window and went in to ask about the price. The coat was too expensive, but as Christine was about to leave the shop, the woman asked her where she was from. When Christine answered Australia, the woman agreed to reduce the price because she knew a nice girl from Australia called Elena. Christine then noticed a photo of a young man standing next to a motorbike. Her eyes opened wide with astonishment. It was Nicos! Indeed the young man was Nicos, and the woman in the shop was Maria. She had come to Athens from Santorini to look after the shop for a friend.
Sadly, the story has a tragic ending. Nicos had been killed in a motorcycle accident.
"I wanted to tell Elena," said Maria. "But I didn't know how. Now that I have met you, I know that it's time to tell her." | What did Elena see in the shop that caught her eye? | a photo of a young man |
Garth Brooks is still holding out hope he can do shows in Ireland despite the Dublin city council saying no to two of them.
Brooks told the Irish promoter after the city's approval of just three shows he would wait "to the last second" before sending his crew and gear back the the United States.
"I cannot begin to tell you how badly my heart is breaking right now," the singer wrote in a note to Aiken Promotions on Tuesday. Brooks' rep on Wednesday provided CNN a copy of the note.
The Dublin shows had been planned for Croke Park Stadium, a football arena that can hold more than 90,000 fans, on five consecutive nights during the last week of July. The council approved Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows, but rejected licenses for Monday and Tuesday night concerts.
The promoter, saying Brooks insisted on five shows or none at all, announced Tuesday that all concerts of "The Garth Brooks Comeback Special Event" were canceled and the 400,000 tickets sold would be refunded.
A measure of the demand to see Brooks perform live is impressive, considering the 400,000 tickets sold represent nearly one of every 10 people in the Republic of Ireland's 4.5 million population.
"I hope you understand that to play for 400,000 people would be a dream, but to tell 160,000 of those people that they are not welcome would be a nightmare," Brooks wrote. "To do what the city manager suggests (play three shows and not all five) means I agree that is how people should be treated and I just can't agree with that." | where did the send the crew back to ? | United States |
Jack Klugman, best known as messy sports writer Oscar Madison in TV's "The Odd Couple," died Monday at his California home, his son Adam said. He was 90.
His lawyer, Larry Larson, said he died at his house in Northridge, just north of Los Angeles, with his wife by his side.
Veteran actor William Shatner tweeted: "Condolences go out to the family of Jack Klugman. An extraordinary and talented man. He will be missed."
Klugman, who won two Emmys for his role in the early 1970s sitcom, also starred in "Quincy, M.E." as medical examiner Dr. R. Quincy from 1976 to 1983.
He told Larry King in 2001 that he played Madison on Broadway before the TV show debuted.
"So when (executive producer) Garry Marshall called me, I thought he'd seen me do it on Broadway and that's why he wanted me. He said, 'No, I never saw you.' I said, 'So why did you want me?' He said, 'Well, I saw you in 'Gypsy,' and Ethel Merman was singing to you, and she was spitting all over you.' "
Marshall continued, Klugman said: " 'You know, that's a good actor, he's not showing that she's spitting all over him.' That's why he hired me."
The show, based on a Neil Simon play, was the hilarious story of two recently divorced men who became mismatched roommates. Madison was the gruff, wisecracking slob. Felix Unger, played by the late Tony Randall, was the neurotic neat freak who was a professional photographer. | Who wrote the Broadway play? | Neil Simon. |
CHAPTER V.
MOHUN APPEARS FOR THE LAST TIME IN THIS HISTORY.
Besides my Lord Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, who for family reasons had kindly promised his protection and patronage to Colonel Esmond, he had other great friends in power now, both able and willing to assist him, and he might, with such allies, look forward to as fortunate advancement in civil life at home as he had got rapid promotion abroad. His Grace was magnanimous enough to offer to take Mr. Esmond as secretary on his Paris embassy, but no doubt he intended that proposal should be rejected; at any rate, Esmond could not bear the thoughts of attending his mistress farther than the church-door after her marriage, and so declined that offer which his generous rival made him.
Other gentlemen in power were liberal at least of compliments and promises to Colonel Esmond. Mr. Harley, now become my Lord Oxford and Mortimer, and installed Knight of the Garter on the same day as his Grace of Hamilton had received the same honor, sent to the Colonel to say that a seat in Parliament should be at his disposal presently, and Mr. St. John held out many flattering hopes of advancement to the Colonel when he should enter the House. Esmond's friends were all successful, and the most successful and triumphant of all was his dear old commander, General Webb, who was now appointed Lieutenant-General of the Land Forces, and received with particular honor by the Ministry, by the Queen, and the people out of doors, who huzza'd the brave chief when they used to see him in his chariot going to the House or to the Drawing-room, or hobbling on foot to his coach from St. Stephen's upon his glorious old crutch and stick, and cheered him as loud as they had ever done Marlborough. | Who guaranteed protection to Esmond? | Lord Duke of Hamilton and Brandon |
Brazil's highest court said Wednesday it does not have jurisdiction over who should have custody of a U.S.-born 9-year-old boy -- his Brazilian stepfather or his father in the United States.
David Goldman is seeking custody of his son, Sean, who is living with relatives of his deceased mother in Brazil.
The high court's ruling sends the ongoing case back to an appeals court in Rio de Janeiro.
In the unanimous vote, Brazil's Supreme Federal Court said it could not rule over The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, of which Brazil is a signatory. Brazil is undergoing constitutional reforms and has recently voted on a law that would make all international human rights conventions part of its constitution.
Last week, Judge Marco Aurelio, who sits on the Supreme Federal Court, suspended a lower court ruling that custody of Sean Richard Goldman be turned over to the U.S. consulate, which was to have then handed him over to the boy's father, David Goldman, who is a U.S. citizen.
Aurelio's decision was based on a conservative party's petition that said the boy's removal from Brazil would cause him psychological harm.
But the father responded that his son was suffering psychological harm simply by remaining with his Brazilian relatives, whom Goldman -- a part-time model who captains boats -- accused of turning Sean against him.
The case now goes to the Federal Appeals Court in Rio de Janeiro and does not mean the boy will return to his father without further rulings. | is Brazil a signatory? | Yes |
CHAPTER III
After three weeks had elapsed, I determined to make a strong appeal to Erskine to do justice to the memory of Cyril Graham, and to give to the world his marvellous interpretation of the Sonnets--the only interpretation that thoroughly explained the problem. I have not any copy of my letter, I regret to say, nor have I been able to lay my hand upon the original; but I remember that I went over the whole ground, and covered sheets of paper with passionate reiteration of the arguments and proofs that my study had suggested to me. It seemed to me that I was not merely restoring Cyril Graham to his proper place in literary history, but rescuing the honour of Shakespeare himself from the tedious memory of a commonplace intrigue. I put into the letter all my enthusiasm. I put into the letter all my faith.
No sooner, in fact, had I sent it off than a curious reaction came over me. It seemed to me that I had given away my capacity for belief in the Willie Hughes theory of the Sonnets, that something had gone out of me, as it were, and that I was perfectly indifferent to the whole subject. What was it that had happened? It is difficult to say. Perhaps, by finding perfect expression for a passion, I had exhausted the passion itself. Emotional forces, like the forces of physical life, have their positive limitations. Perhaps the mere effort to convert any one to a theory involves some form of renunciation of the power of credence. Perhaps I was simply tired of the whole thing, and, my enthusiasm having burnt out, my reason was left to its own unimpassioned judgment. However it came about, and I cannot pretend to explain it, there was no doubt that Willie Hughes suddenly became to me a mere myth, an idle dream, the boyish fancy of a young man who, like most ardent spirits, was more anxious to convince others than to be himself convinced. | How long did he wait before starting to write? | three weeks |
CHAPTER III
THE WANDERER'S NECKLACE
On the morrow early I lay awake, for how could I sleep when Iduna rested beneath the same roof with me--Iduna, who, as her father had decreed, was to become my wife sooner than I had hoped? I was thinking how beautiful she looked, and how much I loved her; also of other things that were not so pleasant. For instance, why did not everybody see her with my eyes? I could not hide from myself that Ragnar went near to hating her; more than once she had almost been the cause of a quarrel between us. Freydisa, too, my nurse, who loved me, looked on her sourly, and even my mother, although she tried to like her for my sake, had not yet learned to do so, or thus it appeared to me.
When I asked her why, she replied that she feared the maid was somewhat selfish, also too fond of drawing the eyes of men, and of the adornment of her beauty. Of those who were dearest to me, indeed, only Steinar seemed to think Iduna as perfect as I did myself. This, so far as it went, was well; but, then, Steinar and I had always thought alike, which robbed his judgment of something of its worth.
Whilst I was pondering over these things, although it was still so early that my father and Athalbrand were yet in bed sleeping off the fumes of the liquor they had drunk, I heard Steinar himself talking to the messengers from Agger in the hall. They asked him humbly whether he would be pleased to return with them that day and take possession of his inheritance, since they must get back forthwith to Agger with their tidings. He replied that if they would send some or come themselves to escort him on the tenth day from that on which they spoke, he would go to Agger with them, but that until then he could not do so. | Who? | Steinar |
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States.
The state's name, Michigan, is of French origins (form of the Ojibwe word) "mishigamaa", meaning "large water" or "large lake". Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area, and the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River.
Michigan's capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit.
Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as "the U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair. As a result, it is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating.
Michigan also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than from a natural water source or more than from a Great Lakes shoreline. | what does it lead in? | recreational boating. |
Dear Jenny, I am in Beijing, China now, but my parents are in the USA. I live with my brother Peter. Beijing is big and great. There are many beautiful places and much delicious food here. I like Beijing very much. Peter and I are in the same grade, but we are in different classes. We live far from the school and it takes us a long time to go to school. We have to get up at 6:20 in the morning, and then at 6:30 we ride bikes to the bus stop. It takes us about 20 minutes. At about 7:00, we take the bus to school. We get to school at about 7:30. We have four classes in the morning and two in the afternoon. I think Chinese is too difficult, but Peter thinks it is easy. He can speak Chinese very well and he often helps me with it. How is everything going with you in the USA? Write to me soon. Love, Kate ,. | Does she like Beijing? | Yes |
One year ago Bertha and Grace became close friends at a college in Dartmouth. One day, Bertha said that her aunt Margaret had invited her to spend the summer holiday with her. And they would have picnics and parties as well. But Grace told Bertha that she planned to stay in Clarkman's bookstore until the new term began. Grace had to do something to feed herself because her parents died many years ago. Bertha watched her friend's pale face. Just then she got a good idea. The next day when Grace came back, Bertha showed her an invitation letter from her aunt Margaret. "Grace, would you like to spend your holiday with us? I will help you find a part-time job in our town." Grace cried after reading it. "Grace, please spend the holiday with me, or Margaret will be disappointed . I want you to be happy," Bertha said. The holiday quickly passed by, and finally one letter from Margaret came to Bertha. "Bertha, Grace is the sweetest girl in the world, and I am very grateful to you for sending her here." | Did she want to go? | Yes |
CHAPTER XXI. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
In the search for a new abode Mrs. Lee was in much difficulty, for it was needful to be near St. Kenelm's, and the only vacant houses within her means were not desirable for the reception of a feeble convalescent; moreover, Mr. Gudgeon grumbled and inquired, and was only withheld by warnings enhanced by the police from carrying the whole charivari of the Salvation Army along Ivinghoe Terrace on Sunday afternoon.
Perhaps it was this, perhaps it was the fact of having discussed the situation with the two Miss Mohuns, that made Mr. White say to Alexis, 'There are two rooms ready for your sister, as soon as Dagger says she can be moved safely. The person who nurses her had better come with her, and you may as well come back to your old quarters.'
Alexis could hardly believe his ears, but Mr. White waved off all thanks. The Mohun sisters were delighted and triumphant, and Jane came down to talk it over with her elder sister, auguring great things from that man who loved to deal in surprises.
'That is true,' said Sir Jasper.
'What does that mean, Jasper?' said his wife. 'It sounds significant.'
'I certainly should not be amazed if he did further surprise us all. Has it never struck you how that noontide turn of Adeline's corresponds with his walk home from the reading-room?'
Lady Merrifield looked rather startled, but Jane only laughed, and said, 'My dear Jasper, if you only knew Ada as well as I do! Yes, I have seen far too many of those little affairs to be taken in by them. Poor Ada! I know exactly how she looks, but she is only flattered, like a pussy-cat waggling the end of its tail---it means nothing, and never comes to anything. The thing that is likely and hopeful is, that he may adopt those young people as nephews and nieces.' | What does someone say to Alexis because of this? | There are two rooms ready for your sister |
At times it was almost painful to watch. At one end of the court the world's No. 1 female tennis star playing well within herself; at the other her sister, a long way away from regaining that form and status.
"Venus has had a great week, and honestly, if she hadn't had to play so many matches, it would have been a much tougher match," Serena Williams said after comfortably beating her older sibling on Saturday to reach the final of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston.
The 31-year-old was slightly overstating the rigors of the competition in South Carolina, a tournament that heralded the formation of the women's tour back in 1973 but has this week attracted just two of the world's top-10 players.
Serena is one, and the other -- 10th-ranked Caroline Wozniacki -- crashed out in the quarterfinals on Friday against Swiss No. 63 Stefanie Vogele.
Both Williams sisters won two matches on Friday to set up their first meeting since 2009, but it was defending champion Serena who looked the least affected as she won 6-1 6-2 in just 54 minutes.
"She'll never admit it, but I don't think she was 100%," Serena said of her sister, who was diagnosed with a debilitating autoimmune disease before the 2011 U.S. Open -- a grand slam she has won twice, along with her five Wimbledons.
"But you will never get that out of her. And quite frankly, three matches for her is much tougher than three matches for me. It's definitely not easy -- because I'm struggling, and I can't imagine what she must be feeling." | Who did she lose to? | Stefanie Vogele |
Chapter 13. NAT'S NEW YEAR
'I don't expect to hear from Emil yet, and Nat writes regularly, but where is Dan? Only two or three postals since he went. Such an energetic fellow as he is could buy up all the farms in Kansas by this time,' said Mrs Jo one morning when the mail came in and no card or envelope bore Dan's dashing hand.
'He never writes often, you know, but does his work and then comes home. Months and years seem to mean little to him, and he is probably prospecting in the wilderness, forgetful of time,' answered Mr Bhaer, deep in one of Nat's long letters from Leipzig.
'But he promised he would let me know how he got on, and Dan keeps his word if he can. I'm afraid something has happened to him'; and Mrs Jo comforted herself by patting Don's head, as he came at the sound of his master's name to look at her with eyes almost human in their wistful intelligence.
'Don't worry, Mum dear, nothing ever happens to the old fellow. He'll turn up all right, and come stalking in some day with a gold-mine in one pocket and a prairie in the other, as jolly as a grig,' said Ted, who was in no haste to deliver Octoo to her rightful owner.
'Perhaps he has gone to Montana and given up the farm plan. He seemed to like Indians best, I thought'; and Rob went to help his mother with her pile of letters and his cheerful suggestions. | What had he promised? | He didn't. |
A little over 26 years ago, Mohammad Reza Najafi started manufacturing auto parts in Iran.
Today he's an industry leader, supplying roughly three million springs and one million break-pads every year to Iranian auto makers.
Najafi's success has also earned him seats on the country's Chamber of Commerce and the board of directors of the Iranian Auto Parts Manufacturers Association. It has also made him a leading voice in Iran's efforts to re-energize its struggling economy.
Like many of his country's business leaders, Najafi has watched the recent negotiations with world powers on Iran's nuclear program with great interest.
He spoke to CNN's Reza Sayah on this week's Marketplace Middle East, sharing his thoughts on how he sees the talks panning out and the impact they will have on the Iranian economy going forward.
Reza Sayah (RS): What was your reaction when they couldn't reach a deal (on the nuclear issue)?
Mohammad Reza Najafi (MRN): As a matter of fact it was a deal but naturally it takes time and we are happy that it is continuing.
RS: Would you agree that Iran's economy is not going to improve without the sanctions being lifted?
MRN: It's a very difficult question to answer because at the same time during the sanctions we tried to find our own way to improve ourselves and so on.
But we are interested to collaborate with them (the international community) so it is an obstacle that should be removed.
RS: Tell me about Iran's economy today, where does it stand? | To where? | Chamber of Commerce |
Autumn means different things to different people. "It all depends on your personality," said British naturalist Richard Mabey. "Personality shapes your view of the season," he said. "You may see it as a fading-away,a packing-up ,or as a time of packing in another sense--the exciting gathering of resources before a long journey."
If this is true,perhaps it tells us a little about,for instance,Thomas Hood,the 19th Century English poet. About November,he wrote:
No warmth,no cheerfulness,no healthful ease
No shade,no shine,no butterflies,no bees
November!
On the other hand,another English poet John Keats,already sensing he was seriously ill,was inspired by a late September day to pen one of the most famous poems in the English language,To Autumn. He wrote to a friend afterwards that there was something comforting and healing about it.
According to Richard Mabey,Keats has the biological evidence on his side. Autumn is not a time of slowing down,but a time of new beginnings and great movements of creatures. For example,just at the moment that Keats's "gathering swallows" ( in To Autumn)are departing for Africa,millions of creatures are fleeing from the frozen north like Iceland,Greenland and Russia to winter along the east and south coasts of Britain. According to scientists,before falling,the leaves transfer their chlorophyll and carbohydrates into the woody parts of the tree for safe keeping over winter. What remains is the natural antioxidants in the leaves: the yellow and orange carotenoids ,and another protective chemical specially produced for autumn,the bright-red anthocyanin .High colour is not a signal of deterioration and decline,but of detox ability and good health.
A century after Keats,the American poet Loren Eiseley wrote in his journal:
"Suppose we saw ourselves burning-like maples in a golden autumn. And that we could break up like autumn leaves...dropping their substance like chlorophyll. Wouldn't our attitude towards death be different?" | Was his writing well known? | Yes |
The U.S. Army says it will honor the "heroism and sacrifice" of 350 U.S. soldiers who were held as slaves by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Bernard "Jack" Vogel died in a Nazi slave camp in the arms of fellow U.S. soldier, Anthony Acevedo, in 1945.
The decision by the Army effectively reverses decades of silence about what the soldiers endured in the final months of the war in 1945 at Berga an der Elster, a subcamp of Buchenwald where soldiers were beaten, starved, killed and forced to work in tunnels to hide German equipment.
More than 100 U.S. soldiers died in the camp or on a forced death march. Before they were sent back to the United States, survivors signed a secrecy document with the U.S. government to never speak about their captivity.
"The interests of American prisoners of war in the event of future wars, moreover, demand that the secrets of this war be vigorously safeguarded," the document says.
CNN last month reported the story of Anthony Acevedo, who was a 20-year-old medic when he was sent to Berga with the other soldiers. Acevedo kept a diary that details the day-to-day events inside the camp and lists names and prisoner numbers of men as they died or were executed. See inside Acevedo's diary »
That story prompted a chain of events, including hundreds of CNN.com users urging their congressional leaders to honor the soldiers of Berga. Two congressmen, Reps. Joe Baca, D-California, and Spencer Bachus, R-Alabama, wrote U.S. Army Secretary Peter Geren and asked him to recognize the 350 soldiers. | Was Acevedo a soldier? | yes |
Vivi Mac, an amazing artist from France, can use nearly any kind of food to create detailed celebrity portraits .Although she has yet to _ her short-lived work of arts in a proper art gallery, Vivi Mac has already made a name for herself online.
We've seen some amazing food artists in the past, but none are quite like this one .Karen Eland is a master coffee painter, Elisabetta Rogai uses wine as her medium ,Kelly McCollam uses food colouring to recreat classic paintings, but the self-taught Vivi Mac can take anything from chewing gum to milk and turn it into a fantastic portrait When working with liquids, Mac uses a simple plastic straw and her hands to guide the unusual .mediums around a plastic plate which acts as a painting. Just how she manages to capture the finest facial features is still a mistery to me, and I've seen videos of her doing it many times,
Vivi Mac has never attended art school. She only used online resources like blogs and facebook to learn the basics of drawing and painting. She started out working with pens and paper, but soon realized drawing wasn't just creative enough for her. She got into speed painting and body painting, posting videos of her works on You Tube, but it wasn't until she began experimenting with different kinds of foods that her art got serious coverage. Photos and videos of her eatable celebrity portraits, like Bruce Lee in milk Ice Cube in crushed ice or Amy Winehouse in wine, became popular on the French inter-webs and changed Vivi Mac into an online celebrity. | Who is considered a Master coffee painter? | Karen Eland |
Reuters is an international news agency headquartered in London, England. It is a division of Thomson Reuters.
Until 2008, the Reuters news agency formed part of an independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data. Since the acquisition of Reuters Group by the Thomson Corporation in 2008, the Reuters news agency has been a part of Thomson Reuters, making up the media division. Reuters transmits news in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Urdu, and Chinese. It was established in 1851.
The Reuter agency was established in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter in Britain at the London Royal Exchange. Paul Reuter worked at a book-publishing firm in Berlin and was involved in distributing radical pamphlets at the beginning of the Revolutions in 1848. These publications brought much attention to Reuter, who in 1850 developed a prototype news service in Aachen using homing pigeons and electric telegraphy from 1851 on in order to transmit messages between Brussels and Aachen.
Upon moving to England, he founded Reuter's Telegram Company in 1851. Headquartered in London, the company initially covered commercial news, serving banks, brokerage houses, and business firms. The first newspaper client to subscribe was the London "Morning Advertiser" in 1858. Afterwards more newspapers signed up, with "Britannica Encyclopedia" writing that "the value of Reuters to newspapers lay not only in the financial news it provided but in its ability to be the first to report on stories of international importance." Reuter's agency built a reputation in Europe and the rest of the world as the first to report news scoops from abroad. Reuters was the first to report Abraham Lincoln's assassination in Europe, for instance, in 1865. In 1872, Reuters expanded into the far east, followed by South America in 1874. Both expansions were made possible by advances in overland telegraphs and undersea cables. In 1883, Reuters began transmitting messages electrically to London newspapers. | What else? | using homing pigeons |
On Saturday Patrick woke up with a little shock, knowing that this was a special day. For a moment he couldn't think exactly why, and then, with an excited flutter of his stomach, he remembered. At ten o'clock today he was going to find out the final result of the programme called Super Brain. He got dressed more carefully than usual, went downstairs and turned on the TV. Quickly he switched channels. Cartoons, cartoons, advertisements, man talking, snow, snow... and still nothing at all on Channel 8. "Patrick, turn it off, darling, if you're going to watch." Judith walked past with the newspaper under her arm and her eyes half closed. She headed for the kitchen. Patrick turned off the TV and followed. "What's for breakfast, Mum?" "We will see," Judith said in a low voice, turning on the electric kettle . She looked sleepily at him and smiled. "You look nice, darling," She said. "You're all ready. But we can't go till eight-thirty at the earliest, you know. Nothing will be open till then." Patrick's stomach seemed to feel a little sick. "We aren't going out, are we?" He asked. Judith began to make the tea. "Don't say you've forgotten!" she said, "I promised you, last Saturday. Your new trainers, remember?" "Oh--oh, but I can't go out this morning, Mum. There's something I've got to watch on TV. At ten o'clock. I've got to! My trainers will be all right for another week." Patrick said with excitement, looking quite worried. Judith faced him, hands on hips, "Patrick," she said with great dislike, "it's all organized." | How did he feel after waking? | shocked |
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions, financed and usually led by Great Britain. The wars stemmed from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and its resultant conflict. The wars are often categorised into five conflicts, each termed after the coalition that fought Napoleon; the Third Coalition (1805), the Fourth (1806–7), Fifth (1809), Sixth (1813), and the Seventh and final (1815).
Napoleon, upon ascending to First Consul of France in 1799, had inherited a chaotic republic; he subsequently created a state with stable finances, a strong bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. In 1805, Austria and Russia waged war against France. In response, Napoleon defeated the allied Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz in December 1805, which is considered his greatest victory. At sea, the British inflicted a severe defeat in October 1805 upon the joint Franco-Spanish navy, securing British control of the seas and preventing the invasion of Britain itself. Prussian concerns about increasing French power led to a resumption of war in October 1806. Napoleon quickly defeated the Prussians, and defeated Russia in June 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. The peace failed; war broke out two years later in 1809, and this coalition was soon defeated. | The Sixth? | 1813 |
Aruba is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the southern Caribbean Sea, located about west of the main part of the Lesser Antilles and north of the coast of Venezuela. It measures long from its northwestern to its southeastern end and across at its widest point. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands. Collectively, Aruba and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.
Aruba is one of the four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along with the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten; the citizens of these countries are all Dutch nationals. Aruba has no administrative subdivisions, but, for census purposes, is divided into eight regions. Its capital is Oranjestad.
Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has a land area of and is densely populated, with a total of 102,484 inhabitants at the 2010 Census. It lies outside Hurricane Alley.
Aruba's first inhabitants are thought to have been Caquetío Amerindians from the Arawak tribe, who migrated there from Venezuela to escape attacks by the Caribs. Fragments of the earliest known Indian settlements date back to 1000 AD. As sea currents made canoe travel to other Caribbean islands difficult, Caquetio culture remained more closely associated with that of mainland South America. | What sea is it in? | Caribbean Sea |
Jack is an 11-year-old boy. One day he was playing with a ball. The ball went into the street, and Jack ran for the ball. A car hit him. Jack's parents took him to the hospital. The doctors told them, "Jack's head is hurt. Maybe he will wake up very soon. Maybe he will never wake up." Every day Jack's parents went to see him and talked to him. But Jack never talked to them. He just slept. One day Jack's father said, "Wake up, Jack. Let's go home and play with Cody." Cody is Jack's dog. When Jack's father said "Cody", Jack moved his arm. Then Jack's parents had an idea. They told the nurse, "We want to bring Jack's dog to the hospital. Is it OK?" "A dog in the hospital?" the nurse said. "That's very unusual. But. yes, it's OK." The next day, Jack's parents brought Cody to the hospital. When they put the dog on Jack's bed, Jack opened his eyes. Jack's parents brought Cody to the hospital every day. Cody jumped on Jack's bed and touched Jack's arm. Jack said his first words, "Bad dog!" After seven weeks Jack was well. He left the hospital and went home with Cody. | where did they put the dog? | on his bed |
More than 80 Michael Jackson collectibles -- including the late pop star's famous rhinestone-studded glove from a 1983 performance -- were auctioned off Saturday, reaping a total $2 million.
Profits from the auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York's Times Square crushed pre-sale expectations of only $120,000 in sales.
The highly prized memorabilia, which included items spanning the many stages of Jackson's career, came from more than 30 fans, associates and family members, who contacted Julien's Auctions to sell their gifts and mementos of the singer.
Jackson's flashy glove was the big-ticket item of the night, fetching $420,000 from a buyer in Hong Kong, China. Jackson wore the glove at a 1983 performance during "Motown 25," an NBC special where he debuted his revolutionary moonwalk.
Fellow Motown star Walter "Clyde" Orange of the Commodores, who also performed in the special 26 years ago, said he asked for Jackson's autograph at the time, but Jackson gave him the glove instead.
"The legacy that left behind is bigger than life for me," Orange said. "I hope that through that glove people can see what he was trying to say in his music and what he said in his music."
Orange said he plans to give a portion of the proceeds to charity.
Hoffman Ma, who bought the glove on behalf of Ponte 16 Resort in Macau, paid a 25 percent buyer's premium, which was tacked onto all final sales over $50,000. Winners of items less than $50,000 paid a 20 percent premium. | how many? | More than 80. |
At a day care center in Taxes, children were playing outside. One of the children was Jessica McClure. She was 18 months old. Jessica's mother, who worked at the day care center, was watching the children. Suddenly Jessica fell and disappeared. Jessica's mother cried and ran to her. A well was in the yard of the center. The well was only eight inches across, and a rock always covered it. But children had moved the rock. When Jessica fell, and she fell right into the well. Jessica's mother reached inside the well, but she couldn't feel Jessica. She ran to the phone and called 911 for help. Men from the fire apartment arrived. They discovered that Jessica was about 20 feet down in the well. For the next hour, the men talked and planned Jessica's rescue . Then they told Jessica's parents their plan. "We can't go into the well. " they said "It's too narrow. So, we're going to drill a hole next to the well. Then we 'll drill a tunnel across Jessica. Then we'll bring her up through the hole. " The man began to drill the hole on a Wednesday morning. "We'll reach Jessica in a few hours ", they thought. The men were wrong. They had to drill through the solid rock. Two days later, on Friday morning, they were still drilling,. And Jessica McClure was still in the well. During her days in the well, Jessica sometimes called her mother. Sometimes she slept, sometimes she cried, and sometimes she sang. All over the world people waited for the news of Jessica. They read about her in the newspapers and watched her rescue on TV. Everyone worried about the little girl in the well. At 8 P. M. on Friday, the men finally reached Jessica and brought her up from the well. Jessica was dirty, hungry, thirsty and tired. Her foot and forehead was badly injured. But Jessica was alive. A doctor at the hospital said, "Jessica was lucky she was young. She's not going to remember this very well. " Maybe Jessica will not remember her days in the well. But her parents, her rescuers, ans many other people around the world will not forget them. After Jessica's rescue, one of the rescuers made a metal cover for the well. On the cover he wrote, "To Jessica, with love from all of us. " | Who called ? | Jessica. |
CHAPTER VII
As Eustace was returning, his attention was caught by repeated groans, which proceeded from a wretched little hovel almost level with the earth. "Hark!" said he to Ingram, a tall stout man-at-arms from the Lynwood estate. "Didst thou not hear a groaning?"
"Some of the Castilians, Sir. To think that the brutes should be content to live in holes not fit for swine!"
"But methought it was an English tongue. Listen, John!"
And in truth English ejaculations mingled with the moans: "To St. Joseph of Glastonbury, a shrine of silver! Blessed Lady of Taunton, a silver candlestick! Oh! St. Dunstan!"
Eustace doubted no longer; and stooping down and entering the hut, he beheld, as well as the darkness would allow him, Leonard Ashton himself, stretched on some mouldy rushes, and so much altered, that he could scarcely have been recognized as the sturdy, ruddy youth who had quitted the Lances of Lynwood but five weeks before.
"Eustace! Eustace!" he exclaimed, as the face of his late companion appeared. "Can it be you? Have the saints sent you to my succour?"
"It is I, myself, Leonard," replied Eustace; "and I hope to aid you. How is it--"
"Let me feel your hand, that I may be sure you are flesh and blood," cried Ashton, raising himself and grasping Eustace's hand between his own, which burnt like fire; then, lowering his voice to a whisper of horror, "She is a witch!"
"Who?" asked Eustace, making the sign of the cross.
Leonard pointed to a kind of partition which crossed the hut, beyond which Eustace could perceive an old hag-like woman, bending over a cauldron which was placed on the fire. Having made this effort, he sank back, hiding his face with his cloak, and trembling in every limb. A thrill of dismay passed over the Knight, and the giant, John Ingram, stood shaking like an aspen, pale as death, and crossing himself perpetually. "Oh, take me from this place, Eustace," repeated Leonard, "or I am a dead man, both body and soul!" | who was trembling | Eustace |
The 1973 oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC, consisting of the Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) proclaimed an oil embargo. By the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil had risen from US$3 per barrel to nearly $12 globally; US prices were significantly higher. The embargo caused an oil crisis, or "shock", with many short- and long-term effects on global politics and the global economy. It was later called the "first oil shock", followed by the 1979 oil crisis, termed the "second oil shock."
The crisis had a major impact on international relations and created a rift within NATO. Some European nations and Japan sought to disassociate themselves from United States foreign policy in the Middle East to avoid being targeted by the boycott. Arab oil producers linked any future policy changes to peace between the belligerents. To address this, the Nixon Administration began multilateral negotiations with the combatants. They arranged for Israel to pull back from the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. By January 18, 1974, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had negotiated an Israeli troop withdrawal from parts of the Sinai Peninsula. The promise of a negotiated settlement between Israel and Syria was enough to convince Arab oil producers to lift the embargo in March 1974. | When did the oil crisis begin? | October 1973 |
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter. Manslaughter is a killing committed in the absence of "malice", brought about by reasonable provocation, or diminished capacity. "Involuntary" manslaughter, where it is recognized, is a killing that lacks all but the most attenuated guilty intent, recklessness.
Most societies consider murder to be a very serious crime, and thus believe that the person charged should receive harsh punishments for the purposes of retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, or incapacitation. In most countries, a person convicted of murder generally faces a long-term prison sentence, possibly a life sentence; and in a few, the death penalty may be imposed.
The modern English word "murder" descends from the Proto-Indo-European "mrtró" which meant "to die". The Middle English "mordre" is a noun from Anglo-Saxon "morðor" and Old French "murdre". Middle English "mordre" is a verb from Anglo-Saxon "myrdrian" and the Middle English noun.
The eighteenth-century English jurist William Blackstone (citing Edward Coke), in his "Commentaries on the Laws of England" set out the common law definition of murder, which by this definition occurs The elements of common law murder are: | Maximally called what? | life sentence; |
A day at the beach. When Sam woke in the morning, he was super excited! Today was the day! It was Sunday, the day that Sam's mom and dad had promised to take Sam to the beach. Sam's grandma had given a pail and shovel to Sam to use in the sand. At breakfast Sam was so excited he was wiggling in his seat! Mom told Sam that they would leave when the big hand on the clock was pointing to the 10, and the little had was pointing to the 12. Mom asked Sam if he would like to help make sandwiches for the trip, and Sam said that he wanted to help. Dad said, "let's make a game of it, we need to make a sandwich for each of us. There are three of us, so we need three sandwiches. Let's count as we make the sandwiches!" Sam counted as mom made the sandwiches, one for dad, one for mom and one for Sam. Then mom started to make another sandwich! "Mom!" said Sam, "we have three sandwiches and that makes one sandwich for each of us." Sam's mom laughed, "You're right Sam!" Sam's mom said she was being silly. | Why so many? | There were three people |
The British and Irish Lions held on for a 23-21 victory over Australia Saturday in a nail-biting first Test in Brisbane.
The opening match of the three-Test series swung on a few key moments and the Wallabies were left to count the cost of two late missed penalties from Kurtley Beale.
His first effort from just 30 meters out went wide of the posts and when presented with another chance from a little further out, Beale cruelly slipped as he was making his attempt.
It left Warren Gatland's men and the thousands of their supporters who had turned the Suncorp Stadium into a sea of red to celebrate a famous victory.
"It was relief, but we deserved to win that game," Gatland told reporters after his side's narrow triumph.
They led 13-12 at halftime, despite two tries from Australia wing Israel Folau, who was making a sensational debut just five months after switching to rugby union from rugby league and Australian Rules football.
The Lions responded with a superb try of their own through Welshman George North, converted by Leigh Halfpenny, who also made two further penalties to give the tourists the edge.
Right wing Alex Cuthbert went over for a second Lions try -- again converted by Halfpenny -- early in the second half -- to leave them 20-12 ahead.
James O'Connor and replacement Beale kicked two penalties to give the Wallabies renewed hope, but the ever accurate Halfpenny's boot stretched the lead to 23-18.
But after yet another careless infringement by the Lions left Beale with the opportunity to close the gap to just two points after his own surging run led to a penalty. | What's the biggest lead mentioned? | 20-12 |
CHAPTER TWELVE.
THE STORM--THE WRECK OF THE HOMEWARD BOUND--THE LIFEBOAT.
A stern chase never was and never will be a short one. Old Coleman, in the course of quarter of a mile's run, felt that his powers were limited and wisely stopped short; Bax, Guy, and Tommy Bogey held on at full speed for upwards of two miles along the beach, following the road which wound along the base of the chalk cliffs, and keeping the fugitive well in view.
But Long Orrick was, as we have seen, a good runner. He kept his ground until he reached a small hamlet named Kingsdown, lying about two and a half miles to the north of Saint Margaret's Bay. Here he turned suddenly to the left, quitted the beach, and made for the interior, where he was soon lost sight of, and left his disappointed pursuers to grumble at their bad fortune and wipe their heated brows.
The strength of the gale had now increased to such an extent that it became a matter not only of difficulty but of danger to pass along the shore beneath the cliffs. The spray was hurled against them with great violence, and as the tide rose the larger waves washed up with a magnificent and overwhelming sweep almost to their base. In these circumstances Guy proposed to go back to Saint Margaret's Bay by the inland road.
"It's a bit longer," said he, as they stood under the lee of a wall, panting from the effects of their run, "but we shall be sheltered from the gale; besides, I doubt if we could pass under the cliffs now." | Was he winded? | yes |
A fish that lives in America can live out. of water for months at a time, similar to how animals got used to land millions of years ago, a new study shows. The Mangrove Rivulus, a kind of little fish, lives in small pools of water. When their living place dries up, they live. on the land, said Scott Taylor, a researcher in Florida. The fish can grow as large as three inches. They group together and breathe air through their skin before they can find water again. The new scientific discovery came during a trip. "We were travelling for fun. and one day I kicked over a log and the fish came out," Taylor told reporters by telephone. He said he would make his study on the fish known to the public in an American magazine early next year. In lab tests, Taylor said he found the fish can live up to 66 days out of water without eating. Some other fish can live out of water for a short period of time. The walking catfish found in Southeast Asia can stay on land for hours at a time, while lungfish found in Australia, Africa and South America can live out of water, but only in a not active way. But no other known fish can be out of water as long as the Mangrove Rivulus and keep active, according to Patricia Wright, a biologist at a Canadian University. More studies of the fish may tell how animals changed over time. "These animals live in conditions similar to those millions of years ago, when animals began to move from water onto land," Wright said. | How do they stay out so long? | without eating |
CHAPTER XXIII
I
WHEN America entered the Great European War, Vida sent Raymie off to an officers' training-camp--less than a year after her wedding. Raymie was diligent and rather strong. He came out a first lieutenant of infantry, and was one of the earliest sent abroad.
Carol grew definitely afraid of Vida as Vida transferred the passion which had been released in marriage to the cause of the war; as she lost all tolerance. When Carol was touched by the desire for heroism in Raymie and tried tactfully to express it, Vida made her feel like an impertinent child.
By enlistment and draft, the sons of Lyman Cass, Nat Hicks, Sam Clark joined the army. But most of the soldiers were the sons of German and Swedish farmers unknown to Carol. Dr. Terry Gould and Dr. McGanum became captains in the medical corps, and were stationed at camps in Iowa and Georgia. They were the only officers, besides Raymie, from the Gopher Prairie district. Kennicott wanted to go with them, but the several doctors of the town forgot medical rivalry and, meeting in council, decided that he would do better to wait and keep the town well till he should be needed. Kennicott was forty-two now; the only youngish doctor left in a radius of eighteen miles. Old Dr. Westlake, who loved comfort like a cat, protestingly rolled out at night for country calls, and hunted through his collar-box for his G. A. R. button.
Carol did not quite know what she thought about Kennicott's going. Certainly she was no Spartan wife. She knew that he wanted to go; she knew that this longing was always in him, behind his unchanged trudging and remarks about the weather. She felt for him an admiring affection--and she was sorry that she had nothing more than affection. | Who was Carol afraid of? | Vida |
CHAPTER XXVIII.
TELL IT NOT IN OATH.
As they sat silent in that little sitting-room after supper, a double knock at the door suddenly announced the arrival of a telegram for Ernest. He opened it with trembling lingers. It was from Lancaster:--'Come down to the office at once. Schurz has been sentenced to a year's imprisonment, and we want a leader about him for to-morrow.' The telegram roused Ernest at once from his stupefied lethargy. Here was a chance at last of doing something for Max Schurz and for the cause of freedom! Here was a chance of waking up all England to a sense of the horrible crime it had just committed through the voice of its duly accredited judicial mouthpiece! The country was trembling on the brink of an abyss, and he, Ernest Le Breton, might just be in time to save it. The Home Secretary must be compelled by the unanimous clamour of thirty millions of free working people to redress the gross injustice of the law in sending Max Sohurz, the greatest, noblest, and purest-minded of mankind, to a common felon's prison! Nothing else on earth could have moved Ernest, jaded and dispirited as he was at that moment, to the painful exertion of writing a newspaper leader after the day's fatigues and excitements, except the thought that by doing so he might not only blot out this national disgrace, as he considered it, but might also help to release the martyr of the people's rights from his incredible, unspeakable punishment. Flushed and feverish though he was, he rose straight up from the table, handed the telegram to Edie without a word, and started off alone to hail a hansom cab and drive down immediately to the office. Arthur Berkeley, fearful of what might happen to him in his present excited state, stole out after him quietly, and followed him unperceived in another hansom at a little distance. | How long had Schurz been sentenced for? | A year. |
CHAPTER XII
So sailed the Ship of Fools--Michael playing with Scraps, respecting Cocky and by Cocky being bullied and wheedled, singing with Steward and worshipping him; Daughtry drinking his six quarts of beer each day, collecting his wages the first of each month, and admiring Charles Stough Greenleaf as the finest man on board; Kwaque serving and loving his master and thickening and darkening and creasing his brow with the growing leprous infiltration; Ah Moy avoiding the Black Papuan as the very plague, washing himself continuously and boiling his blankets once a week; Captain Doane doing the navigating and worrying about his flat-building in San Francisco; Grimshaw resting his ham-hands on his colossal knees and girding at the pawnbroker to contribute as much to the adventure as he was contributing from his wheat-ranches; Simon Nishikanta wiping his sweaty neck with the greasy silk handkerchief and painting endless water-colours; the mate patiently stealing the ship's latitude and longitude with his duplicate key; and the Ancient Mariner, solacing himself with Scotch highballs, smoking fragrant three-for-a-dollar Havanas that were charged to the adventure, and for ever maundering about the hell of the longboat, the cross-bearings unnamable, and the treasure a fathom under the sand.
Came a stretch of ocean that to Daughtry was like all other stretches of ocean and unidentifiable from them. No land broke the sea-rim. The ship the centre, the horizon was the invariable and eternal circle of the world. The magnetic needle in the binnacle was the point on which the _Mary Turner_ ever pivoted. The sun rose in the undoubted east and set in the undoubted west, corrected and proved, of course, by declination, deviation, and variation; and the nightly march of the stars and constellations proceeded across the sky. | what? | Havanas |
When Debbie Wasserman Schultz visited her friend Gabrielle Giffords in the hospital last week, she talked to her about the demonstrations in Egypt and the Republicans' proposed budget cuts -- not exactly topics you might expect during a hospital visit.
But Wasserman Schultz says she remembers what she wanted to talk about when she was hospitalized with breast cancer a few years ago.
"As much as (Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly) cares about her, he doesn't know all the fun stories about what's going on in Washington," she said. "There's only 435 of us in the House of Representatives, and I knew she'd want to be caught up on what's going on, so I told her stories about different colleagues and who said what."
In the nearly six weeks since the Arizona Democrat was shot, Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, has made three trips to visit her friend: two to Tucson and one to Houston, where Giffords is in a rehabilitation hospital. She's planning another trip there in a few weeks.
She fits the travel into her busy schedule because she remembers how important such visits were to her when she was recovering from her seven breast cancer surgeries, including a double mastectomy, breast reconstruction and removal of her ovaries.
"Being hospitalized and sidelined in such a significant way can be so isolating, and Gabby is even more isolated from the world than I was. She's isolated in her own body while she's recovering," she said.
Wasserman Schultz says that even though Giffords couldn't speak to her during a visit two weeks ago, she felt that Giffords understood what she told her and appreciated the visit. | Who did Debbie visit? | Gabrielle Giffords |
CHAPTER 33
From darkness here and dreariness, We ask not full repose. --CHRISTIAN YEAR
It seemed as if the fatigue which Guy had undergone was going to make itself felt at last, for he had a slight headache the next morning, and seemed dull and weary. Both he and Amabel sat for some time with Philip, and when she went away to write her letters, Philip began discussing a plan which had occurred to him of offering himself as chief of the constabulary force in the county where Redclyffe was situated. It was an office which would suit him very well, and opened a new hope of his marriage, and he proceeded to reckon on Lord Thorndale's interest, counting up all the magistrates he knew, and talking them over with Guy, who, however, did not know enough of his own neighbourhood to be of much use; and when he came up-stairs a little after, said he was vexed at having been so stupid. He was afraid he had seemed unkind and indifferent. But the truth was that he was so heavy and drowsy, that he had actually fallen twice into a doze while Philip was talking.
'Of course,' said Amy, 'gentle sleep will take her revenge at last for your calling her a popular delusion. Lie down, let her have her own way, and you will be good for something by and by.'
He took her advice, slept for a couple of hours, and awoke a good deal refreshed, so that though his head still ached, he was able to attend as usual to Philip in the evening. | Was Guy intereseted? | no |
Paraguay installed new top military commanders, but President Fernando Lugo, who had ordered the change in leadership, was not present for the ceremony.
Lugo's absence Thursday morning attracted attention given his administration's silence on the sudden change in the leadership of the country's army, air force and navy.
The president's decision to replace the top brass came a day after he publicly dismissed rumors about a military coup.
Brig. Gen. Bartolome Ramon Pineda Ortiz was named as the new army commander. Brig. Gen. Hugo Gilberto Aranda Chamorro and Rear Adm. Egberto Emerito Orie Benegas took over the top posts at the air force and navy, respectively.
The announcement came from the armed forces, not the president's office.
Cibar Benitez, commander of the armed forces, was the only top leader to retain his post.
Other changes would be forthcoming in the lower ranks, said Benitez at the swearing-in ceremony, but he denied there was any truth to talk of a coup.
Paraguay's history is filled with unstable transitions of power since it emerged from dictatorship in 1989. Although there hasn't been a coup since that year, there were attempted coups in 1996 and 2000, and President Raul Cubas resigned amid controversy in 1999.
The military shakeup is the third since Lugo took office. The former Catholic bishop was elected to a five-year term last year. His victory brought an end to six decades of one-party rule in Paraguay, but the honeymoon did not last long.
In April, Lugo admitted that he fathered a child while he was still a priest and that he may have fathered more. The revelation, which came as a shock to most, hurt his political image. Calls for his resignation began, and have continued as Lugo has struggled to push reforms through a majority-opposition legislature. | who was absent Thursday morning? | the President |
The director of Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday defended giving away an estimated $85 million in hurricane relief supplies, blaming Louisiana officials for turning down the stockpiles.
A New Orleans charity keeps goods in trash bags in an empty church. FEMA never told it about the free items.
"We still have quite a few left if Louisiana needs those," David Paulison said. "But we did find out, we did ask Louisiana, 'Do you want these?' They said, 'No, we don't need them.' So we offered them to the other states."
A CNN investigation revealed last week that FEMA gave away 121 truckloads of material the agency amassed after 2005's Hurricane Katrina. The material was declared surplus property and offered to federal and state agencies -- including Louisiana, where groups working to resettle hurricane victims say the supplies are still needed.
Paulison told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" his agency distributed more than 90,000 "living kits" to people in Louisiana whose homes were destroyed or damaged by Katrina. The kits included cleaning supplies, mops, brooms, pots and pans.
After CNN reported on the giveaway, Louisiana officials asked that the supplies be redirected to the state, which originally passed on them. John Medica, director of the Louisiana's Federal Property Assistance Agency, told CNN he was unaware Katrina victims still needed the items because no agency had contacted his office.
Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, an outspoken critic of FEMA's response to the hurricane, told CNN the supply giveaway was "just a shame." | how many living kits were distributed? | more than 90,000 |
The English word "translation" derives from the Latin translatio (which itself comes from trans- and from fero, the supine form of which is latum—together meaning "a carrying across" or "a bringing across"). The modern Romance languages use equivalents of the English term "translation" that are derived from that same Latin source or from the alternative Latin traducere ("to lead across" or "to bring across"). The Slavic and Germanic languages (except in the case of the Dutch equivalent, "vertaling"—a "re-language-ing") likewise use calques of these Latin sources.
Despite occasional theoretical diversity, the actual practice of translation has hardly changed since antiquity. Except for some extreme metaphrasers in the early Christian period and the Middle Ages, and adapters in various periods (especially pre-Classical Rome, and the 18th century), translators have generally shown prudent flexibility in seeking equivalents — "literal" where possible, paraphrastic where necessary — for the original meaning and other crucial "values" (e.g., style, verse form, concordance with musical accompaniment or, in films, with speech articulatory movements) as determined from context. | Does it matter in movies? | Yes |
Now comes the hard part for Maria Sharapova. Having reached the Australian Open final, she'll have to overcome longtime nemesis Serena Williams.
To utter that Sharapova is the underdog Saturday is like saying Roger Federer is a decent player. World No. 1 Williams leads the second-ranked Sharapova 16-2 in their rivalry -- but has won 15 matches in a row.
During that streak, she has conceded three sets to the Russian.
If that's not enough, Williams has never lost a semifinal or final in Melbourne, her record improving to 11-0 after topping fellow American Madison Keys 7-6 (5) 6-2 Thursday in the semifinals.
Sharapova, meanwhile, has failed to win a major outside Roland Garros in seven years.
But all the imposing statistics don't appear to be fazing the ever steely Sharapova, who last downed Williams at the year-end championships in 2004.
"I think my confidence should be pretty high going into a final of a grand slam no matter who I'm facing, and whether I've had a terrible record against someone, it doesn't matter," Sharapova, a 6-3 6-2 winner over compatriot Ekaterina Makarova Thursday, told reporters.
"I got there for a reason. I belong in that spot. I will do everything I can to get the title."
Some would say, too, that Sharapova has fate on her side.
She was almost knocked out in the second round, needing to save a pair of match points against qualifier Alexandra Panova. And only last year Li Na took advantage of her second chance in Melbourne, fending off a match point in the third round before going on to capture a second grand slam title a week later. | How many sets has she conceded? | Three |
Western European Summer Time (WEST) is a summer daylight saving time scheme, 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in:
Western European Summer Time is known in the countries concerned as:
The scheme runs from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October each year. At both the start and end of the schemes, clock changes take place at 01:00 UTC. During the winter, Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0) is used.
The start and end dates of the scheme are asymmetrical in terms of daylight hours: the vernal time of year with a similar amount of daylight to late October is mid-February, well before the start of summer time. The asymmetry reflects temperature more than the length of daylight.
Ireland observes Standard Time during the summer months and changes to UTC+0 in winter. As Ireland's winter time period begins on the last Sunday in October and finishes on the last Sunday in March, the result is the same as if it observed summer time.
The following countries and territories use Western European Summer Time during the summer, between 1:00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1:00 UTC on the last Sunday of October.
In Ireland, since the Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971, Ireland has used UTC+1 in summer (officially "standard time", , though usually called "summer time") and UTC+0 in winter (officially "winter time"). | is ireland the only country that uses this time? | In Ireland, only one listed |
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is an extended term for information communication technology (ICT) which stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.
The term "ICT" is also used to refer to the convergence of audio-visual and telephone networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system. There are large economic incentives (huge cost savings due to elimination of the telephone network) to merge the telephone network with the computer network system using a single unified system of cabling, signal distribution and management.
However, ICT has no universal definition, as "the concepts, methods and applications involved in ICT are constantly evolving on an almost daily basis." The broadness of ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form, e.g. personal computers, digital television, email, robots. For clarity, Zuppo provided an ICT hierarchy where all levels of the hierarchy "contain some degree of commonality in that they are related to technologies that facilitate the transfer of information and various types of electronically mediated communications". Skills Framework for the Information Age is one of many models for describing and managing competencies for ICT professionals for the 21st century. | What sorts of things does the broad description of ICT pertain to? | Any product that will involve information in a digital form. |
Iggy Azalea would love it if everyone channeled "Frozen" and just "let it go."
The Australian rapper has broken her silence about a supposed feud between herself and Nicki Minaj, rumors that were sparked after Minaj gave a curiously pointed acceptance speech at the BET Awards on Sunday.
The New York-bred MC made it clear that when "you hear Nicki Minaj spit, Nicki Minaj wrote it," leaving observers to assume that she was taking a dig at Azalea, who's been rumored to work with ghostwriters and was Minaj's competitor at the awards ceremony.
Nicki Minaj vs. Iggy Azalea: Where's the beef?
Although Minaj said during her acceptance speech that she wasn't giving "shade" -- aka, disrespect -- it nonetheless appeared that way to many.
With the Internet chomping down on the apparent beef, both Minaj and Azalea have tried to clear the air.
"The media puts words in my mouth all the time and this is no different. I will always take a stance on women writing b/c I believe in us!" Minaj tweeted on July 2. "I've congratulated Iggy on the success of 'Fancy,' publicly. She should be very proud of that. All the women nominated should b proud. ... That will never change my desire to motivate women to write. Our voices have to be heard. I hope I inspire up & coming females to do that."
Azalea initially remained silent on the subject, but by July 3 the rapper had grown tired of the commentary.
"I have to say the general explosion of pettiness online in the last few days is hard to ignore and honestly ... lame," Azalea wrote in a statement, as captured on her Instagram account. "If I had won the BET award that would've been great but it wasn't my year and I don't mind -- so you shouldn't either." | What did she break her quiet about? | a feud |
Anyone interested in world affairs, Chinese diplomacy and China's future should know more about Xi Jinping.
Xi (pronounced "shee"), China's vice president, will be visiting the United States this month for meetings at the White House in Washington and will travel to other cities.
"The visit is important to boost his stature at home -- here is the man the U.S. takes seriously, and he can deal with them on our behalf," says Anthony Saich, a China expert at the Harvard Kennedy School. "For the U.S., it provides an opportunity to introduce him to key U.S. politicians and the American public. The same approach was taken with Hu Jintao before he took over."
Xi, 58, is in line to be China's next paramount leader. He is expected to succeed Hu when his second term ends in autumn this year and could rule China for 10 years.
But who is Xi? Some key information about him:
• He comes from a clique known as "princelings," sons and daughters of revolutionary veterans. His father, Xi Zhongxun, was a revolutionary hero who was banished during the Cultural Revolution.
• When his father was in limbo, Xi spent time as a teenager doing manual labor in China's countryside and went on to become a local party chief.
• He holds chemical engineering and law degrees from the prestigious Tsinghua University, the alma mater of Hu and other senior leaders.
• He served in the People's Liberation Army as an officer in the General Office Department and assistant to the chief of the policy-making Central Military Commission. | what will this visit do for him? | boost his stature at home |
The children's Theater was actually an old mill building with cement walls, twisting passages and big staircases. One afternoon, my eight-year-old sister Brittany and I were with the drama group rehearsing A Little Princess, a children's play. "Good luck!" I whispered as Brittany adjusted her boarding school costume.
"Take your places for act one, please. Everyone, places for act one!" called the director. The lights went out and the rehearsal began. Halfway through the first act, Brittany finished her part and went backstage. She grabbed her script from the table and read along with the rehearsal that was still going on in front of the curtain. A small group of fellow actors joined her, and started practicing lines. Suddenly, something wet exploded on the back of Brittany's head! Turning around, she saw a tall girl with a beverage bottle in her hand. Sticky blue liquid slid down Brittany's face. The older girl laughed . Brittany glanced at her, expecting someone else to speak up and defend her. However, they all screamed with laughter and pointed mocking fingers at Brittany, who ran out of the make-up room in dismay.
Ten minutes later, Brittany met me backstage. "A big girl just sprayed me with this stuff and laughed at me," she said, trying to wipe the liquid out of her curly hair. "All the other girls laughed, too." I didn't even know the girl's name, and she was bullying my sister !
When we got home, we looked at the cast list and found that the girl's name was Jessica. Our mom e-mailed the director, who said she would talk to Jessica and arrange time for an apology right before the next rehearsal. Nobody really expected a heartfelt apology from Jessica but Brittany was prepared to forgive her.
Before the next rehearsal, the director met Brittany at the door and announced that we had a problem on our hands. "Jessica swears that she was never even near you yesterday," she said.
But Brittany knew the truth. As she glanced across the room full of young actors, she glimpsed Jessica sitting in a metal folding chair. For a split second, their eyes met. Jessica quickly turned away to stare in the opposite direction. For weeks afterwards, no matter how hard Brittany tried to talk to her, Jessica refused to look her way.
It was very difficult for Brittany to work with Jessica during every rehearsal , for three hours each week. But finally, we were ready to perform. There would be three performances over the course of the next weekend. Brittany and I were glad that the ordeal was almost over.
After the first show, Brittany and I each got a beautiful bouquet from our church's pastor and his wife. Jessica didn't get a single flower. The second night, we received flowers from our grandparents. Again, Jessica received nothing.
On the way home, Brittany spoke up. "Mommy", she said quietly from the back seat of the car, "I've been thinking, and I decided to buy some flowers for Jessica," Mom smiled in surprise and replied, "That would be very nice."
Before the last performance, Brittany met Jessica on the way to the theater. She handed the older girl a big bunch of yellow roses, bought with her own savings. "Great job with the show last night, Jessica. These are for you." Jessica was astonished. "For me?" she said. "These flowers are for me? Are you sure?" "Yes I want you to have them!" Brittany skipped towards the dressing room, leaving Jessica staring at her with a confused look on her face and a bouquet of beautiful flowers in her arms.
That night, Jessica finally received some flowers from her dad. She pulled out a spring of carnations and smiled shyly as she gave them to Brittany.
Maybe Jessica will never apologize to Brittany. Maybe she won't ever even admit her mistake. But she is just beginning to realize what wonderful things a person's love does in people like Brittany. | What color liquid was Brittany sprayed with? | blue |
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has made his proverbial bed. And, oh, is he lying in it now.
The ugly comments about blacks and Latinos attributed to him have hit struck another nerve -- this time with players, fans and most decent-thinking Americans.
NBA players protest racist talk attributed to L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling
The tape released a few days ago reportedly shows that the person identified as Sterling can profess his own kind of love for a woman who's black and Latina but refuses to "allow" her to befriend her own kind: blacks and Latinos.
Sterling allegedly says his girlfriend (whom he at one point on the tape calls "stupid") can meet with blacks and sleep with blacks but not take pictures with them (in this case former Lakers star turned entrepreneur Earvin "Magic" Johnson) or bring them to Clippers games.
Like some slave owners who kept their mixed-race female slaves in better living conditions and bestowed privileges upon them, Sterling can allegedly be heard telling a woman identified as V. Stiviano that he doesn't have a problem with her or her race but that she shouldn't fraternize with blacks and Latinos because it disturbs him.
He selected her. So that makes her "special." She's not really black.
It sounds like Sterling, who has been married for nearly 50 years, shared a rarely heard perspective that his lover/girlfriend/mistress can mitigate the "inferiority" (my term) of her racial mixture by spending more time with him. Oh, yeah, Sterling is white. | How long has he been married? | nearly 50 years |
Two of Moammar Gadhafi's sons, who had been reported captured over the weekend, were free early Tuesday as forces loyal to the embattled Libyan leader battled rebels trying to consolidate their hold on Tripoli.
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi showed up at the Rixos Hotel, one of the remaining strongholds of pro-Gadhafi forces, in a convoy of armored Land Cruisers. In a brief interview with CNN's Matthew Chance, he said his father and several of his sisters were safe in Tripoli, and that loyal troops had "broken the back" of the rebels who moved into the capital over the weekend.
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who is wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, had been reported captured on Sunday along with two of his brothers. Another of those siblings, Mohammed Gadhafi, was reported to have escaped Monday, according to the Libyan ambassador to the United States.
There was no immediate explanation from the National Transitional Council, the rebel leadership that had announced their capture Sunday.
The younger Gadhafi said news of his arrest had been a trick by the rebels, and that he had been traveling around Tripoli in his armored convoy the entire time. He said that government forces had lured the rebels into a trap in the capital, and that Gadhafi loyalists "have broken the spines of those rats and those gangsters."
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC's chief prosecutor, had said Sunday that he would seek Saif al-Islam Gadhafi's extradition following his capture. Asked about the warrant for his arrest, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi told reporters, "To hell with the ICC." | did he want to extradite Saif al-Islam? | Yes |
On Saturday Patrick woke up with a little shock, knowing that this was a special day. For a moment he couldn't think exactly why, and then, with an excited flutter of his stomach, he remembered. At ten o'clock today he was going to find out the final result of the programme called Super Brain. He got dressed more carefully than usual, went downstairs and turned on the TV. Quickly he switched channels. Cartoons, cartoons, advertisements, man talking, snow, snow... and still nothing at all on Channel 8. "Patrick, turn it off, darling, if you're going to watch." Judith walked past with the newspaper under her arm and her eyes half closed. She headed for the kitchen. Patrick turned off the TV and followed. "What's for breakfast, Mum?" "We will see," Judith said in a low voice, turning on the electric kettle . She looked sleepily at him and smiled. "You look nice, darling," She said. "You're all ready. But we can't go till eight-thirty at the earliest, you know. Nothing will be open till then." Patrick's stomach seemed to feel a little sick. "We aren't going out, are we?" He asked. Judith began to make the tea. "Don't say you've forgotten!" she said, "I promised you, last Saturday. Your new trainers, remember?" "Oh--oh, but I can't go out this morning, Mum. There's something I've got to watch on TV. At ten o'clock. I've got to! My trainers will be all right for another week." Patrick said with excitement, looking quite worried. Judith faced him, hands on hips, "Patrick," she said with great dislike, "it's all organized." | Did his mom agree with him? | no |
People in the United States love baseball. The best baseball players are stars. Great players are heroes. They are given a place in the baseball Hall of Fame. Roberto Clemente is in the Baseball Hall of Farm. He belongs there. For eight years in a row his batting average was over 300. He was batting champion four times. He was named most valuable player in 1966. He won the 1971 World Series for his team. His average in that series was 414.
But to many people Roberto was a hero not just for his baseball playing, but for his life. He spent it helping others and he died helping others.
He was born in Puerto Rico in 1934. His family was large. His parents worked hard to give their children the things they needed. He began to play baseball when he was young. He was so good that he was a star at the age of seventeen. At nineteen he joined a team in the United States. The next year he went to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and played in that team for eighteen years.
Roberto took pride in his career. He was not easy to give up. He went on with the game and played his best even when he was hurt and was in pain. He was proud of his game. He used to say: "For me, I am the best baseball player in the world." He meant that he believed in himself.
Roberto loved to help others. He found many ways to help people, both in the United States and in Puerto Rico. Later in 1972 there was an earthquake in Nicaragua. Many people were killed and a lot more were hurt. Many were homeless and hungry. Food and clothing were badly needed. Of course Roberto was one of the first to help. He formed a group to get the things that were needed. He was on the plane that was going to deliver them.
The plane crashed in the sea near Puerto Rico. Roberto was killed, but his life still shines like a light in people's hearts. | What did he do in his free time? | Helped people. |
The girl was scared. She had been lost in the woods for over an hour. Then she heard something howling in the distance. Finally, it was getting dark. It all made her more scared than she had ever been. The howling grew louder. Then the girl came into a small opening in the woods. And she saw the wolf! She was so scared she cried out, "Please don't eat me Mr. Wolf!" A grey wolf, with grey fur, black eyes, and white teeth looked at her. Then he let out a big, wolf laugh. "Haha, I am not going to eat you! I don't like to eat humans! They taste bad. Plus, I am full! Do you want some spaghetti? It's been cooking for days! I was going to make some salad but I am out. I'll go to the grocery store tomorrow, I haven't been there in months!" The girl was confused. A wolf who ate salad? But she was hungry. So she sat down and ate with the wolf. He was so pleased she ate with him he gave her a map. Then he showed her how to get out of the woods. Her mother would never believe her. | Where did they meet? | In a small opening in the woods |
Jewish organizations called for a Romanian official to resign and face a criminal investigation after he wore a Nazi uniform during a fashion show over the weekend.
Radu Mazare, the mayor of the town of Constanta, wore a Nazi uniform during a fashion show over the weekend.
Radu Mazare, the mayor of the town of Constanta, and his 15-year-old son "entered the stage marching the clearly identifiable Nazi 'goose step,'" the Center for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism in Romania said in a letter to the country's prosecutor general.
The organization's director, Marco Katz, said Mazare had broken Romanian law and encouraged his son to do the same, "educating him to treat the law with contempt."
Katz said Mazare was sending a message "that to wear Nazi uniforms and to march the Nazi steps is legal and 'in vogue' in Romania."
He urged the authorities and the head of Mazare's Social Democrat party to show that message "will be strongly countermanded."
Mazare, 41, said he had not noticed the Nazi swastika symbol on the uniform before he wore it, according to the Romanian Times newspaper.
"I checked it before I put it on but the swastika was very small and I didn't see it," he said. "I really liked the look of the uniform after seeing it in the Tom Cruise film 'Valkyrie.' I bought it from a costume hire shop in Germany."
A top Nazi hunter said Mazare should quit.
"The proper thing for you to do is to admit your mistake, apologize for it and resign your position," Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem wrote to Mazare. Zuroff sent CNN a copy of the letter. | of? | the town of Constanta |