claim stringlengths 34 331 | is_faithful bool 2 classes | filepath stringlengths 64 64 | id stringlengths 49 49 | text stringlengths 695 10.7k |
|---|---|---|---|---|
the breadwinner worked as a brick maker for just 25 piasters, the equivalent of a few cents. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/9094d2634295d9c2b82ed71850a514b27f0cd2e5.story | cnn-test-9094d2634295d9c2b82ed71850a514b27f0cd2e5 | (CNN)Every morning, Sissa Abu Dahou puts on traditional male dress, known as a jalabiya, and heads into the streets of the Egyptian city of Luxor for a day of hard work. But this man of the house is actually a woman. The grandmother of two has dressed as a man for 43 years to avoid oppression and eek out a living in the conservative Muslim state. "Why did you do this mother?" her daughter asked during a recorded interview with Egyptian television network CBC. "Your father died and I was six months pregnant with you." she replied. "None of my siblings helped me. I raised you and sent you to school. Without money I could not have gotten you an education." A widow at just 21, Dahou was forced to fend for herself in Egypt's patriarchal south, where decades ago it was unheard of for women to earn their own living. Even in recent years, women make up barely 24% of Egypt's workforce, according to the World Bank. "It is considered wrong that I dressed as a man but no one can judge. Not you or anyone else. Only God can judge me," Dahou said, "People talked but I said I decided to be a man so I can take care of my small daughter." The breadwinner worked as a brick maker for just 25 piasters, the equivalent of a few cents, until she saved up enough money to buy a shoeshine kit. She found a place for her wooden box, painted with red hearts and the Egyptian flag, alongside the all-male shoe shiners of her community. "If it wasn't for my mother, I would have been on the streets" Houda, her daughter, told TV host Mona al-Shazly through tears. "Honestly I would have been in the streets. I did not find a home except with my mother. And even today my children rely on her." The years of sun and sand weathered and darkened Dahou's face and left her with a voice so deep and raspy she can easily be mistaken for a man. Her only child, Houda, eventually married and had two children of her own. Through the years the one-time housewife dreamed of owning her own business one day, a small street stand to sell snacks and cigarettes. After her interview on CBC television, the governor of Luxor province offered Dahou a kiosk and a cash advance. The maverick had one requirement- she would only agree to meet with the governor in male attire. "Even if I die, I will not take it off," Dahou said as she pulled on the male jalabiya in front of a TV camera, "When I had to dress in a woman's jalabiya when I went to Cairo I felt suffocated. No, I thank God. I don't want anyone to look at me or look at my daughter." Now the 65-year-old who earned respect as a man has gained praise as a woman. Egypt's President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, crowned her as one of Egypt's ideal mothers in an official ceremony last month. "If I was really a man, I would not have done this," Dahou told her daughter, "I would have gotten remarried. I would have left you who knows where. You would have been treated without dignity or left homeless. Thank God I was able to protect you." |
more public safety officials throughout the route, a finish line area that prohibits large bags, national guard members in full uniform giving some sense of security. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/7ae16f8ac4a86a6de4669e130e068d9f7e492ddf.story | cnn-test-7ae16f8ac4a86a6de4669e130e068d9f7e492ddf | (CNN)I've been in disaster management long enough to know that there is really no one right way to mark the anniversary of a tragic event. As the Boston Marathon runners begin and, hopefully, finish their exhausting run Monday, the lingering memories of the 2013 marathon blasts will be seen and felt in all sorts of ways. More public safety officials throughout the route, a finish line area that prohibits large bags, National Guard members in full uniform giving some sense of security -- those are the most obvious, visible changes. And there are less obvious ones too. With the luxury of some time and healing, the city has moved on. And that is a blessing. In the midst of that weeklong tragedy -- the bombings, the manhunt, the lockdown and eventual capture or killing of the Tsarnaev brothers -- we thought we knew what was going on. But we were too much in the midst of our own situational awareness, the fog of war. Sometimes it takes years to determine what in fact occurred and to write a narrative that reflects a multitude of voices and opinions. That narrative is just forming, and it's worth going back to highlight some of the more strategic lessons that came out of that week. As a former homeland security adviser for Massachusetts, I was intimately involved with the marathon planning; as a commentator for CNN, I saw the story evolve during that week. Some of these lessons learned are informed by the luxury of time and hindsight, others by various after-action reports and assessments, and others by the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, in which a jury found him guilty of multiple counts. On Tuesday, the trial's sentencing phase will begin, determining whether he will receive the death penalty. In national security circles, there is often a debate about whether the U.S. judicial system is well equipped for terrorism trials. Terrorism, the argument goes, is different from traditional crimes, and our system of evidence and cross-examination and the promise of counsel are not appropriate to transnational threats. Even if this argument were valid in some context -- where terrorists were picked up on battlegrounds abroad and evidence against them might be difficult to obtain -- the Boston Marathon trial made clear that the system does work. What was amazing about a trial filled with so much emotion is that it was relatively unemotional. Prosecutors presented evidence. Defense attorneys challenged the witnesses. The defendant chose not to testify. A verdict was rendered. Its simplicity not only vindicated the capacity of our constitutional system to handle these cases, but also took the mythology (maybe even the romanticism) of terrorism out of the case. It rendered Tsarnaev a common criminal. And that was a statement worth making. Recent reports about the shootout in Watertown that Friday night in 2013 show a disorganized and often unnecessarily dangerous response during the manhunt. It is truly remarkable there were not more significant friendly fire casualties beyond the wounding of Massachusetts Transit Police Officer Richard Donohue as more and more police officials came to the town and failed to fall into place in what should ideally be a very delineated command structure. Maybe it was adrenaline, maybe it was just the nature of the weapons. What is clear -- in Watertown and in so many other police departments -- is that our police officers are not adequately trained for the kind of weapons that they have now. That is a dangerous gap, and too many police departments are failing to address it. We have a notion of "Boston Strong" coming from the attacks and the city's response. I never loved the term, mostly because it makes it seem that our ability to bounce back was because we have Puritan stock and a kick-ass attitude. That is only partially true. We risk believing that responses to tragedy are simply a matter of personal reflection and a "keep calm" persona. I have come to believe that what united us as a city was based on the competency of the response. The quick decisions to move runners off Boylston Street, the ability of police officers to seal the large crime zone and to utilize the military to do so, the pivot of public health officials from tending to blisters and dehydration to forming makeshift triage centers. It is worth remembering that not a single person of the hundreds who were transported to hospitals died; the three fatalities occurred at the bombing site only. One part of the response that doesn't get enough mention is the focus on family unification immediately after the attacks. Runners had no access to phones, and often had no identification. Family members of runners often didn't know where their loved ones were on the marathon route. First responders, in particular the Boston police and the Red Cross, focused on getting families back together again by moving runners and spectators to Commonwealth Avenue, a few blocks from the finish line. Once family members know that they are with loved ones, the trauma subsides. They often leave the scene, freeing up space and capacity so that public safety can focus on more immediate needs. Crisis planning must continue to focus on the one aspect that will matter most to those in a disaster: Is my family OK? Obviously, there is so much more to learn. Could the bombing have been avoided? What would have happened if the FBI had shared information it had on the Tsarnaev family with local police? What if family and friends had alerted authorities to the growing radicalization of the brothers? It's "woulda, coulda, shoulda" but still essential. One of the reasons it is crucial to go back and draw these lessons isn't simply for blame, but to get better for the next time. Analysis and criticism are necessary to make us stronger and more resilient. But do not believe that we are done learning. Looking back can be risky; it's often called the "blinding clarity of hindsight" because everything looks so obvious in the rearview mirror. But I have no doubt that at future anniversaries, what we know today will be altered and reformed and a new narrative might be written. And maybe the best way to remember today is to commit to a constant willingness to learn from this tragedy in all the years ahead. |
the high price of public shaming online. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/2beb3c90dd9c2fe8288f352b6b973b5a0b5dd0dc.story | cnn-test-2beb3c90dd9c2fe8288f352b6b973b5a0b5dd0dc | (CNN)ESPN's Britt McHenry this week found herself in the news, rather than reporting on it, after a video surfaced showing her berating and belittling an employee of a tow company in Arlington, Virginia. Among the highlights, as caught on tape and eventually uploaded to LiveLeak: "I'm on television and you're in a f**king trailer, honey," and "I wouldn't work at a scumbag place like this. Makes my skin crawl even being here." And, finally, "Lose some weight, baby girl." It's pretty cringe-worthy stuff that seems difficult, if not impossible, to defend. McHenry quickly issued an apology, blaming the incident on a moment of intense frustration but admitting her mistake and accepting responsibility. It was, however, too late: the #firebrittmchenry hashtag was already trending on Twitter, where she was called everything from classist, class-less, and "ugly on the inside" to a "sad, self-hating coward." ESPN, meanwhile, announced that McHenry would be suspended for a week. Certainly McHenry should have known better than to have used such words, even if that's what she was thinking, least of all because in our YouTube age, such missteps always come to light. But while McHenry's reaction could very well have been a result of an overblown sense of entitlement, evidence of a mean girl who never left high school, what's also troubling is how quickly and gleefully the rest of us issued blame on McHenry without fully knowing -- or, it seems, caring about -- the other side of the story. The video that was released -- by the tow company -- was heavily edited and included only McHenry's responses, not the comments of the employee who may have provoked her and contributed to an argument that clearly escalates as the video goes on. McHenry knew she was being taped; at one point, she looks directly at the camera. The employee even threatens to make the video public. Did McHenry keep going because she has that much of a self-destructive streak? Or because she truly could not help herself? Or was she confident that any video evidence would show that there were two people playing this particular game? How Britt McHenry could have responded These days, there's nothing we love more than an example of a celebrity fall from grace, whether it's Lindsay Lohan or Brian Williams or Britt McHenry, who was judged not on the facts but on what we take particular joy in believing: that the over-privileged and semi-famous do not necessarily deserve a fair trial. The high price of public shaming online Sure, McHenry probably feels entitled, but that's our doing, too. We're a society obsessed with putting celebrities on a pedestal -- celebrating them, compensating them. And yet when, in a moment of frustration and stress, McHenry lets the entitlement bestowed on her win out over taking a deep breath and walking away, we're right there to demand to know what gives her the nerve. You know what gives her the nerve? We do. (Be honest: When is the last time you had a warm and fuzzy experience at the tow lot?) But we're really no better than she is. The problem with social media, and our dependence on it, is that it allows people to present and receive whatever angle they want, biased or not, fair or not. It's the "power of the press" without the objectivity or accountability demanded of the actual press. And it has enabled a dangerous vigilantism that makes those who use that power no different from the ones they are supposedly rallying against. Think about it. Who was worse: McHenry or the people who made that video public, and who did so without owning up to their part in the conversation? Who is worse: Britt McHenry for childishly mocking a confrontational tow employee's bad teeth, or the Twitter masses who call for justice and "the return of class" -- who express views like, "Part of me feels bad for Britt McHenry. Poor thing actually believes she was hired for 'brains' and 'education'? Shouldn't they question whether, in fact, McHenry could have actually been standing up for herself? Sorry to break it to you, but these days, we're all bullies. At least Britt McHenry owns up to it. |
al qaeda took warren weinstein hostage. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/226f50e892a6cef2bb4402879bf7e398d06c98cf.story | cnn-test-226f50e892a6cef2bb4402879bf7e398d06c98cf | Washington (CNN)In 2011, al Qaeda took Warren Weinstein hostage. Then, about a year later, his family paid money to his captors, said a Pakistani source who was in regular contact with the kidnappers. It did not lead to the American aid worker's release, and he was inadvertently killed in an anti-terror strike in January, the White House announced Thursday. After the transfer of funds in 2012, the captors, who never referred to themselves as "al Qaeda," but instead as "Afghans," began demanding prisoners be released in exchange for Weinstein, most prominently Dr. Aafia Siddiqui of Pakistan, the source said. She has been described as the "poster girl" for Islamic jihad and is serving an 86-year sentence in the United States. The militants also wanted the release of local militants who hailed from the Pakistani province of Waziristan, along the Afghan border, the source said. The men on the other end of the phone spoke Pashto with an accent typical for the border region. And they were professional in their dealings, said the source, who noticed a marked change after the money was paid. The people who had originally talked to the source about Weinstein vanished and were replaced by new voices on the phone. The militants also connected themselves with other terror events. After ISIS beheaded American James Foley, Weinstein's Afghan captors told the source that "the Iraqis" were asking for the American and that they were preparing an "orange suit" for him -- a reference to the suits that victims have worn when ISIS militants murdered them. When the Taliban released U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a militant on the phone bragged to the source that he had been one of Bergdahl's kidnappers. They had said, at one point, that if they did kill Weinstein, they'd announce it in a big way, because he was too big a catch not to publicly celebrate. The captors had called the source daily since sometime in 2012, and the last time the source spoke with them, in early April, they said that Weinstein was still alive. In spite of a request for proof of life, the militants didn't give one. After that, the calls stopped. The source never had a number for the militants; they had always been the ones who called. The source declined to comment on the amount of money transferred to the captors, leaving the disclosure to Weinstein's family. Could Weinstein have been saved? Weinstein's family in Maryland was initially reluctant to take their case to Congress. Weinstein's wife, Elaine, and his two daughters worried that drawing attention to their loved one's plight -- especially media attention -- would make Weinstein, a government contractor working with USAID in Pakistan, a more valuable hostage to his al Qaeda captors. But the family switched course and went to their representatives in Congress in late 2013 after a video of Weinstein -- frail and apparently in declining health -- surfaced in which he said he felt "totally abandoned and forgotten" by his country. Will the drone debate return? More than a year later, that reluctance evolved into a close bond between the Weinsteins and the Maryland delegation of lawmakers and staff who pressed Weinstein's case with the Obama administration as well as Pakistan. The congressional offices helped the family navigate the maze of government agencies working to free their loved one, according to one of those lawmakers and a Senate aide. "We don't get choked up too often at work," Algene Sajery said as she held back tears. "But this is really hard." Sajery is a foreign policy adviser to Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, who worked closely on the case. After the White House announced that Weinstein had been accidentally killed in a January U.S. drone strike, the aide's first call was to Weinstein's daughters. "Myself and my colleague worked really closely with them, talked to them all the time ... they're just such good people," Sajery said of the family. "There's a personal connection there." Cardin and his staff had tracked the Weinstein case since news of his abduction surfaced in August 2011, but when the family reached out to get help pressing their case, Cardin's staff joined forces with Rep. John Delaney, the Weinsteins' congressman, and began setting up meetings for the family. Cardin's staff set up meetings for the senator and Weinstein's family with everyone from the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Pakistani ambassador in Washington. Cardin and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, wrote to President Barack Obama, calling on the U.S. to beef up efforts to secure Weinstein's release and dedicate more resources to the cause. And the staff and lawmakers helped the Weinsteins weave through the network of agencies -- from the FBI to the State Department and the White House -- working to bring Weinstein home. "We focused on making sure that the capabilities of the government was well coordinated," Delaney told CNN on Thursday. "The government is a bureaucracy, and you have to make sure that it's working." But for the Weinsteins and the families of other American hostages held by terror groups abroad, the government hasn't always worked well enough -- a frustration that was palpable to the staffers on Capitol Hill who worked to help them. Al Qaeda hostage Warren Weinstein killed "Unfortunately, the assistance we received from other elements of the U.S. Government was inconsistent and disappointing over the course of three and a half years," Elaine Weinstein said in a statement Thursday. "We hope that my husband's death and the others who have faced similar tragedies in recent months will finally prompt the U.S. Government to take its responsibilities seriously and establish a coordinated and consistent approach to supporting hostages and their families." It's a criticism that has resurfaced as the families of American hostages were killed abroad spoke up and voiced their frustrations with what they characterized as insufficient U.S. government efforts to bring their loved ones home. Delaney was "saddened, disappointed and outraged that our government was not able to bring Warren home," he said in a statement Thursday. And in an interview with CNN later in the day, he strayed away from blaming the Obama administration or people in various U.S. agencies, instead pointing the finger at a disjointed system. The Weinstein family's frustration with that system boiled over last summer when Bergdahl, the U.S. Army sergeant, was released by a Taliban-affiliated group in exchange for five Guantanamo Bay prisoners. The U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists appeared to have an exception. "It's one of those things where it's both there's some hope, but at the same time it caused them some great frustration," Delaney recalled, saying the family asked: "Why not Warren?" But as the State Department called the Bergdahl exchange a "unique situation," the Weinsteins' hopes were dashed. "That's when they asked us to really step up our efforts," Sajery said. "That's when they decided to really go public." Delaney introduced a resolution calling on the Obama administration to use all tools necessary to bring Weinstein home and make his return -- and that of other U.S. hostages abroad -- a top priority. Mikulski, Cardin and Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk of Illinois pushed a similar resolution in the Senate. And the Weinsteins took to the airwaves, with Alisa Weinstein appearing on CNN's "AC360" to make a public appeal for her father's release -- and for the U.S. government to do more to secure his freedom. "My father is just as deserving of freedom as Sgt. Bergdahl, as are all of the Americans who are being held abroad," she said on CNN last June. "You cannot distinguish between these hostages. ... They can't just pick and choose, decide that it works to get one person out and then leave everybody else there." White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Thursday said that "significant resources" were dedicated to try to free Weinstein and that "as painful as it is," the U.S policy of not negotiating with terrorists would remain in place, arguing that removing that policy could promote kidnappings abroad and put more Americans at risk. And State Department acting spokeswoman Marie Harf said many officials at the department were in touch with the Weinsteins throughout the process. While the U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists would remain in place, the State Department is reviewing how it works to secure the release of American hostages held by terrorists abroad, she said. The White House announced the review last fall, which Obama ordered last summer after terrorists killed or kidnapped Americans abroad. Speaking at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday, Obama reiterated that the White House will review what happened. "We all bleed when we lose an American life," he said. "We all grieve when any innocent life is taken. We don't take this work lightly." Obama made to sure to praise the intelligence community overall, noting that much of their accomplishments remain classified, while only their failures become public. "The world doesn't always see your successes -- the threats you prevent, or the terrorist attacks you thwart, or the lives that you save," Obama said. "It can be frustrating sometimes, but that's part of the function of our democracy. But I know what you do." But Delaney, the Weinsteins' congressman, is revving up to push for more reforms that will make government agencies more effective at finding and freeing American hostages held abroad. Delaney on Thursday called on the government to streamline the efforts of various agencies and countries in the region that help the U.S. find American hostages -- an effort he's been pushing in recent months. The tragedy of Weinstein's death could be just the momentum needed to spur those reforms. "I think that every single American wants any American held hostage returned," Delaney said. "There's tremendous support to do more." On Friday, Elaine Weinstein said in a statement that the family has "been moved by the tremendous outpouring of support from around the world." "We appreciate the sympathy and condolences we have received from those who knew the Warren we loved so much as well as those who did not," the statement said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of others who have been taken hostage around the world as they endure these terrible ordeals." CNN's Sophia Saifi reported from Islamabad, Pakistan; Jeremy Diamond reported and wrote from Washington; Saima Mohsin reported from Bangkok. CNN's Ben Brumfield contributed to this report. |
for koreans, drinking is considered a way to get to know what someone is really like. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/0c5ec67f7b1d7a2fdb0a3f3ffb8263d8d9ddf872.story | cnn-test-0c5ec67f7b1d7a2fdb0a3f3ffb8263d8d9ddf872 | (CNN)Most companies in South Korea have hoesik at least once a month and sometimes every week. Literally, this means dinner with co-workers. In practice, it means official eating/drinking fests involving multiple rounds of alcohol at multiple venues. For the foreign business traveler, using foreignness as an excuse to bow out of the action only goes so far. The pressure to participate is intense. Drinking etiquette is the first thing you teach foreign guests," says Bryan Do, a Korean-American director at the South Korean branch of a U.S. company. "It was shocking when I first arrived in Korea. "My boss was a graduate of Korea University [renowned for its hardy drinking culture] and at my first hoesik, we started out with everyone filling a beer glass with soju, and downing it on the spot. That was just the beginning." For Koreans, drinking is considered a way to get to know what someone is really like. "I didn't really like it in the beginning," says Charles Lee, a Korean-Canadian who came to Seoul to work for a South Korean company. "I was like, 'Why are you making me drink something when I don't want to?' But once I understood the meaning behind it, I appreciated it more. "There are just some things you can't say at work or talk about over lunch -- people who talk about work at lunch are losers. But when someone offers you a glass of soju, it's an invitation that means that they want to listen to you. "I thought Koreans were impersonal before I drank with them, so the whole context is important." Drinking is such a big part of Korean life that Seoul traffic is said to correspond with the city's drinking culture. Mondays are a big night for hoesik, so there are fewer cars during evening rush hour, as most office workers leave them at work so they can go drinking. Tuesdays are a rest day, while Wednesday and Thursday nights are also big nights for company drinking. Fridays have the worst evening traffic, as everyone is taking their cars home to use with their families over the weekend. So how do you avoid offending someone (worst of all, a superior or client) at a Korean drinking extravaganza? Follow these seven handy rules. Koreans always identify the "higher" person in the relationship, and defer to them accordingly. One of the first things Koreans often ask when meeting someone new is their age. Even someone just a year older is afforded a language of respect, though age is always superseded by a higher position. It's considered rude for anyone to have an empty glass. If a senior person is pouring -- this usually pertains to hard liquor only -- others shouldn't drink until someone has poured the senior a shot. After all glasses are full, everyone says "Gunbae!" and chugs -- usually "one-shotting" the entire glass in one go. While downing alcohol, you should turn your body away from senior figures so that your body visually blocks your drinking action from your senior. Always hold bottles or shot glasses with both hands. By raising your glass or pouring alcohol with one hand, you are establishing yourself as a senior person. If you're not, well, you've just breached protocol. It's always a good idea to find out people's drinking habits beforehand. It shouldn't be difficult to find out what people like to drink or how they behave when intoxicated. Hoesik usually involves changing venues for a different type of alcohol -- i.e., round one is dinner, accompanied by beer, round two is soju, round three is for whiskey, and so on. Be ready for each. Unless you have an airtight reason, refusing alcohol is considered a mood killer and deemed rude. Sorry, but "I don't like soju" doesn't qualify as a good reason not to punish your liver. Neither would "I've been on the wagon for three years." In fact, unless you're pregnant or already puking, what might be a "good reason" not to imbibe elsewhere often won't fly here. It's generally best to accept and discreetly get rid of unwanted alcohol (under the table, into your water cup, out the window) than to refuse it. One of the most popular venues in Korea for business drinking is the karaoke bar. Koreans love singing, as evidenced by the country's staggering number of karaoke bars, as well as the rush of audition programs on Korean television. Your companions won't rest until you sing. They'll coax, threaten, push and cajole until you finally take that mic. Be prepared to crack under the immense peer pressure. If you simply cannot take any more, you can call a black knight (male) or a black rose (female) to your rescue. This entails a person of your choosing drinking your glass for you, but it also means they get a wish. As in, you might soon wish you'd just taken that last shot as you're spelling your name out with your butt in front of your client. Bottoms up. Christopher Cha is a Korean-American writer based in Seoul. |
no charges were filed, there will be no travel ban. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/f6820d7e561d9c4d8331c206181a8f3b5362f069.story | cnn-test-f6820d7e561d9c4d8331c206181a8f3b5362f069 | (CNN)Three British citizens arrested in the United Arab Emirates after they were found plane spotting near Fujairah airport are to be released Monday, their lawyer, Nasser al-Hashem, tells CNN. The three have been in jail since February 22. "We made our defense, and the judge made the decision to drop the case," al-Hashem said. No charges were filed, there will be no travel ban, and the men will not face deportation, he said. Conrad Clitheroes, 54, and Gary Cooper, 45, were on a five-day visit to the UAE from Manchester when they were arrested. The third man, Neil Munro, is a British national who lives in the UAE. As a hobby, plane spotters view and photograph aircraft around the world. |
saudi arabia's actions are in defense of a retrogressive status quo order that is no longer tenable. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/294e2c8f96310edfbb7c95107d45ba84931bb550.story | cnn-test-294e2c8f96310edfbb7c95107d45ba84931bb550 | (CNN)Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have always been thorny, but rarely has the state of affairs been as venomous as it is today. Tehran and Riyadh each point to the other as the main reason for much of the turmoil in the Middle East. In its most recent incarnation, the Iranian-Saudi conflict by proxy has reached Yemen in a spiral that both sides portray as climatic. For Riyadh and its regional allies, the Saudi military intervention in Yemen -- "Operation Decisive Storm" -- is the moment the Sunni Arab nation finally woke up to repel the expansion of Shia-Iranian influence. For Tehran and its regional allies -- including the Houthi movement in Yemen -- Saudi Arabia's actions are in defense of a retrogressive status quo order that is no longer tenable. And yet both sides have good reasons to want to stop the Yemeni crisis from spiraling out of control and evolving into an unwinnable war. When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was elected in June 2013, he pledged to reach out to Riyadh. He was up front and called Tehran's steep deterioration of relations with the Saudis over the last decade as one of the principal burdens on Iranian foreign policy. From Lebanon and Afghanistan to Pakistan and the Gaza Strip, the Iranian-Saudi rivalry and conflict through proxy has been deep and costly. And yet despite Rouhani's open pledge, profound differences over Syria and Iraq in particular have kept Riyadh and Tehran apart. But if the questions of Syria and Iraq prevented a pause in hostilities, the Saudi military intervention in Yemen since late March has all but raised the stakes to unprecedentedly dangerous levels. Unlike in Syria and in Iraq, the Saudi military is now directly battling it out with Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. While Riyadh no doubt exaggerates Tehran's role in the Yemen crisis, its fingerprints are nonetheless evident. "Iran provides financial support, weapons, training and intelligence to Houthis," Gerald Feierstein, a U.S. State Department official and former Yemen ambassador, told a Congressional hearing last week. "We believe that Iran sees opportunities with the Houthis to expand its influence in Yemen and threaten Saudi and Gulf Arab interests." The Iranians find the charges biased and point to the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen as a much bigger case of meddling in a neighbor's affairs. In Iran, the cue came from the country's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been unusually blunt. He tweeted: "Despite disputes, the Saudis used to display composure [with] us but now inexperienced youngsters have come to power & replaced composure [with] barbarism." Three days after Khamenei's speech, Iran suspended religious pilgrimages to Mecca. This came as news broke about two Iranian teenage boys who had reportedly been sexually assaulted by the police while visiting Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, anti-Saudi protests have been staged in a number of Iranian cities. Khamenei's speech opened the floodgate of anti-Saudi statements. The voices of hardline figures in Tehran have been the most agitated. General Ahmad Purdastan, the commander of the Iranian ground forces, taunted the Saudis. "Beware of the day when firecrackers explode in Riyadh," Purdastan said, in a not-so-subtle warning. But it was not only the hawks that came out swinging against the Saudis. Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president and arguably Iran's most vocal advocate of better Iranian-Saudi relations. called Riyadh's military intervention a "strategic mistake" and urged for a political solution. Seeking a political solution is Iran's stated aim for the Yemeni crisis, but the prospects of such an effort succeeding are slim. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has provided a four-point plan: to get a ceasefire, to encourage the provision of humanitarian aid, to promote political dialogue among warring Yemeni parties, and to achieve the formation of an inclusive government. But the Iranian proposal also asks for an end to Saudi airstrikes. As Zarif put it, "Iran and Saudi Arabia need to talk, but we cannot talk to determine the future of Yemen." The Saudis have thus far ignored the Iranian proposal. Meanwhile, the Houthi leadership has welcomed the plan. As one of its leaders said, "In Iran's plan, unacceptable solutions do not exist." Not only do the Saudis not have any faith in any Iranian-drafted political package that is welcomed by the Houthis, but Riyadh believes that the international disposition favors it. Saudi Arabia was elated by the U.N. Security Council vote on 14 April that condemned the Houthi movement. Only Russia abstained. But a solution to the Yemeni crisis will not come from the U.N. The U.N. can provide a cover for Riyadh's military intervention, but it cannot secure it a military win. This leaves Riyadh with a fundamental question about how far it is willing to take its fight in Yemen. Saudi airstrikes alone will not finish off the Houthi movement and it allies in the Yemeni armed forces. It requires ground troops on a huge scale. Riyadh has tried hard to muster a military coalition that is willing to dispatch ground troops but its effort has so far been nothing short of a fiasco. The Pakistanis most famously turned down the Saudi request and let it be known that Yemen is a quagmire they can do without. Instead, Islamabad has asked Iran to push the Houthis for a political compromise that Riyadh can live with. The Turks were enthusiastic at first about stopping the Houthis -- but in his visit to Tehran last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear that he has prioritized Iranian-Turkish trade relations over rivalry in Yemen, and emphasized a political solution for the Yemeni conflict. The Egyptians and the Jordanians are still supportive of Saudi efforts and claim publicly to be open to the idea of deploying military forces to assist Riyadh in Yemen. But whether they will go through with it is another matter. Egypt has a long list of problems of its own, including a bloody counter-terrorism campaign in Sinai that it cannot afford to lose, but also an eastern border with lawless Libya that is increasingly a new front in Cairo's fight against jihadists. It is hard to see how Egyptian General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi can commit troops to a Yemeni campaign that is not a direct threat to Egypt's security. The same kind of domestic realities, including the threat from ISIS, will also prevent Jordan from any significant contribution to Saudi military efforts in Yemen. These hard realities leave Riyadh with two options. It can look for or even mediate a political solution that will invariably include the same Houthis that Riyadh is attacking today. Alternatively, given the absence of willing states to contribute ground troops, Riyadh will have to contemplate a full-scale invasion of Yemen. That is scenario that is very hard to contemplate. The Iranians too are faced with stark choices. It is beyond Tehran's ability to tame the Yemeni crisis. As tempting as it might be for Tehran to see the Saudis bleed in Yemen, the danger of this conflict further fuelling sectarian tensions in the Middle East will undermine broader regional Iranian interests. A political compromise that both Riyadh and Tehran and their respective Yemeni allies can live with seems to be the only option that is not cataclysmic. |
rebecca francis posed for a photo while lying next to a dead giraffe. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/3ecd3958c81a86decae0518b927e7c7b790c706e.story | cnn-test-3ecd3958c81a86decae0518b927e7c7b790c706e | (CNN)Five years ago, Rebecca Francis posed for a photo while lying next to a dead giraffe. This week, she got threatened for her action. The trouble started Monday, when comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted the photo with a question. "What must've happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal & then lie next to it smiling?" Gervais wrote. In the past three days, his tweet has been retweeted almost 30,000 times. A number of people insulted and threatened Francis in response to the giraffe photo and others featuring her. On the website rebeccafrancis.com, there are photos of Francis with other animals, including a lion, which other Twitterers responded to. Francis, who has appeared on the NBC Sports Network outdoor lifestyle show "Eye of the Hunter" and was the subject of an interview with Hunting Life in late March, responded in a statement to HuntingLife.com on Tuesday, which was posted on its Facebook page. The death came about, she said, because she was asked by others on an African hunt to "preserve" him for the local people. "(The locals) showed me this beautiful old bull giraffe that was wandering all alone. He had been kicked out of the herd by a younger and stronger bull. He was past his breeding years and very close to death," she said. "They asked me if I would preserve this giraffe by providing all the locals with food and other means of survival. ... I chose to honor his life by providing others with his uses and I do not regret it for one second. (The locals) did not waste a single part of him. I am grateful to be a part of something so good." According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, there are about 80,000 giraffes in Africa, a decline of 60,000 in the past 15 years. On a website called rebeccafrancis.com, where the photo is posted, Francis describes herself as a longtime outdoors enthusiast and a fan of bow-hunting. "I prefer bowhunting, and the animals I have taken with a bow include: a 10 1/2 ft. brown bear, black bear, shiras moose, alaskan moose, dall sheep, stone sheep, desert bighorn ram, rocky mountain bighorn ram, mule deer, whitetail deer, elk, mountain goat, antelope, arapawa ram, kudu, zebra, black wildebeest, giraffe, springbuck, blesbuck, lynx, badger, and squirrel," she writes. "I have also taken many of the same species and more with a rifle." She has achieved the "Full Curl of North American sheep" with a bow, according to the Hunting Life interview, and hopes to achieve the "Super 10." The latter, according to liveoutdoors.com, "entails the taking of one animal from the ten basic North American species: bears, cats, deer, elk, caribou, moose, bison/muskox, goat, antelope and sheep." Tom Opre, the producer and co-host of "Eye of the Hunter," says she won the first season of "Extreme Huntress," an online offshoot of "Eye," and co-hosted a handful of "Eye" episodes. The rebeccafrancis.com website was apparently last updated in 2013, though it makes mention of a 2015 TV series called "Sheep Shape" on the Sportsman Channel. CNN has reached out to Francis for comment. |
georgia southern university was in mourning after five nursing students died. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/eaeda26e3e617bffbbad6cbc3cdd325f13e4b586.story | cnn-test-eaeda26e3e617bffbbad6cbc3cdd325f13e4b586 | (CNN)Georgia Southern University was in mourning Thursday after five nursing students were killed the day before in a multivehicle wreck near Savannah. Caitlyn Baggett, Morgan Bass, Emily Clark, Abbie Deloach and Catherine (McKay) Pittman -- all juniors -- were killed in the Wednesday morning crash as they were traveling to a hospital in Savannah, according to the school website. Fellow nursing students Brittney McDaniel and Megan Richards were injured as was another person, who was not identified by the Georgia State Patrol. The young women were on their way to finish their first set of clinical rotations. "Today should have been a day of celebration for this bright group of students," at St. Joseph's/Candler hospital said in a Facebook posting. "It was their last day of clinical rotations ... in their first year of nursing school." Clinicals include hands-on instruction at a health care facility. A post commander for the Georgia State Patrol said a tractor-trailer smashed into an eastbound line of cars that had slowed for a prior accident on Interstate 16. "He came along from behind them and he just did not stop for those cars," Sgt. Chris Nease said. There were four passenger vehicles and three tractor-trailers involved in the 5:45 a.m. accident. The women who were killed were in two cars, a Toyota Corolla and a Ford Escape. One of their vehicles caught on fire, Nease said, but it will take an investigation to determine whether the women died on impact. CNN Savannah affiliate WTOC reported one witness tried to help. "Right about the time I got here, the car was just about catching on fire," Cayne Monroe told the station. "The car just burned up really quickly. And I run up there, but there was nothing anyone could do. I've never witnessed something like that in my life. It was pretty tragic." The state patrol said the truck driver is from Louisiana. The 55-year-old man had not been charged as of Thursday evening, Nease told CNN. "Every one of our students contributes in no small measure to the Eagle Nation," university President Brooks A. Keel said in a statement. "The loss of any student, especially in a tragic way, is particularly painful. Losing five students is almost incomprehensible." Georgia Southern flew flags at half-staff and counseling was offered to students. A campuswide vigil was held Thursday night. On the university's Twitter page, a tear was added to the profile logo of the eagle mascot. The school has a student body of about 20,000 and is in Statesboro, about 60 miles from Savannah. "You could tell that they really loved what they did," Sherry Danello, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer at St. Joseph's/Candler, said on the hospital's Facebook posting. "They didn't just go through the task, they really connected to the patients." Luke Bryan, a country music star and school alumnus, tweeted his condolences: "Praying for everyone at Georgia Southern and the families who lost loved ones." CNN's Matthew Stucker contributed to this report. |
but the brewery has moved on and the future is moving in. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/aeb705659acf5208ab69404e38dd2cfd1197ee1d.story | cnn-test-aeb705659acf5208ab69404e38dd2cfd1197ee1d | (CNN)It's the beer so good the Danes hate to see it leave, or so Carlsberg advertisements used to say. Now, Copenhagen residents can live in a new neighborhood set to emerge on the historic grounds of the famous beer-maker in the heart of Danish capital. The area in question -- aptly named Carlsberg City -- has been home to the famous Carlsberg brewery since 1847, and with it a big slice of Danish cultural history. But the brewery has moved on and the future is moving in. Amidst the district's historic treasure trove of protected architectural buildings will be some 600,000 square meters (6.4 million sq ft) of residential, business, sporting, cultural, and educational space. Prices range from just below Copenhagen's average $5,000 per square meter to about $12,000 -- well below other major European cities. Modeled after intimate medieval towns, Carlsberg City won "Best Master Plan" at the World Architecture Festival in 2009. The project has since attracted interest from all over the world. "Scandinavia has over the past years been attractive to foreign investors," said Claus Lonborg, CEO of Copenhagen Capacity, a non-profit with the aim of growing business in the Danish capital. He added that "given the number of infrastructure and construction developments taking place in the greater Copenhagen area now, we really see an increasing demand and interest." While the first apartments in Carlsberg City went up for sale in March, the area has been alive for years. Investors invited temporary renters into old buildings during the construction phase which began shortly after the 2008 financial crisis hit. The area has since been home to skateboarders, bikers, modern dancers, cafes, the national football team for homeless people and a climbing forest. And the head of Carlsberg City says this ploy has more than paid off. "The temporary activities have been keeping Carlsberg City on the landmap even in planning," said Jens Nyhus, CEO of CarlsbergByen (Carlsberg City). "When the financial crisis started (they) were a way to keep the building occupied and from running down. It kept the city alive and opened up." But just because new tenants have moved in doesn't mean it's brewing history will be gone completely. Carlsberg will remain very much inside Carlsberg City, making specialty beer and building a tourist center that is expected to attract half-a-million visitors per-year when it opens in 2017. "We call it Carlsberg brand and experience center," said Thomas Kjelfred, communications consultant at Visit Carlsberg. "(But) it's not a brand house, it's a brew house. Until six years ago, we brewed 200 million liters a beer (here)" "To a Dane, Carlsberg is more than a beer. It is art, it is science, it is culture." And soon, it will also be a city. |
the national transportation safety board tweeted a cessna 414. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/f9ff3271266864347d4c612ea485d3dd8fb63543.story | cnn-test-f9ff3271266864347d4c612ea485d3dd8fb63543 | (CNN)Seven people -- including Illinois State University associate men's basketball coach Torrey Ward and deputy athletic director Aaron Leetch -- died when their small plane crashed while heading back from the NCAA tournament final. The aircraft went down overnight Monday about 2 miles east of the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington, McLean County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Bill Tate said. That's about 5 miles from the campus of Illinois State, where Ward and Leetch both worked. It was not immediately known who else was on the aircraft, which the National Transportation Safety Board tweeted was a Cessna 414. The plane was coming back from the NCAA Final Four championship game in Indianapolis, according to Illinois State athletics spokesman John Twork. "The ISU community is reeling from the loss," Twork said. The last post from a Twitter account that purportedly belongs to Ward features pictures from Lucas Oil Stadium, where Duke beat Wisconsin in the title game. There's also a picture of a small plane with the words, "My ride to the game wasn't bad #indy2015f4." In a statement, Illinois State University President Larry Dietz remembered Ward and Leetch as "well-respected and much-loved colleagues in our athletics department" in the crash near Bloomington. "Words cannot fully express the grief that is felt in the wake of such a tragedy," Dietz said. "We move between shock and profound sadness." A standout player at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in his hometown between 1996 and 2000, Ward played professionally in China alongside Yao Ming before getting into coaching. He was part of the staffs at Jacksonsville State University, the University of Mississippi and, for one year, in China before coming to Illinois State as an assistant prior to the 2012 season. He was promoted to associate head coach in May 2014, according to his official bio. Coming from Arkansas State University, Leetch joined ISU in 2005 as an athletic director for development before assuming a number of other roles through 2011, his bio notes. Leetch left the Illinois school to serve as director of athletics at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, then came back in June 2013 as ISU's deputy director of athletics. He was in charge of the Redbirds' athletics communications and video production units, and had a hands-on role in its football, men's basketball, golf and baseball programs. Athletic Director Larry Lyons described Leetch as "a shining star in the business," while lauding Ward as "a talented coach and recruiter" with a big personality who was loved by fans. "There is no play in the playbook for times like these," Lyons said. "We will miss Aaron and Torrey deeply, and we will support their families in any way that we can." People we've lost in 2015 |
it was bound to be bigger than any previous year's acms. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/e555c895d39c273e797aeeac0abb5e5b4cdc6778.story | cnn-test-e555c895d39c273e797aeeac0abb5e5b4cdc6778 | (Billboard)Considering the Academy of Country Music Awards celebrated its 50th anniversary on Sunday night at the Dallas Cowboys stadium, it was bound to be bigger than any previous year's ACMs. Plus, as hosts Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan were quick to point out, everything is bigger in Texas. Billboard: 2015 ACM Awards: See All the Photos But bigger isn't always better. Here's our breakdown of the 10 best and 5 worst moments at the 2015 ACMs. The Best Eric Church & Keith Urban provide an opening wallop With a full stadium and millions of home viewers watching, two of country's leading men successfully lit the fuse for the 50th annual ACM Awards with a slick joint kickoff performance. Eric Church's "Pledge Allegiance To The Hag" was a fine throwback, but Keith Urban's powerhouse "Raise 'Em Up" lived up to its title -- and then some. Setting a Guinness World Record Not only was this the ACMs biggest audience ever, but the 2015 ACM Awards brought in the biggest audience for a live TV awards show ever. Now that's how you celebrate half a century. Reba McEntire demonstrates how it's done During a night that found a couple performers sounding a little weak in the vocal department, Reba McEntire showed the entire Cowboys stadium -- and many younger singers who don't have half her energy -- how it's done. Reba is eternal. Taylor Swift singing in the audience Whether it was during Eric Church or Martina McBride, T-Swift was heating up the audience by singing and swaying along to country staples. Taylor might have gone pop for "1989," but she was deep in the heart of Texas for this annual country extravaganza. Billboard: 2015 ACM Awards: And the Winners Are... Garth Brooks' All-American salute During Brooks' performance of "All-American Kid," the country giant welcomed a slew of U.S. military representatives into AT&T Stadium, in an emotional moment that put the red, white and blue front and center. Brooks ended the performance by saluting the U.S. armed forces "who are here and are all around the world for protecting our freedom," and also shouted out his home state of Oklahoma, who are grieving 20 years after the Oklahoma City bombing on Sunday. A truly classy moment from one of the best ever. Taylor Swift's mom makes an appearance Sure, Andrea Swift's presentation of a special award for her daughter came with a fun origin tale about the creation of "Love Story" and some lovely words about the 25-year-old superstar. But the sight of the elder Swift -- just days after Taylor confirmed that her mother had been diagnosed with cancer -- walking to the podium was more than enough to yield one of the night's most poignant moments. Christina Aguilera joins Rascal Flatts Aguilera is far from country, but with a voice as malleable as hers, she can pass for a song or two. After singing a bit of the tune she did while guesting on Nashville, Xtina joined longtime hitmakers Rascal Flatts for "Riot" from their recent album "Rewind." Aguilera and Gary LeVox trading vocals was the rare unexpected artist pairing that actually worked. Miranda Lambert domination In addition to kicking ass during her "Mama's Broken Heart"/"Little Red Wagon" medley, Lambert justly owned the night when it came to awards. If there's one thing the country community loves more than Miranda Lambert, it's giving Miranda Lambert awards. Billboard: Watch Little Big Town Bring Provocative 'Girl Crush' to ACMs Little Big Town don't back down Despite some mild controversy over their song "Girl Crush," Little Big Town brought the poignant ballad to the awards show, giving the ACMs one of its more melancholy moments. Jason Aldean comes on strong For a night featuring some shaky vocals, Aldean brought his silky yet powerful country croon to the ACMs during a massive medley. It's hard to see an audience get weak in the knees when you're watching at home, but it's fair to assume that's what happened during his performance. The Worst Tony Romo The Dallas Cowboys QB was understandably a little stiff on the mic (athletes usually aren't the most charismatic public speakers) but the whole gag with Shelton asking Romo to toss Bryan a pass went on waaaaay too long. On the plus side, Bryan caught the pass. On the other hand, there was a tired play on words about balls. The length Three hours for the 50th ACMs? Sure, why not. Three and a half hours? That's pushing it. They could have shaved off the last half hour by cutting a couple of the performers who only sang half a song, and shortened a few of the massive commercial breaks. All of the Milestone Awards Taylor Swift was given an extended honor at this year's ACM Awards, but some of the Milestone Awards -- especially those given to Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney and George Strait -- seemed rushed for the country giants they were saluting. It's understandable since 2015 is the 50th anniversary of the ACMs, but sometimes, less (recipients) is more. Steven Tyler's facial hair See link. Twitter calling out Taylor Swift Plenty of country fans went after T-Swizzle on Twitter, berating her for attending the ACMs after "abandoning" country music for pop. The truth is, Swift has just as many country classics under her belt as any other artist in her age range. She might have moved to pop, but don't underplay her importance to the genre that birthed her. ©2015 Billboard. All Rights Reserved. |
seven out of 10 doctors reported climate change is contributing to more health problems. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/f8a95a1d465d25f83f7f483c828bceafc4359547.story | cnn-test-f8a95a1d465d25f83f7f483c828bceafc4359547 | (CNN)Debates on climate change can break down fairly fast. There are those who believe that mankind's activities are changing the planet's climate, and those who don't. But a new way to talk about climate change is emerging, which shifts focus from impersonal discussions about greenhouse gas emissions and power plants to a very personal one: your health. It's easy to brush aside debates involving major international corporations, but who wouldn't stop to think -- and perhaps do something -- about their own health, or the health of their children? This new way of talking about climate change -- and linking it to public health issues -- was part of a roundtable discussion Tuesday at Howard University's College of Medicine. President Barack Obama joined U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy for a roundtable discussion on the topic as part of National Public Health Week. "I think we've always known -- or at least in the 20th century we've understood -- that environment has an impact on public health," the President told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta. "I remember when I first went to college in Los Angeles in 1979, the air was so bad that you couldn't go running outside," Obama said. "You'd have air quality alerts, and people who had respiratory problems or were vulnerable had to stay inside. We took action, and the air's a lot better." "There are a whole host of public health impacts that are going to hit home, so we've got to do better in protecting vulnerable Americans," Obama continued. "Ultimately, though, all of our families are going to be vulnerable. You can't cordon yourself off from air or climate." Murthy revealed to the group that asthma is a personal issue for him, as a favorite uncle died from a severe attack when he was younger. "It's also personal to me because I've cared for many patients over the years who have suffered from asthma and have seen firsthand how frightening it can be to suddenly be wheezing and fighting for every breath," Murthy said. "Asthma can be very difficult for patients, but also for their families. The impacts of climate change could make the situation worse." "This is not just a future threat -- this is a present threat," said Brian Deese, a senior adviser to the President. Deese cited a recent study by the American Thoracic Society that found seven out of 10 doctors reported climate change is contributing to more health problems among their patients. "The good news is that, in addition to having doctors and nurses, public health officials, schools of medicine joining together to raise awareness -- and to in some cases impact their practice -- they anticipate, for example, increased asthma instances, and plan ahead of time to deal with those," Obama told Gupta. "What we have is companies like Google and Microsoft that are going to take data we're releasing and start developing apps so that, potentially, individual families are going to be able to monitor the air quality in their communities in a real-time basis." "Communities can start planning for prevention and mitigation efforts more effectively, and hopefully the other thing that happens is that families and parents join with these doctors and nurses to start putting some pressure on elected officials to try to make something happen to reduce the impacts of climate change," said Obama. The impacts of climate change on health will depend on a multitude of factors, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. "These factors include the effectiveness of a community's public health and safety systems to address or prepare for the risk and the behavior, age, gender, and economic status of individuals affected," the EPA says on its website. "Impacts will likely vary by region, the sensitivity of populations, the extent and length of exposure to climate change impacts, and society's ability to adapt to change." The World Health Organization estimates climate change will cause an additional 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. "Most will likely perish from malaria, diarrhea, heat exposure and under-nutrition." "Around the world, variations in climate are affecting, in profoundly diverse ways, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink," writes Dr. Maria Neira, director of the WHO's public health and environment department. "We are losing our capacity to sustain human life in good health." "Consider air pollution, the single greatest environmental health risk we face. In 2012 alone, exposure to indoor and outdoor pollutants killed more than 7 million people -- one in eight deaths worldwide. Under-nutrition already accounts for 3 million deaths each year in the world's poorest regions. Rising temperatures and more variable rainfall patters are expected to reduce crop yields, further compromising food security. Floods are increasing in frequency and intensity, creating breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects. Mosquito-borne diseases, like malaria, are particularly sensitive to heat and humidity. What will happen if rising temperatures accelerate the lifecycle of the malaria parasite?" "Children and the elderly will be among the most vulnerable," writes Neira. "Areas with health infrastructure will be least able to cope. Developing countries will be hardest hit. The health gaps we have been trying hard to close may grow even wider." Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century, and is projected to rise an additional 2 degrees over the next hundred years, according to the EPA. "Small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather," the agency warns. "Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves." Still, there exists a sizable group of people who doubt climate change is happening. "Although climate scientists have been in the news describing this winter as a strong signal that global warming is producing extreme weather, Americans are no more likely today (55%) than in the past two years to believe the effects of global warming are occurring," according to a March Gallup poll. A 2013 TIME magazine article makes the case that medical professionals may be the best messengers for global warming. "Framing global warming as a public health issue rather than as an environmental or national security one produces the most emotionally compelling response among people, since it focuses on the immediate implications a warmer climate would have on people's lives," the article says. "This strategy also has the benefit of providing a sense of hope that the problems can be addressed and avoided, if action is taken early enough." The President said what happened with Los Angeles' air proved that point. "When the Clean Air Act was passed, not only was there a terrible smog in Los Angeles, it was true in most metropolitan areas across the country," Obama said. "The fact is that air quality has dramatically improved and it's been much cheaper than anybody expected, because technology advanced and people figured out how to do it. As a consequence, the American people are a lot healthier, in addition to being able to, you know, see the mountains in the background because it's not covered in smog." "We know how to do this," Obama said. "We just have to be bold and recognize and trust the kind of innovative spirit that the American people have always displayed." |
most disturbingly, nearly 40% of our country's prisoners are african-americans, who only make up 13% of the general population. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/daa7e67d12ba72cd573f0e484e8980f884f00177.story | cnn-test-daa7e67d12ba72cd573f0e484e8980f884f00177 | (CNN)Criminal justice reform is rapidly becoming one of the few bipartisan issues of our time. It's about time. America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with 5% of the world's population and 25% of its prisoners. Nearly 2½ million Americans are in prison. Over 65 million people, or 20% of the country, have criminal records. Most disturbingly, nearly 40% of our country's prisoners are African-Americans, who only make up 13% of the general population. It's time for policymakers to address this criminal justice crisis head on. We must change the dismal status quo. We must start by asking a simple question: Why are so many Americans criminals? Look no further than Washington, which has spent the past century devising the most complicated — and nonsensical — criminal code known to man. The federal criminal code includes over 4,500 laws and counting, not to mention government regulations for which there are criminal penalties. The list of federal crimes is so long, so broad and so vague that you and I likely commit three felonies every day, unwittingly breaking numerous federal laws as we go about our daily business. No wonder America's prison population is out of control. Americans aren't addicted to crime; our politicians are addicted to criminalizing things. Sadly, the criminalization of Americans also traps them in poverty. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, incarceration leads to reduced wages (11% drop), employment (nine weeks lost annually), and earnings overall (40% annually). Making matters worse, over half of new prisoners are at or below the poverty line and three-quarters of former prisoners are sent back to jail within five years of their release. The deck is stacked against my generation in particular. Young adults are 10% of the population yet comprise 29% of the country's arrests. Young African-Americans are particularly at risk: They're 15 times more likely to be in prison than whites. No wonder 18-to-29-year-olds have the lowest level of trust of any age group that our justice system treats everyone equally. Thankfully, there is a bipartisan consensus in Washington that something needs to be done, and fast. On the left, civil rights groups and their allies in Congress have been demanding that the criminal system be fixed for years. On the right, politicians from Paul Ryan to Rand Paul are now recommending the same thing. If politicians are serious, they should consider three specific areas for reform. 1. Reduce punishment for nonviolent crimes Politicians should consider reducing nonviolent offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, and end mandatory sentencing for nonviolent crimes. The federal government's unsuccessful war on drugs has led to unfair punishments for nonviolent drug offenders who made youthful mistakes. While some policies may have made sense in the 1980s and '90s, they now do more harm than good. Those involved in the buying and selling of small amounts of drugs shouldn't be subjected to years or decades in prison for their crimes. And more generally, judges should be free to tailor their rulings to the specific facts and details of the case -- and the person standing before them. 2. Rebuild respect between communities and police One-size-fits-all mandates and decrees from Washington -- from drug laws to civil asset forfeiture to no-knock warrants — create divisions between local law enforcement and the local communities they serve. Practices, policies and programs that create unnecessary distrust and unease should be eliminated. It's the same for police militarization, which has occurred in large part because Washington has supplied local agencies with weapons and tools that are inappropriate for use in local communities. Letting local communities set their own law enforcement policies will go a long way toward restoring the trust that right now seems almost nonexistent. 3. Give ex-nonviolent offenders a second chance Too many reformed convicts return to jail because they face insurmountable barriers that keep them from living a normal life. Legislators can begin fixing this by encouraging greater record-sealing and expungement for youthful, non violent offenders, thereby giving people who made mistakes a greater chance of finding work and rejoining society. Reducing licensing barriers and restoring voting rights for those with criminal backgrounds should also be considered. This list is only a starting point, yet our elected officials could — and should — quickly and easily take it up. In our era of hyperpartisanship, we should focus on those few things on which Americans agree. Fixing our country's broken criminal justice system should be at the top of the list. |
the page also features a still of jedi grand master yoda from "star wars: episode ii" | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/c218d0bbaf38d0e798af86f4c6357e7cf7fa5331.story | cnn-test-c218d0bbaf38d0e798af86f4c6357e7cf7fa5331 | (CNN)The Force is strong in Turkey -- or at least it appears to be at one university where thousands of students are petitioning for a Jedi temple to be built on campus. The petition, which was started by a student at Dokuz Eylul University in the western province of Izmir, so far has almost 5,500 signatures. "There are less and less Jedi left on the Earth," the petition says. It adds that "uneducated Padawan" -- the novice Jedis in George Lucas' "Star Wars" film franchise -- "are moving to the dark side. ... To find the balance in the Force, we want a Jedi temple." The page on Change.org also features a still of Jedi Grand Master Yoda from "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" teaching young Jedis how to use a light saber. "I'm signing because the nearest temple (is) billions of light years away," one supporter wrote on the petition page. Another supporter wrote: "We want freedom of worship. There are mosques everywhere, but no Jedi temple!" The petition was started by Akin Cagatay Caliskan, an 18-year-old computer science student from Ankara. Caliskan says he is surprised by the impact his petition has made: "I did not expect so many supporters. I thought maybe it might (have) 100." The satirical document does have a serious side. An online debate started last month when Mehmet Karaca, the rector of Istanbul Technical University, said he would build a mosque on campus if there was enough support. Karaca was referencing another petition asking a mosque be built on campus, which almost 200,000 students signed. Twenty thousand students at ITU also signed a separate petition in response, demanding a Buddhist temple on campus. "I cannot fulfill my religious needs" and cannot afford "to go to the nearest Buddhist temple 2,000 miles away," Utku Gurcag Boratac from Istanbul wrote as her reason for signing. "I want to fulfill my religious needs on campus," said another. This is just the latest flurry in a longstanding discussion around civil and religious freedoms in the secular republic. Turkey's secularist opposition has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party, the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party, of trying to instill conservative Islamic values into everyday life. Late last year, the head of Turkey's Islamic religious affairs authority, the Diyanet, announced plans to build 80 mosques on university campuses across the country. The Diyanet sparked discussion a few months earlier by opening a mosque on the campus of Erzurum Ataturk University in the eastern province of Erzurum, according to Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet. |
ashish thakkar built his vast business empire from scratch. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/6114adccf141e2f8acdf221b6ca7b42d4df24b1d.story | cnn-test-6114adccf141e2f8acdf221b6ca7b42d4df24b1d | (CNN)From banking to hospitality and real estate to e-commerce, Ashish Thakkar built his vast business empire from scratch. The Ugandan tycoon started small with a little computer shop that kept him busy after leaving school at 15. These days, his Mara Group spans over 20 countries and he's been called "Africa's youngest billionaire." In late 2013 Thakkar joined forces with the former boss of Barclays bank -- Bob Diamond -- to start an investment fund focused on Africa called Atlas Mara. The powerful duo raised $325 million through a share flotation - well above the $250 million target. But his vision spans beyond Africa, and Earth -- Thakkar was the first African to sign up for the opportunity to travel to space with Richard Branson's company, Virgin Galactic. CNN's Marketplace Africa spoke to Thakkar about African innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration. An edited version of the interview follows. CNN: You are active in several African countries. How is the current business landscape on the continent? Ashish Thakkar: Right now in the last 18 years I have been active on the continent, I have never seen so much global excitement around Africa that I've seen today. The climate and the ease of doing business on the continent has drastically improved. Unfortunately, it's one of those cases where perception is so different from reality. The reality on the ground is so much better than the perception. You've got to remember, as Africa, we are 54 countries. Some of the countries may be challenging and may have issues, but that cannot be an excuse to generalize the entire continent which is unfortunately something that happens quite a bit. CNN: Why do you think that entrepreneurs are so important to the future growth of the African continent? AT: We have a very young demographic -- 85% of our populations are under the age of 35. We have an extremely entrepreneurial society and culture. Yet, entrepreneurship is not in the education system. Where do our entrepreneurs go for advice and the right guidance? And it's something, frankly, that I am extremely passionate about, because the answer to unemployment is not foreign direct investment or large scale manufacturing plants, etc. It's going to be nurturing small and medium enterprises. So, it's great to see that there is a real entrepreneurial vibe coming into the system, and innovation is totally embedded into that. CNN: What is it about Africa that encourages innovation? AT: The biggest advantage we have at the moment, and you've seen this with mobile phone penetration, is that we don't have legacy systems. We didn't have landlines and we didn't need them. We didn't have to go through that hassle of creating landlines everywhere. We leapfrogged straight into mobile telephony. Today, we have over 750 million phones on the continent -- more than North America and Western Europe put together. We can actually leapfrog in so many different ways. Mobile money is another brilliant example. Mobile money was created in Kenya. The whole concept of having money on your phone, which is the best thing because it's secure, it's practical, made more sense. So, these kind of innovations, you're going to see a lot more of on the continent. I spend a lot of time with young entrepreneurs when I travel across the continent, and just seeing the kind of innovation and new ideas and concepts that they're coming up with is just so inspiring. CNN: What advice would you give to a young entrepreneur who's just starting out? AT: Entrepreneurship is a journey, it's not a destination. There are going to be so many challenges, you are going to get knocked down so many times, but you've got to get up, dust yourself off and get back to it. The persistence, the passion, and staying on course is very crucial. You'll be tempted to cut corners, you'll be tempted to do things that get you there quicker, but it never lasts. People say the youth are the leaders of tomorrow - we're not. We're the leaders of today, but it's our responsibility to take the seat at the table. CNN: What needs to be done most urgently to grow African economies? AT: Pan-African collaboration is extremely important. I think things like regional integration, inter-African trade does need to increase and is increasing. I mean, the progress in the East African community has been amazing. The manner in which they've harmonized so many different laws and policies and mindset and priorities within that region has been fantastic. So, we need to see more of that take place on the continent. The fact that we're 54 countries, yet we're a billion people is an advantage and a disadvantage. I think to strengthen our weakness in that collaboration across the continent is crucial. CNN: Are you confident about the future of the continent? AT: I am so bullish and so proud of how the continent has evolved in terms of leadership, the mindset of our leaders. It is so inspiring to see that. It's unfortunate that, you know, globally the highlight remains things like Ebola...The little issues that we do have are just magnified, yet on the broad scale we are doing so amazing. CNN: Is this Africa's century? AT: Mara's logo is the African Lion and our little joke, which a lot of people don't appreciate, hence I love it even more, is that the Indian Tiger and the Chinese Dragon have had their days and it's now the African Lion's turn. And it genuinely is -- this is our turn. More from Marketplace Africa Read this: Africa's green lean speed machines Read this: Family ties mixed with fresh fruit on island paradise Editor's Note: CNN Marketplace Africa covers the macro trends impacting the region and also focuses on the continent's key industries and corporations |
aaron hernandez is accused of killing a man, his future brother-in-law. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/b69f1601d82d5748518259a14cf164140bce7014.story | cnn-test-b69f1601d82d5748518259a14cf164140bce7014 | (CNN)If one is to believe lawyers for Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots star had no conceivable reason to kill a man who was his friend, his future brother-in-law and a reliable purveyor of the marijuana he chain-smoked. The jury in the high-profile trial resumed deliberations Wednesday after deliberating about an hour-and-a-half on Tuesday. The way defense lawyer James Sultan laid it out for the Massachusetts jury in closing arguments earlier Tuesday, why would a young man with a $40 million contract kill semi-pro player Odin Lloyd less than a mile from his own home? Why would Hernandez leave a marijuana blunt he shared with the victim at the murder scene? Did those who Sultan described as inept and biased police officers and prosecutors simply become fixated with the former tight end with a promising future in the National Football League? "If there was evidence of any reason Aaron would have had to murder Odin Loyd, don't you think you would have heard about it in nine weeks?" Sultan asked the jury. "You didn't hear it because it doesn't exist." The prosecution, however, portrayed Hernandez as cold, calculating and insecure -- a man who believed others should be grateful for his attention, one capable of murder for merely disrespecting him in the presence of others. Prosecutor William McCauley asked jurors: What was Hernandez talking about a day after Lloyd's bullet-riddled body was found at a Massachusetts industrial park in June 2013? " 'My endorsements are gone,' " Hernandez said, according to McCauley said. "He's not talking about Odin." The state's largely circumstantial case wrapped up after the testimony of more than 130 witnesses and the presentation of more than 400 pieces of evidence. On Monday, Hernandez's defense gave its side of the story in less than a day. In closing arguments the next day, Sultan sought to show that prosecutors failed to prove their contention that Hernandez orchestrated the killing without a reasonable doubt. Even if they found a strong likelihood that Hernandez was involved, the lawyer said, "That's not enough." Sultan tried to implicate Hernandez's co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, who have pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately. The defense described Wallace and Ortiz as a pair of drug dealers known to become crazed while on PCP, as men capable of killing someone in drug-induced fits of rage. They're accused of killing Lloyd. "Did he make all the right decisions? No," Sultan said of his client. "He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed something, committed by somebody he knew. He really didn't know what to do, so he put one foot in front of another. Keep in mind, he's not charged with accessory after the fact. ... He's charged with murder ... and that he did not do." The prosecution said Wallace and Ortiz were longtime friends of Hernandez, who had complete control of them. McCauley reminded the jury of testimony about Hernandez and his two friends sunbathing poolside hours after the slaying, drinking smoothies, and Hernandez at times leaving his then 8-month-old child with the two men. "These guys ... will do whatever he wants," the prosecutor said of Hernandez. The motive for the killing has never been clearly spelled out, but prosecutors said Lloyd might have done or said something that didn't sit well with Hernandez. They said Hernandez rounded up some friends and orchestrated the killing to settle the score. McCauley said a perceived slight that might seem insignificant to someone -- such as disrespect -- would easily offend Hernandez. Hernandez's fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, testified that Hernandez told her to dispose of a box from the couple's home that she said reeked of marijuana. She also said she didn't know what was in the box. The prosecution has said the murder weapon, which has not been recovered, was in the box. After concealing the box with her daughter's clothing, Jenkins said she threw it away in "a random dumpster" but could not remember where. Another piece of the state's case was grainy footage from Hernandez's home security system that prosecutors said showed him holding a .45-caliber handgun -- the same kind of gun police said was used to kill Lloyd. Hernandez could be seen on camera pulling into his driveway minutes after Lloyd was shot to death in the industrial park, which is about a mile from Hernandez's home. The video is time-stamped minutes after nearby workers described hearing noise they said sounded like fireworks -- the moment prosecutors say Lloyd was gunned down after getting out of a car Hernandez was driving. Hernandez's lawyers showed a different part of the video time-stamped a few seconds earlier with Hernandez holding what appeared to be a shiny object in one hand. They suggested it was an iPad. Evidence collected in Lloyd's death investigation led to two more murder charges against Hernandez in a separate case in Boston. Hernandez is also accused of shooting Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, allegedly over a spilled drink at a nightclub. That double shooting took place in July 2012, almost a year before Lloyd was killed. He will be tried in that case after the Lloyd trial. The jury has not heard about the double shooting. CNN's Susan Candiotti and Laura Dolan contributed to this report. |
zucker announced appointment on friday morning. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/f7259db46108eca8a8f2bcbffdcadaa834a73156.story | cnn-test-f7259db46108eca8a8f2bcbffdcadaa834a73156 | New York (CNN)Jake Tapper is the next anchor of CNN's Sunday morning political interview program "State of the Union." CNN announced Tapper's promotion on Friday morning. He will take over the program in June; he'll remain the channel's chief Washington correspondent and the anchor of the weekday afternoon newscast "The Lead." Among his peers, Tapper is seen as an authority on politics, something a program like "State of the Union" demands. He received rave reviews when he was the interim anchor of ABC's Sunday morning hour "This Week" in 2010. "I couldn't be more excited about this election season and the new platform I will have at CNN to cover it," Tapper said in a statement. "'State Of The Union' has a rich tradition and I hope to not only build on its history but expand the definition of what a Sunday show can be." Tapper thanked CNN Worldwide CEO Jeff Zucker "for the confidence he continues to show in me and to my colleagues at CNN for the incredible support on air and off that I've received since beginning this adventure two years ago." Tapper joined CNN from ABC in 2013 to anchor "The Lead." On "State of the Union," he succeeds Candy Crowley, who signed off the program last December. A rotation of fill-in hosts have been anchoring the program this year. Zucker announced Tapper's appointment on the network's editorial conference call on Friday morning. "I am thrilled that Jake will take on this additional role at such a pivotal time in the election cycle," Zucker said in a statement. "He has the perfect combination of skills that make him uniquely qualified -- he's a relentless reporter, a gifted storyteller, and a terrific interviewer who doesn't stop until he gets answers. We are lucky to have him on both 'The Lead' and 'State of the Union.'" Sunday political programs are among the most prestigious chairs at television networks. And changes are afoot: CBS is about to say goodbye to Bob Schieffer, the longtime moderator of "Face the Nation," who will be succeeded by John Dickerson in June. Additionally, NBC replaced David Gregory with Chuck Todd on the original Sunday public affairs program, "Meet the Press," last fall. With the anchor moves at the other networks, CNN may see an opportunity for what's known in the industry as share-shifting -- viewers switching networks and sampling the new anchors. With his new position, Tapper will become the second man to work weekdays and Sunday mornings. ABC's George Stephanopoulos is both a co-host of "Good Morning America" and the moderator of "This Week." There is precedent for this at CNN: for many years Wolf Blitzer anchored on the weekdays and led the Sunday morning program "Late Edition," the forerunner to "State of the Union." |
christie is trying to reverse a marijuana legalization laws. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/c2656c8e642de6555f69a09d0ba8316c36e0ff1a.story | cnn-test-c2656c8e642de6555f69a09d0ba8316c36e0ff1a | (CNN)It's only a few weeks since the first presidential announcement but already it feels like the campaign is in high gear. A number of politicians have officially announced their candidacies and the outline of their messages is starting to emerge. Hillary Clinton, who announced last week, even jumped into her black van for a road trip out to Iowa, including a pit stop at Chipotle along the way. Although the campaign has barely begun, most of the candidates -- and some probable candidates -- are already starting to make mistakes. Most of the mistakes will simply be blips along the way, but some of them might end up being more damaging if they feed into negative perceptions that voters have about the candidates. Here are a few notable mistakes in the past few weeks: Trying to separate himself from the pack, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called for substantial cuts to Social Security. He also promised to reverse the marijuana legalization laws that many states have been enacting in response to ballot initiatives. Both of these statements could come back to bite him, should he run for president. While Christie sees Social Security cuts as a way to "go big" in crafting a platform for a possible presidential run, as many Republicans have discovered Social Security is a very popular program and one that has strong support from Americans who are over 60 -- a big part of the electorate. On marijuana legalization, Christie inserted himself into an issue that has growing public support in red and blue states, especially with the younger and independent voters who Christie is promising to bring into a potential campaign. If Christie continues to veer right it will be harder to sell himself as the moderate in the race, and yet there is little chance that he will secure conservative votes over someone like Sen. Ted Cruz. Sen. Cruz impressed many observers when he announced his candidacy at Liberty University. But soon after he did something that took many people by surprise. The Texas senator, who has been one of the leading opponents of President Barack Obama's health care plan, acknowledged that he would be enrolling in the Affordable Care Act program since his wife was taking a leave of absence from her job to help with the campaign. It will be hard for him to live this one down. Since he wants to sell himself as the authentic conservative and the Republican who will give Democrats their biggest toughest fight, the fact that he decided to join a program he has railed against -- and tied up Congress with -- will raise questions about whether he is just another politician, and not a true zealot over Obamacare. The decision will offer plenty of fodder to Democrats who want to remind voters that Republicans rail against government even when they and their constituents depend on it. If anyone faces authenticity questions, it is Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. As the so-called "libertarian" in the campaign, Paul is aiming to attract younger Republicans who otherwise are not interested in the party. He is also hoping to bring back hard-core anti-government conservatives who believed that their party has moved too far away from their original goals. Paul has already struggled to justify some of his recent announcements, such as calling for a more aggressive war against ISIS and his statements against gay marriage. But after announcing his presidency, he brought himself more trouble with his aggressive interaction with "Today" host Savannah Guthrie. Paul became clearly aggravated with what the host and went so far as go explain how to conduct the interview. The interview focused most media attention on Paul's temper and his interactions with women rather than his message. In an interview on CNBC, he put his finger to his lips and said "Shhh, calm down" to anchor Kelly Evans. Both moments revealed a side of his character than until that moment had been somewhat off the radar. "You're coming off as pretty thin-skinned in your interviews," Megyn Kelly of Fox News told the senator. Thus far, Clinton has had a fairly smooth opening but during her first week on the trail, she did make a minor mistake. While speaking in Norwalk, Iowa, Clinton said during a discussion about immigration reform that "all my grandparents, you know, came over here" even though only one was really an immigrant. Her staff corrected the statements. "Her grandparents always spoke about the immigrant experience and, as a result she has always thought of them as immigrants. As has been correctly pointed out, while her grandfather was an immigrant, it appears that Hillary's grandmother was born shortly after her parents and siblings arrived in the U.S. in the early 1880s." Clinton's campaign video seemed pitch perfect to many observers, as she largely removed herself from the story line. Her drive to Iowa demonstrated that she isn't likely to repeat the kinds of mistakes that she made in 2008 when she failed to take the nuts and bolts of caucus organization seriously. Although the entire opening certainly had the flavor of a made for television event, it has generally been well-received. Clearly the biggest "gaffe" in the run-up to the Clinton campaign was in how she handled the story of her use of a private server rather than the State Department email system. Although she dragged out the campaign announcement, she certainly should have had more of the team in place given how much attention she would receive. At first she stumbled in her response, giving the accusers time to spin the story as reflecting a tendency to hide information and suggesting that she was still the untruthful person so many people suspected. Rubio announced his presidential run after the biggest announcement of them all: Hillary Clinton. Given that Rubio is not one of the most well-known of the candidates, outside of Republican political circles, his timing was not perfect. The announcement was overshadowed by Clinton's video and drive to Iowa. Coming on the heels of Obama's historic discussions with Cuba, the timing and sequence didn't help the senator to get the kind of initial buzz that he was hoping for. Although in the long run this won't make a difference, it might have been wise for him to delay the announcement and give his campaign some breathing space. All of these are still relatively small missteps in the very start of the campaign. And we know from social scientists than individual gaffes and mistakes don't really have a big impact on the outcome of these contests, so much as the "fundamentals" like the ability to raise campaign contributions and the endorsements from political elites. Still, mistakes can play a role in campaigns. While individual mistakes might be fleeting, collectively, these kinds of moments can shape how voters think of candidates when the time comes for a vote. |
tapper's promotion will take over the program in june. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/f7259db46108eca8a8f2bcbffdcadaa834a73156.story | cnn-test-f7259db46108eca8a8f2bcbffdcadaa834a73156 | New York (CNN)Jake Tapper is the next anchor of CNN's Sunday morning political interview program "State of the Union." CNN announced Tapper's promotion on Friday morning. He will take over the program in June; he'll remain the channel's chief Washington correspondent and the anchor of the weekday afternoon newscast "The Lead." Among his peers, Tapper is seen as an authority on politics, something a program like "State of the Union" demands. He received rave reviews when he was the interim anchor of ABC's Sunday morning hour "This Week" in 2010. "I couldn't be more excited about this election season and the new platform I will have at CNN to cover it," Tapper said in a statement. "'State Of The Union' has a rich tradition and I hope to not only build on its history but expand the definition of what a Sunday show can be." Tapper thanked CNN Worldwide CEO Jeff Zucker "for the confidence he continues to show in me and to my colleagues at CNN for the incredible support on air and off that I've received since beginning this adventure two years ago." Tapper joined CNN from ABC in 2013 to anchor "The Lead." On "State of the Union," he succeeds Candy Crowley, who signed off the program last December. A rotation of fill-in hosts have been anchoring the program this year. Zucker announced Tapper's appointment on the network's editorial conference call on Friday morning. "I am thrilled that Jake will take on this additional role at such a pivotal time in the election cycle," Zucker said in a statement. "He has the perfect combination of skills that make him uniquely qualified -- he's a relentless reporter, a gifted storyteller, and a terrific interviewer who doesn't stop until he gets answers. We are lucky to have him on both 'The Lead' and 'State of the Union.'" Sunday political programs are among the most prestigious chairs at television networks. And changes are afoot: CBS is about to say goodbye to Bob Schieffer, the longtime moderator of "Face the Nation," who will be succeeded by John Dickerson in June. Additionally, NBC replaced David Gregory with Chuck Todd on the original Sunday public affairs program, "Meet the Press," last fall. With the anchor moves at the other networks, CNN may see an opportunity for what's known in the industry as share-shifting -- viewers switching networks and sampling the new anchors. With his new position, Tapper will become the second man to work weekdays and Sunday mornings. ABC's George Stephanopoulos is both a co-host of "Good Morning America" and the moderator of "This Week." There is precedent for this at CNN: for many years Wolf Blitzer anchored on the weekdays and led the Sunday morning program "Late Edition," the forerunner to "State of the Union." |
an estimated 50,000 americans are newly infected with hiv every year. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/5d2e14129f00d0f1bd87cebd7c8d144939646a6c.story | cnn-test-5d2e14129f00d0f1bd87cebd7c8d144939646a6c | (CNN)If someone told you that your city had started a program providing clean needles to injecting drug users, would that make you want to start injecting drugs yourself? The answer, of course, would be no. Yet for decades, many have stood by the belief that such programs, known as syringe exchange or syringe services programs, promote and encourage drug use. Indeed, for Congress, it became the rationale behind a ban implemented in 1988 that prohibits the use of federal funds for these programs. But an overwhelming body of scientific evidence continues to show that this is simply not true. As a result of the recent spikes in HIV and hepatitis C infections among injecting drug users in rural Indiana and Kentucky, the controversial topic of syringe exchange programs has come to the fore again. And this time, scientific evidence and sound public health practices prevailed as both states authorized the implementation of syringe exchange programs to help curb the spread of these two blood-borne diseases that can be spread by contaminated syringes. This is a welcome step -- an estimated 50,000 Americans are newly infected with HIV every year, and some 8% are among injection drug users. Meanwhile, between 2006 and 2012, at least 30 states experienced increases in hepatitis C infection rates, with more than half reporting at least a 200% increase in acute infections among young adults. Overall, the prevalence of acute hepatitis C among people under 30 rose from 36% to 49% in six years. With such numbers in mind, the recent national spotlight on syringe services programs offers a critical opportunity for us to reignite a much-needed conversation. Dozens of studies have demonstrated conclusively how effective syringe services programs have been in the fight against HIV and hepatitis C transmission among injection drug users by reducing the reuse and sharing of dirty syringes -- without increasing drug use. In addition to helping curb the spread of these diseases by offering access to sterile syringes, these programs promote public health and safety by taking syringes off the streets and protecting law enforcement personnel and others, including children, from injuries. They also offer preventive health services, such as HIV testing and counseling, and form vital bridges to drug treatment, overdose prevention, housing and employment services. For states such as New York and Washington -- early adopters of these interventions -- syringe services programs have played a crucial role in driving down HIV transmission among injecting drug users. Washington was the first state in the United States to implement an syringe exchange when it opened a syringe services program in Tacoma in 1988. In New York City -- where half of all injection drug users were HIV positive in the 1980s -- state lawmakers authorized syringe exchange in 1992 to combat the disease, deeming it a "public health necessity." The expansion of these programs in New York was followed by a dramatic reduction in HIV incidence among injecting drug users, declining from 54% in 1990 to 13% in 2001; hepatitis C prevalence declined from 90% to 63% during this period. Because they work, syringe services programs will likely be an integral part of the statewide plans announced by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to reduce new HIV infections dramatically by 2020. Syringe exchange programs not only save lives, but also save millions of dollars in HIV treatment costs. While a clean syringe costs less than 50 cents, the average lifetime cost of treating an HIV-positive person is estimated to be around $425,000. As HIV-positive injection drug users report higher levels of unemployment and homelessness, public programs such as Medicaid will ultimately become responsible for the expensive treatment costs. For example, an analysis by Johns Hopkins University researchers showed that expanding the availability of syringe services programs to cover just 10% of all injections in the United States would prevent almost 500 new HIV infections among drug users per year. This translates into $193 million in savings reaped from averted treatment costs after an estimated $64 million investment. In other words, every dollar spent on syringe exchange saves between $3 and $7 in HIV treatment costs alone. Despite such evidence, syringe services programs are continually caught in the political crossfire. A longstanding ban, temporarily lifted in 2009 and then reinstated by Congress as part of 2010 budget negotiations, prevents state and local jurisdictions from spending their federal health dollars on these programs. Lifting the ban will not cost any additional money -- it simply allows states to spend their federally allocated dollars on syringe services programs, if they choose to do so. Why is this important? The federal government provides the majority of funding for all HIV prevention services. Without access to federal funding, more than 200 syringe service programs in 34 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are operating on shoestring budgets from local and state governments. This has forced syringe services programs across the country to cut staff, scale down services and potentially shut their doors for good. Meanwhile, the new HIV and hepatitis C infections among injecting drug users in primarily rural states, such as in Indiana or Kentucky, show that the landscape of injection drug use in America is rapidly changing. We have a chance right now to get ahead of the curve and avert a nationwide resurgence of HIV and hepatitis C infections through injection drug use. It is time for Congress to make sound and effective policy based upon facts rather than discredited assertions or unsubstantiated fears. |
siti was convicted of murdering her employer's wife in 1999. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/9ad57b575401b6a721c12bfb1bea507aa1e8a376.story | cnn-test-9ad57b575401b6a721c12bfb1bea507aa1e8a376 | (CNN)Saudi Arabia has executed a second Indonesian maid despite protests from Jakarta, which is itself facing fierce criticism for its failure to heed calls for clemency for a number of foreigners on death row. The Indonesian government summoned the Saudi ambassador to the foreign ministry on Thursday after learning that 37-year-old Karni Bt. Medi Tarsim had been beheaded, without official warning. Karni was sentenced to death in March 2013 for killing her employer's four-year-old child. She was the second Indonesian domestic worker executed by the Saudis this week, following the death of Siti Zaenab Bt. Duhri Rupa on Tuesday -- the execution again carried out with Indonesian officials receiving no prior warning. "That is our main issue. It's not that suddenly there was an execution. We didn't know when it would take place. Still, we took over a hundred steps to try to free (Siti) from execution," said Arrmanatha Nasir, spokesman for Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Siti, 47, was convicted of killing her employer's wife in 1999, but the death penalty was delayed until the youngest of the victim's sons reached puberty and was old enough to consider requesting her pardon. He didn't. Rights groups say they suspect Siti was mentally ill and cast aspersions on claims she had confessed to the crime. Amnesty International also said reports suggested she had been abused while working in the victim's home. "Imposing the death penalty and executing someone with a suspected mental illness smacks of a basic lack of humanity," said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International. In a statement, the Indonesian government said the protection of its citizens abroad was a "priority" and listed the attempts it had made to help Siti, including providing legal aid, writing letters to the Saudi King and "continuous efforts... to ask for forgiveness from the family." Indonesia said in many cases its efforts had worked. From July 2011 to the end of March this year, it said it had "successfully freed" 238 of its citizens from the death penalty. One of those was Satinah Binti Jumadi Ahmad who was sentenced to death in 2011 after reportedly admitting to killing her 70-year-old employer and stealing $10,000. Satinah claimed she acted in self-dense. Days before her scheduled execution, the Indonesian government stepped in with so-called "blood money" of 7 million Saudi riyals -- at the time worth about $1.8 million. Satinah was spared. Indonesia's efforts to save its own citizens does not sit well with advocates who are seeking the same mercy for foreigners languishing on Indonesia's death row. Two of the most high profile cases are Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Australians convicted of attempting to smuggle heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005. Friday marks the 10-year anniversary of their arrest with seven other people -- members of the so-called "Bali Nine" -- who are currently serving lengthy sentences in Indonesian prisons. As the alleged ringleaders, Chan and Sukumaran were sentenced to death, and denied clemency from President Jokowi Widodo, a decision being challenged through the country's Constitutional Court. "If Indonesia wants to effectively protect Indonesians from the death penalty abroad, Indonesia should also abolish the death penalty here," said Todung Mulya Lubis, one of the men's lawyers. Chan, 31, and Sukumaran -- who also turns 34 on Friday -- are currently incarcerated on Nusakambangan Island in preparation for their execution but no date has been set. Human Rights Watch called on Widodo to suspend all planned executions in Indonesia -- as the previous government did between 2008 and 2013. No executions were carried out in 2014, but earlier this year, six people -- including five foreigners -- faced the firing squad. "The executions of two Indonesian citizens in Saudi Arabia in a single week should be a turning point on the subject of death penalty in Indonesia," said Andreas Harsono, the Indonesian researcher for Human Rights Watch. "Please stop the lecture of sovereignty. It is so old fashioned." Before news of the second execution emerged on Thursday, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a press briefing to denounce the Saudi action. When asked whether Jakarta's complaints smacked of hypocrisy, given the country's refusal to spare foreigners on death row, spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said: "If you read our constitution, it is the job, the role of the government to protect its citizens, right? So it's not a double standard." "On the issue of death penalty, we can have a long debate whether it is against human rights or it is morally wrong or right. That's a whole other discussion, that's a whole other argument, but what we're saying now here is we are implementing our laws and we are adhering to our constitution that we have to protect our citizens abroad." |
many of us shed a few tears over the sabra recall. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/27f381941a5e308fd739150f15651b4d652cbe4d.story | cnn-test-27f381941a5e308fd739150f15651b4d652cbe4d | (CNN)The Question: How can I know if my food is safe to eat after a specific product recall? The Answer: Many of us shed a few tears over the recent Sabra hummus recall (even though we are perfectly capable of making our own at home), but that sadness quickly transformed into anxiety when we looked inside our refrigerators and saw the potentially tainted culprit sitting there on the shelf. To assuage any fears, we asked John Swartzberg, M.D., a clinical professor at the University of California at Berkeley, to walk us through the process of determining if our favorite dip was still safe to eat. Related: Amy's Kitchen Recalls More Than 70,000 Cases Of Food Due To Fear Of Listeria Contamination The first step, according to Swartzberg, is to go to the Food and Drug Administration's website and find the official report for the recalled product you're worried about. Each report will list recalled items with their product codes, which are typically categorized by the Universal Product Code (the number adjacent to the barcode) or the Stock Keeping Unit (a specific number that would only be valid at the store where the product is being sold). They will also include the recalled products' use-by dates, and the geographical areas affected. "The recall is not based on the use-by dates, though," said Swartzberg. "If the product is within the use-by date, it should still be recalled. This makes sense, because the product was contaminated prior to purchase and no matter how 'fresh' the product is, it still may be contaminated." After cross-checking these details, you should have a strong sense of whether your food product is safe to eat or needs to be trashed right away. But as far as avoiding potential problems before learning such details about a food recall, the consumer is at an automatic disadvantage. Related: 14 Habits Of People With A Healthy Relationship To Food "There's nothing the consumer can do prior to learning about the recall," said Dr. Swartzberg. "Discarding or returning the product to the store is all that can be done." In the case of this specific hummus recall, while there was no evidence that it caused any consumer illness, the product's routine sample last month revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. Consuming such bacteria can lead to listeriosis, a serious infection, and Dr. Swartzberg recommends that anyone who has consumed a listeria-laden food should let their physician know as soon as possible. "Listeria survives well at cool temperatures," he said. "Most bacteria and fungi do not -- that's why we refrigerate. Healthy people are at low risk for disease, but it can happen. Those at greatest risk for disease are the elderly, immunocompromised and pregnant." To learn more about the best food safety practices, visit UC Berkeley's Wellness website. Related: 8 Things Nutrition Experts Wish You Would Stop Saying About Food |
it took nine hours monday for crews to remove enough debris to discover the death toll on angeline road. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/408e1c4d0d4e925ae536f2be0d712d015b7dd067.story | cnn-test-408e1c4d0d4e925ae536f2be0d712d015b7dd067 | (CNN)A couple in their 20s, who led a youth ministry, and their baby boy were driving underneath a highway overpass in Bonney Lake, a Seattle suburb, when other motorists heard the crackle of a pending collapse. Concrete from a construction project crashed onto the family's car, killing Josh and Vanessa Ellis and their 8-month-old son, Hudson, authorities said. "The damage was so severe it was impossible to tell how many victims were in the vehicle. The only thing we had was we could tell there was one victim," said Officer Todd Green of Bonney Lake Police Department, according to CNN affiliate KOMO. It took nine hours Monday for crews to remove enough debris to discover the death toll on Angeline Road underneath State Route 410, authorities said. Authorities continued their investigation Tuesday, but initial findings were that there was an ongoing construction project on the highway and a side jersey barrier "came loose and fell onto the roadway," Green told the station. "When it fell off the overpass, it landed square on the roof of the vehicle," Green added. Josh and Vanessa Ellis were youth pastors at the EastPointe Foursquare Church in Puyallup, near Bonney Lake, the church said. The couple earlier wrote a short autobiography on the church website: "We love to laugh. We are passionate about seeing young people discover the love and grace that Jesus abundantly pours out on them. "We get really excited about good coffee, quality time with friends and Seattle welcoming an NBA basketball team back to our city," the couple wrote. "We love drive-in movies, frozen yogurt, dates to IKEA and trips to the beach." Lead Pastor James Ludlow said his church was reeling. "We are stunned! Shocked! Wounded, broken and dismayed. But we know one thing for sure ... they are in glory in the loving arms of our King Jesus!" Ludlow said on the church's Facebook page. Motorist Dawn Nelson was driving behind the Ellis' vehicle. "I was just a second or two behind him," Nelson told KOMO. "I could hear the three crunch sounds and then it just came down." Neighbors recounted a violent collapse. "I thought a semi had come down the guardrail here in front," neighbor Katie Vance told the station. She felt the crash inside her home. "It was a metal sound and a very heavy sound ... it was through your feet - like a guttural. It shook the whole house," she told the affiliate. CNN's Amanda Watts contributed to this story. |
hamilton took first place on front row on the last lap. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/f498f51ddd0e54c611a87935d637ca89eca8466f.story | cnn-test-f498f51ddd0e54c611a87935d637ca89eca8466f | (CNN)Mercedes driver and F1 championship leader Lewis Hamilton stole pole position for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix from teammate and fierce rival Nico Rosberg in dramatic fashion. Hamilton took first place on the front row on the last lap, beating Rosberg by a slim four hundredths of a second margin. Frenemies The two former friends have enjoyed, or rather endured, a heated rivalry since falling out last season and Rosberg's annoyance at Hamilton's last ditch success was obvious. The German appeared upset as he left his car and refused to shake Hamilton's hand. He did, however, find time to congratulate fellow German driver Sebastian Vettel, who will start in third after the Ferrari driver surprisingly won the Malaysian GP two weeks ago. "I don't actually mind him having more (poles)," a nonplussed Hamilton told AFP after the session. "He can have the trophy for most poles. As long as I have the trophy for winning -- that's all that matters. Ultimately qualifying is not the end of the world." "I am frustrated" In the post qualifying press conference Rosberg appeared more magnanimous, but still shocked by Hamilton's last minute burst of speed. "I was frustrated, I am frustrated, yeah," Rosberg admitted. "It's so close and of course I would have wanted to have pole today... It's just four hundredths and that makes it even more annoying because it's just very, very close. A lap is never 100 per cent perfect and four hundredths is really the blink of an eye." Kimi Raikkonen will join his teammate Vettel on the second row and will be looking for a repeat of Ferrari's performance in Malaysia, which shocked Mercedes and Hamilton in particular. Huge support But Hamilton has been quickest all weekend and will enjoy a surprising amount of support in Shanghai, a track the British driver has always thrived on. "Have you seen the banners that I have here?" he told the assembled press when asked why he liked racing at Shanghai so much. "The support I have here's pretty unreal. I just like the track. I guess it just naturally suits my driving style." |
while the blondes had fun with it, drake appeared less than enthused. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/6215980e28590ee4b7700a24a671c1e9f8fe925a.story | cnn-test-6215980e28590ee4b7700a24a671c1e9f8fe925a | (CNN)Madonna has a thing for making out with fellow performers on stage. First it was Britney and Christina, and now rapper Drake has been on the receiving end of a little lip action from Madge. While the blondes had fun with it, Drake appeared less than enthused after Madonna's prolonged smooch onstage at the Coachella music festival in California on Sunday. In an update Monday from "champagnepapi" himself on Instagram, the rapper clarified his reaction: "Don't misinterpret my shock!! I got to make out with the queen Madonna and I feel 100 about that forever. Thank you @Madonna." After the kiss, though, he seemed dazed. "Oh, s***. What the f*** just happened?" he asked moments later from the stage. It all went down after Drake performed "Madonna," a song named for the megastar off his new mixtape "If You're Reading This It's Too Late," according to Billboard. He welcomed Madonna onstage as a special guest to perform a few songs. While wrapping up "Human Nature," the Material Girl, 56, planted one on the seated Drake, 28, who began to flail his arms after a while in an apparent attempt to escape. His sour face after the encounter led many to speculate that he didn't enjoy the kiss. Of course, Drake and Madonna's little makeout sesh got the web talking and meme-ing: "So @Drake proves that kissing @Madonna is about as ghastly as I always imagined it would be," wrote former CNN personality Piers Morgan. "Grandma: give Nana some suga Drake: no no noooooo!!!" wrote another Tweeter. |
twenty-three people had minor injuries after flight 162 landed at 8:05 p.m.. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/5d7f597a39bfa89405ece41bb00caa9e18c2e7c5.story | cnn-test-5d7f597a39bfa89405ece41bb00caa9e18c2e7c5 | (CNN) An Asiana Airlines plane overran a runway while landing at Japan's Hiroshima Airport on Tuesday evening, prompting the airport to temporarily close, the Japanese transportation ministry said. Twenty-three people had minor injuries after Flight 162 landed at 8:05 p.m., according to fire department and ministry sources. There were 73 passengers and eight crew members -- including five cabin attendants, two pilots and a maintenance official -- aboard when the flight took off from South Korea's Incheon International Airport at 6:34 p.m. local time, Asiana said in a statement late Tuesday. Authorities are investigating initial reports that the Airbus A320 may have hit an object on the runway during landing, causing damage to the rear of its body and the cover of the engine on the left wing, the ministry said. Video of the scene showed the aircraft's body turned around, with its nose pointing in the direction that the plane had come from. Hiroshima Airport closed because of the incident Tuesday night while fire department officials worked at the scene. Airbus, the plane's manufacturer, is aware of the incident and is working to gather more information, Airbus regional media relations manager Marie Caujolle said. |
he's accused of orchestrating the shooting death of lloyd. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/1b40c2a855f5d709ac8b48b5f7cc4e8871eeb0ba.story | cnn-test-1b40c2a855f5d709ac8b48b5f7cc4e8871eeb0ba | (CNN)Did former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez kill Odin Lloyd, a man who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee and might have become his future brother-in-law? Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder and two weapons charges, setting the stage for his trial in Fall River, Massachusetts, that began in January. He's accused of orchestrating the shooting death of Lloyd. During closing arguments, Prosecutor William McCauley called the football player the trigger man. Jury deliberations began Tuesday. Even after closing arguments, the motive is still unclear but not legally required to get a conviction. Still, jurors like to know a motive. Evidence collected in Lloyd's death led to two more murder charges against Hernandez in a separate case in Boston. It's scheduled to begin in May, but officials say it will be pushed back. The trial has involved a complicated cast of characters, including two sisters who played important roles in the lives of Hernandez and Lloyd Here is a primer: Inside the case against Aaron Hernandez Odin Lloyd Odin Lloyd was a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits. He was found dead on June 17, 2013, less than a mile from Hernandez's home in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. He had been shot six times. Lloyd met Hernandez while dating Shaneah Jenkins, the sister of Hernandez's fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins. Hernandez is charged with orchestrating Lloyd's execution. Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado were killed outside a Boston nightclub on July 16, 2012. Earlier that evening, prosecutors say, de Abreu accidentally bumped into Hernandez, spilling a drink. Later that night, Hernandez was driving an SUV and allegedly pulled up alongside de Abreu and Furtado's car near the nightclub and fired a .38-caliber revolver at them, killing them. The trial judge in the Lloyd case barred any mention of the Boston deaths, ruling it would be prejudicial. Alexander Bradley Authorities say Alexander Bradley is Hernandez's former right hand man who was allegedly with Hernandez on the night de Abreu and Furtado were killed. He is not facing any charges in that case, but he is jailed on unrelated charges. He is suing Hernandez for allegedly shooting him in the face in February 2013, four months before Lloyd's death. Bradley says Hernandez accused him of "disrespecting him" over a cell phone left in a Miami strip club. Bradley testified against Hernandez in Lloyd's death, telling jurors he saw Hernandez handling what appeared to be a Glock semi-automatic pistol during a trip to Florida. The trial barred him from saying he accused Hernandez of shooting him in the face. Carlos Ortiz Carlos Ortiz, nicknamed Charlie Boy, is also charged with murder in the death of Lloyd and has pleaded not guilty. A law enforcement source says he cooperated with police and described the night of Lloyd's death. Ernest Wallace Ernest Wallace is also charged with murder in the death of Lloyd. He has pleaded not guilty and is being tried separately. Prosecutors call him the "muscle man" for Hernandez. They say he was in the car with Hernandez, Lloyd, and Carlos Ortiz an hour before the car is seen on video heading to the industrial park where Lloyd was killed. Shayanna Jenkins Shayanna Jenkins is Hernandez's fiancee and the mother of their daughter. She is charged with perjury, accused of lying to a grand jury about guns in their home. She has pleaded not guilty. Her sister, Shaneah, was dating Lloyd at the time of his death. Shaneah Jenkins Shaneah Jenkins is the girlfriend of Lloyd. Her sister is Hernandez's fiancée. In court, the two sisters sit on opposite sides, Shayanna with the defense and Shaneah with the prosecution. Tanya Cummings-Singleton Tanya Cummings-Singleton is a cousin of Hernandez. In her garage, police found the SUV allegedly driven by Hernandez and linked to the 2012 Boston double homicide. She was twice charged with contempt of court for refusing to testify before two grand juries despite immunity offers. She has pleaded guilty to obstruction in the Lloyd case. She is also suffering from cancer. Thaddeus Singleton Thaddeus Singleton, husband of Tanya Cummings-Singleton, was killed in a car accident after Lloyd's slaying. Police say his speeding car went airborne and crashed. A source says police planned to interview him about his relationship with Hernandez. Shaquilla Thibou Shaquilla Thibou is the sister of Lloyd. At trial she testified she saw her brother get into a car with three men who turned out to be Hernandez, Wallace and Ortiz before he was killed. Prosecutors say she received a final text from her brother that night minutes before he was shot telling her he was with "Nfl," adding, "just so u know." The judge has ruled that text inadmissible at trial, saying there is no proof it meant Lloyd feared for his life. Terri Hernandez Terri Hernandez is Aaron Hernandez's mother. She is a school secretary. Dennis Hernandez Dennis Hernandez was Aaron Hernandez's father. He had a close relationship with his sons and was deeply involved in their sports training. He died unexpectedly after hernia surgery when Hernandez was 16. DJ Hernandez DJ Hernandez is Aaron Hernandez's older brother. He was a star high school athlete. He also was a standout athlete at the University of Connecticut and is an assistant coach at the University of Iowa. The prosecution District Attorney Samuel Sutter, who had been leading the prosecution against Hernandez, is the newly elected mayor of Fall River, where the trial is being held. Assistant District Attorneys William McCauley and Patrick Bomberg are on the team leading the case against Hernandez. "Probably my career ... will be defined more by this case than all of the other things we've done," Sutter has said. The defense Attorneys James Sultan, Michael Fee and Charles Rankin are handling Hernandez's defense. In opening statements, Fee said Hernandez "was planning a future, not a murder." Before trial, Rankin said he is confident Hernandez will be exonerated. |
the rabbis were part of a ring accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars to orchestrate the kidnappings of jewish husbands to persuade them through torture involving electric cattle prods and screwdrivers to grant "gets," a document that jewish law requires a husband to present to his wife in order to be issued a divorce. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/5d5accf41a7be71fcfdbac21ee9746f33bd93604.story | cnn-test-5d5accf41a7be71fcfdbac21ee9746f33bd93604 | (CNN)Three Orthodox rabbis accused of planning and participating in the torture of Jewish men who refused to divorce their wives were convicted Tuesday of conspiring to commit kidnapping. Rabbis Mendel Epstein, 69; Jay Goldstein, 60; and Binyamin Stimler, 39, were found guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping in New Jersey federal court. Goldstein and Stimler were also convicted on charges of attempted kidnapping. The rabbis were part of a ring accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars to orchestrate the kidnappings of Jewish husbands to persuade them through torture involving electric cattle prods and screwdrivers to grant "gets," a document that Jewish law requires a husband to present to his wife in order to be issued a divorce, court papers said. The men were arrested in October 2013 following an FBI sting operation that ended with Goldstein, Stimler and six other men with ski masks, surgical blades and a 30-foot nylon rope in a warehouse in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Lawyers for each of the rabbis told CNN they plan on appealing the convictions. "Rabbi Epstein still firmly believes that he was protecting women's rights and was protecting the agunahs and the families," said Robert Stahl, the lawyer for Epstein. Without a "get," a woman is considered an "agunah," a chained woman bound to a man no matter how over the marriage might actually be. An Orthodox Jewish woman who does not receive a get runs the risk of being shunned in her community and labeled an adulteress if she moves on. Any future children she has are considered bastards permitted to marry only other bastards. "I don't think this was a traditional kidnapping," said Aidan O'Connor, the lawyer for Goldstein. Goldstein is a sofer, a Jewish scribe who transcribes the Torah and writes other religious documents, including divorce papers, his attorney said. Nathan Lewin, the attorney for Stimler, called the verdict "shocking" and said his client was only present at the warehouse as a witness for the ceremonial signing of the document. "There's no evidence that Rabbi Stimler knew what was going to be going on," Lewin said. "Of course we're going to take all the steps to correct this injustice." Epstein's son, David Epstein, was acquitted on Tuesday of kidnapping charges. The jury returned not guilty verdicts on the attempted kidnapping charges against Mendel Epstein, and on more severe kidnapping charges against the three rabbis. Nine other individuals previously pled guilty in the case to conspiracy charges, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office in New Jersey. Henry Mazurek, the lawyer for David Epstein, said his client was grateful for the jury's decision but called his client's acquittals "bittersweet" next to his father's conviction. "He really believes that (his father) was a champion of someone who was voiceless in his religion," Mazurek said. Sentencing is set for July 15. The men face up to life in prison. |
water temperatures warmer than they should be. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/643687da07b74eb7ad7b3f0ee8cdf303a7d9e404.story | cnn-test-643687da07b74eb7ad7b3f0ee8cdf303a7d9e404 | (CNN)Marine life seen swimming in unusual places. Water temperatures warmer than they should be. No snow where there should be feet of it. Some scientists are saying "The Blob" could be playing a factor. As monikers go, the blob doesn't sound very worrisome. But if you're a salmon fisherman in Washington or a California resident hoping to see the end of the drought, the blob could become an enemy of top concern. A University of Washington climate scientist and his associates have been studying the blob -- a huge area of unusually warm water in the Pacific -- for months. "In the fall of 2013 and early 2014 we started to notice a big, almost circular mass of water that just didn't cool off as much as it usually did, so by spring of 2014 it was warmer than we had ever seen it for that time of year," said Nick Bond, who works at the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean in Seattle, Washington. Bond, who gave the blob its name, said it was 1,000 miles long, 1,000 miles wide and 100 yards deep in 2014 -- and it has grown this year. And it's not the only one; there are two others that emerged in 2014, Nate Mantua of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center -- part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) -- said in September. One is in the Bering Sea and the other is off the coast of Southern California. Waters in the blob have been warmer by about 5.5 degrees, a significant rise. A recent set of studies published in Geophysical Research Letters by Bond's group points to a high-pressure ridge over the West Coast that has calmed ocean waters for two winters. The result was more heat staying in the water because storms didn't kick up and help cool the surface water. "The warmer temperatures we see now aren't due to more heating, but less winter cooling," a recent news release from the University of Washington announcing the studies said. The university has worked with NOAA on the research. According to New Scientist magazine, some marine species are exploring the warmer waters, leading some fish to migrate hundreds of miles from their normal habitats. The magazine cited fisherman and wildlife officials in Alaska who have seen skipjack tuna and thresher sharks. Pygmy killer whales have been spotted off the coast of Washington. "I've never seen some of these species here before," Bill Peterson of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle told the New Scientist. And he was worried about the adult Pacific salmon that normally feed on tiny crustaceans and other food sources that are not around in the same numbers off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. "They had nothing to eat," he told the magazine of last year's conditions in the blob. It appears that food has moved to cooler waters. In January, Bond told the Chinook Observer in Long Beach, Washington, that his concern is for very young salmon that are still upstream. "In particular, the year class that would be going to sea next spring," he said. NOAA said in a news release last month that California sea lion pups have been found extremely underweight and dying, possibly because of an ocean with fewer things to eat. "We have been seeing emaciated or dehydrated sea lions show up on beaches," Justin Greenman, assistant stranding coordinator for NOAA on the West Coast, told CNN. The numbers are overwhelming facilities that care for the stranded sea lions, most of whom are pups, local officials said. Record number of sea lion pups stranded in California The blob also is affecting life on land. For the past few years, that persistent ridge of high pressure has kept the West dry and warm, exacerbating the drought in California, Oregon and Washington. One of the primary problems is small snow accumulation in the mountains. In early April, officials measured the snowpack in California at a time when it should be the highest. This year it hit an all-time low at 1.4 inches of water content in the snow, just 5% of the annual average. The previous low for April 1 had been 25% in 1977 and 2014. (pdf) Gov. Jerry Brown, in announcing water restrictions the same day, stood on a patch of dry, brown grass in the Sierra Nevada mountains that is usually blanketed by up to 5 feet of snow. Low California snowpack ushers mandatory water restrictions The heat has caused rising air, which can lead to conditions that produce more thunderstorms. With warmer air in California, areas at higher elevations that usually see snow have seen rain instead. That has led to the lower snowpack and helped compound the drought. The storms also mean more lightning and more wildfires. And the blob affects people on other areas of the country. That same persistent jet stream pattern has allowed cold air to spill into much of the Midwest and East. This stuck pattern has led to the record cold and snow in the Midwest and Northeast over the last two seasons with record snows we have seen in Boston and Detroit, and the most snow we have seen in decades for cities such as Chicago. The weather pattern is confusing the experts. There are some that think it might be a Pacific Decadal Oscillation, a long-lasting El Nino-like pattern in the Pacific. Dennis Hartmann, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Washington, doesn't believe the answer is clear. "I don't think we know ..." he said in the university's news release. "Maybe it will go away quickly and we won't talk about it anymore, but if it persists for a third year, then we'll know something really unusual is going on." CNN's Sam Stringer contributed to this report. |
the women will be under police surveillance for a year and have their movements restricted. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/78b863c5bce9b8fc0d743bc396b0308a9eb17a77.story | cnn-test-78b863c5bce9b8fc0d743bc396b0308a9eb17a77 | Beijing (CNN)Chinese police on Monday released five female activists who were detained last month, family and friends of the women tell CNN. Wei Tingting, Wang Man, Zheng Churan, Li Tingting and Wu Rongrong were freed. The women will be under police surveillance for a year and have their movements and activities restricted, attorney Liang Xiaojun said. Police can summon the women for questioning at any time, he added. The five members of China's Women's Rights Action Group were detained in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou a few days before events planned for International Women's Day on March 8. The United States had urged China to free them, and the international community harshly criticized keeping the women in custody. "Each and every one of us has the right to speak out against sexual harassment and the many other injustices that millions of women and girls suffer around the world," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement Friday. "We strongly support the efforts of these activists to make progress on these challenging issues, and we believe that Chinese authorities should also support them, not silence them." "Free the five" became a Twitter hashtag. Wang Qiushi, a lawyer for Wei, said police recommended last week that prosecutors press charges of "assembling a crowd to disturb public order." |
being a global leader in imprisoning the highest number of human beings - its own citizens. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/999c2445df28282e5217336c306e7a1e293bbd1d.story | cnn-test-999c2445df28282e5217336c306e7a1e293bbd1d | (CNN)Here's a pop quiz: What's better for America's status in the world? A) Being a global leader in innovation, job creation, education, social mobility, literacy and child health. B) Being a global leader in imprisoning the highest number of human beings -- its own citizens. It's an obvious answer. But the unfortunate reality is that the United States leads the world in incarceration, not education. Our country has shown time and again a nearly unlimited capacity to reinvent itself and move closer to the ideals on which our society was founded. Yet we have emerged as the global leader in a race that no nation would want to even be a contender in. While our country is home to only 5% of the world's total population, we are home to 25% of the world's prison population. And nearly three fourths of this population is comprised of nonviolent offenders. At the same time, we are losing the increasingly important race to educate our citizens. Where the United States was once ranked first in high school graduation rates, we now rank 23rd in high school completion among 30 of the world's most developed nations. Where we were once the driving force of the global economy, we now rank fifth in the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index. Key metrics in this index include the quality of a nation's primary, secondary and higher education systems. Instead of empowering the next generation of American artists, scientists, engineers, inventors and entrepreneurs, our country has chosen to devote a massive amount of resources, time and energy to locking people up. By imprisoning individuals, we also burden families, condemn generations to cycles of poverty and breed economic inequality. In the 1980s and 1990s, Congress chose to adopt laws that drastically changed the way our country handled nonviolent drug crimes. Since then, the American prison population has increased by nearly 800% over the past 30 years. Over 2.7 million American children have a parent who is incarcerated, and 10 million American children at one time in their lives had a parent in prison. Americans of color are disproportionately burdened by the failures of our justice system. There are more black men in prison or under state or federal supervision today than there were enslaved in 1850. And while African Americans make up only 13.6% of the total U.S. population, they make up a whopping 40.2% of the U.S. prison population. The sad reality is that in today's America, prisoners are never truly free from the burdens of our criminal justice system. A report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research concluded that once released from prison, an ex-offender's prospects for obtaining employment statistically decreased. The report estimated that, in 2008, ex-offender employment losses cost our economy the equivalent of 1.5 to 1.7 million workers, or $57 billion to $65 billion annually. It's therefore no surprise that American prisons have become revolving doors, with two out of every three former offenders rearrested within three years of their release. The millions of wives, sisters, husbands, daughters, sons, friends and the people they love who have been incarcerated are burdened disproportionately by an outdated, archaic and overly punitive system. These millions of Americans have the ability to advance our country, our economy and our global competitiveness. They just need to be given the opportunity. American taxpayers aren't free from the burdens of our criminal justice system either. In addition to the billions lost in jobs and productivity, Americans spend over a quarter of a trillion dollars each year to keep millions of nonviolent, low-level offenders imprisoned. The price tag is truly staggering. It costs on average $29,000 a year to house one inmate at the federal level. In contrast, our country spends a little over $11,000 dollars a year per elementary school student. Imagine the good we could do if we could re-appropriate those tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money and economic losses away from imprisonment and toward investment in our children's future. We must start to deconstruct the perverse order of our priorities and build a more just society by making needed changes at the federal level. We must examine the way our criminal justice system works -- or rather, doesn't -- and take the necessary actions to change it. Fortunately, there is already a road map for successfully addressing these problems. We know reforms will work because they already are in states across the country. In both blue states such as New Jersey and Connecticut and red states such as Texas and Georgia, state and local officials have developed and instituted sweeping reforms that have reduced their prison populations and crime rates. They are succeeding by focusing their efforts on areas where the criminal justice system most needs reform. We should follow their example on the federal level. First, we should pass legislation that promotes "front end" reform, such as ending mandatory minimum sentencing for nonviolent drug crimes. Secondly, we should pass legislation that enacts "behind the wall" reforms, such as eradicating the cruel practice of juvenile solitary confinement. And thirdly, we should enact "back end" reforms with legislation that assists in sealing criminal records and removing barriers to employment for nonviolent formerly incarcerated people. As we reform our criminal justice system at the national level, we will alter the cycles of poverty and recidivism that plague too many American communities and start to develop virtuous cycles of excellence. Instead of putting resources toward juvenile detention centers, we can put resources toward afterschool programs that have proved to help keep kids out of the juvenile justice system and in school. Instead of losing valuable contributors to our economy because of their status as ex-offenders, we can develop apprenticeship and training programs that improve worker skills and jump start our economy. Instead of asking American taxpayers to pay for warehousing people who commit nonviolent, low-level, crimes, we can make sure that students of all ages have access to math, science and technology schooling that will help them excel in the workforce and as productive members of society. Let's devote our resources to empowering our citizens, not imprisoning them. Let's choose to raise our expectations as a country, and let's meet them. |
the first ingredient in those caramel delites is sugar, but they also contain corn syrup, for a total of 6 grams of sugar per cookie. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/b88fbf448a4eb96612c76787f7601e4d4f8573c6.story | cnn-test-b88fbf448a4eb96612c76787f7601e4d4f8573c6 | (CNN)For many Girl Scout troops it is officially cookie season. I feel guilty saying no to the sweet, enthusiastic girls standing outside my grocery store who use their smiles and newly practiced sales pitches to ask how many boxes I'd like to order. After all, the organization is dedicated to enhancing girls' character and confidence. And I have to admit that the Samoas (now called "Caramel deLites") are delicious. But as a physician who is passionate about health promotion, I politely tell the girls, "No, thanks." I am concerned that every bite and every sale not only delivers an unhealthy snack, but also a dangerous nutrition message. And I'm surprised that more doctors aren't speaking up about this. Thin Mints, the most popular cookie, contains refined white flour, sugar, partially hydrogenated oil, and high fructose corn syrup. The first ingredient in those caramel deLites is sugar, but they also contain corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup, for a total of 6 grams of sugar per cookie. That's a lot of sugar, and while some experts debate whether high fructose corn syrup is any worse than sugar, we agree that both, in the vast quantities we Americans consume, contribute to obesity. But I'm not only concerned about obesity. There are two other more insidious and dangerous risks to consider: cancer and heart disease. How could a cookie cause cancer? Let me explain. Both high fructose corn syrup and sugar in the United States are largely made from genetically modified crops: 95% of the sugar beets grown in the United States are GMO, as is 88% percent of the corn. Those crops are engineered to withstand spraying of the Monsanto herbicide Roundup Ready. Last month the International Agency for Research on Cancer declared the key ingredient, Glyphosate, a probable carcinogen. Canola oil, another cookie ingredient, is also of concern: 90% of rape seed (from which canola is produced) is GMO, too. Suddenly those cookies seem less benign, don't they? If that isn't enough to dampen your cravings, recent studies have found a causal link between sugar and heart disease. And trans fats have been well documented to increase the risk of heart disease. A few years ago, this was a big story, and most products now boast that they have zero trans fats. In reality, companies are allowed to claim "zero" on the label if a serving contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fats. But often we eat more than one serving—do you really stop at two cookies?--so rather than zero, your actual intake can be several grams. Adding to the confusion, on the ingredient label, transfats show up as partially hydrogenated oils, including in Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, and other popular Girl Scout Cookies. Clearly the Girl Scouts' leadership knows of the dangers; they actively advertise on the boxes and web site those cookies contain "zero grams trans fat per serving." "You might be thinking, 'Wow! I'm glad Dr. Maizes wasn't my mom!" But my kids will tell you I love a good dessert. In fact, I make a mean cheesecake. An occasional home-baked cookie is not going to ruin a kid's health. The problem is bigger than cookies. There is too little conversation on the hazards of sugar, white flour, GMOs, and trans fats from those whom you would expect to call them out: physicians. Perhaps this is not so surprising. After all, pediatricians, whose job is to protect the health of children, have a sum total of zero hours of required nutrition education in their residencies. Nor do residency review committees require internists, family physicians or cardiologists to learn nutrition. And yet, there is compelling evidence that a diet rich in vegetables and fruit, whole grains, fish, nuts, and moderate amounts of dairy and alcohol, as well as avoiding smoking, obesity -- and exercising 30 minutes a day -- lowers overall mortality by 65%. Similar results were found in the study published under the name "Healthy Living is the Best Revenge", which showed that eating a healthy diet (fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and low meat consumption) would prevent 78% of chronic disease, 93% of diabetes, 81% of heart attacks, 50% of strokes and 36% of all cancers. At the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, where I serve as executive director, we are seeking to remedy this. We include nutrition in all our training programs and have a new, 100-hour online course that is being pilot-tested at five pediatric residencies including Stanford, Universities of Arizona, Chicago, and Kansas, and Eastern Virginia Medical School. We also run an annual nutrition and health conference to address nutrition education for physicians in practice. Educating doctors will not be enough. Parents and schools have a role to play as well. And the Girl Scouts, with their enormous reach and influence, could do their part and choose a new fundraising item. Times change and our traditions evolve. What if, this spring, the girls sold fresh fruit and vegetables, tomato plants or flowers, or even pedometers? What if in addition to their characters and confidence we directly addressed the health of their bodies? Read more: What Girl Scout cookies taught me about life |
jon stewart lampooned it as a "state farm commercial gone viral" and also "boring as s". | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/983163a6b3600a5329efbf4b57d13d9db0b6319b.story | cnn-test-983163a6b3600a5329efbf4b57d13d9db0b6319b | (CNN)This week, Hillary Clinton surprised the world yet again — not with the official launch of her campaign but for the unconventional way she did it. She sure pushed the envelope. With her video, new logo and road trip, she opened a long communications campaign not only to "rebrand" herself but to completely reframe who she is, what she stands for and how she intends to run. We'll find out over the next year and a half whether it will work. Many in the press and on late-night television scratched their heads this week; others were scathing. Ruth Marcus -- a columnist for the Washington Post -- dismissed her launch video as a "relentlessly, insultingly vapid" effort of "demographic box-checking." Jon Stewart lampooned it as a "State Farm commercial gone viral" and also "boring as s---." Since the media will likely be the stand-in primary opponent for Hillary, their belief in her authenticity is a critical factor in whether she can reframe herself in voter's eyes. But from a marketing perspective, her launch may have been much more successful than critics think. The YouTube announcement video took on the central strategic challenge for the campaign and candidate: To flip Clinton's message from self-absorbed "I" to empathetic "we." While critics may sneer, it is hard to deny that the image it projects of Hillary is more confident, fresher, simpler and forward-looking, with even a bit of the upstart feel of two of the most successful product launch companies, Nike and Apple. Clinton's team may have begun to create an empathetic relationship with voters that has eluded her in the past, most crucially when she lost the nomination fight to Barack Obama in 2008. In marketing terms, rebranding is a strategy to bring a new name, term, symbol or design to an established brand with the aim of developing a new identity in the minds of consumers. Reframing is a strategy that goes further: it seeks to change how a consumer (or voter) emotionally experiences an established brand. A rebrand may change how you think about a brand; a reframe may change how you feel about it. In the Apple case, the company at one time fell on its face when it unveiled the original Macintosh; some thought the company was headed for oblivion. But when Steve Jobs returned as CEO, he went back to the drawing board and soon unveiled the iPod, which not only changed the way consumers thought about Apple, but how they experienced it. Not only a rebrand -- but a reframe. Take Hillary's road trip to Iowa in the van nicknamed Scooby. The press lampooned her, but I would bet that for many others, her unscripted and anonymous stop at Chipotle reinforced the "everyday Americans" campaign theme. Hillary stood in line to order, an everyday customer among everyday people at an everyday fast-food chain. Also introduced last week was what will come to be the single most-ubiquitous element of her campaign: Clinton's new and controversial campaign logo. It is a brilliant, iconic expression of the emotional connection she wants people to have with her, her message and her movement. In fact, her logo is all about movement. Simple, confident, high tech and shorthand to a much younger set of voters, the bold red arrow moving left to right in front of the strong blue H says it all: You are the important ones. I'm here to support you with everything I've got. Let me help you move forward. Taken together, all the pieces of Clinton's announcement -- as well as the unconventional media she used to deliver them -- bring her back on stage not as a leader from yesterday but, surprisingly, as one for the future. Coincidentally, the way Marco Rubio announced his run for the Republican nomination most likely amplified the impact of Clinton's reframing. For all his posturing about being the new generation, Rubio followed to a "T" the most traditional script for announcing a candidacy: traditional stage and podium, dark suit, bright tie, wife and kids on camera, a live speech, all about himself, timed for the evening news. Rubio's logo, the signature of his image, drew immediate criticism for being amateurish and unconsidered, even leaving Alaska and Hawaii off the map of America. In stark contrast, Hillary showed the confidence and finesse to buck tradition on every front. It was Hillary who pulled the ultimate jiu-jitsu. There are those, of course, who will be alienated, if not disgusted, by the way her campaign has unfurled such a sophisticated marketing plan. In a day when voters are yearning for authenticity, how do we know this is the real Hillary or a candidate in a mask? Fair question. But for better or worse, mass marketing has become the staple of presidential campaigns -- that's where most campaign dollars go. Both sides know how to play, sometimes brilliantly. Remember the Reagan advertisements of 1984, proclaiming "Morning in America"? What we know is that over time, voters see a lot of unscripted moments of a candidate where the real character comes through. And if they spot hypocrisy between ads and the candidate, that campaign will get into trouble fast. That's why the key to Hillary Clinton's success in reframing her message and movement will be consistency. She must not only take the essence of a humble, empathic relationship with voters and integrate it into all elements of her communication, she must also live it every day. Otherwise there will be messaging "schizophrenia," the solid start with flashes of brilliance will peter out and she'll be facing the same voter perceptions that doomed her race in 2008. In the meantime, one can imagine Clinton getting a huge, satisfying belly laugh out of the early returns on her efforts. |
seventy percent of ocean's overall economic value relies on its continued health. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/9bb930d598b061ac59e25f9c85b4f14aec19f261.story | cnn-test-9bb930d598b061ac59e25f9c85b4f14aec19f261 | (CNN)The world's seventh-largest economy is heading toward collapse. An economic powerhouse conservatively valued at $24 trillion, one that annually churns out the equivalent of $2.5 trillion, is under assault. However, I am not referring to one of the G8 economies, but to the "super economy" of the ocean. It's one that for far too long has been ignored and taken for granted -- and it is going downhill fast. The health and wealth of the ocean are assessed in a WWF report released Thursday, Reviving the Ocean Economy. The report is the result of a hard economic analysis performed by The Boston Consulting Group built on a foundation of the latest ocean science provided by the Global Change Institute of the University of Queensland. True, the enormity of the ocean can complicate any single appraisal. But it is still important to try to understand its value if global leaders are ever going to sustain it for future generations. The fact is that the ocean feeds us, employs us, offers protection and plays a direct role in the lives and livelihoods of people throughout the world. The ocean also provides intangible but essential services to humanity, such as climate regulation and oxygen production, that are difficult to put in monetary terms. And while we all may look at the ocean from different perspectives, no one can escape the fact that it is a shared resource that provides for each and every one of us. A figure that may get lost in the headlines generated by our report is perhaps most telling: Seventy percent of the ocean's overall economic value relies on its continued health. Ocean assets like fisheries, coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses that produce goods and services rivaling the world's top 10 economies will lose their value if we continue to over-exploit and outright destroy them. That may seem like a far-off possibility to some, but it is a future foretold by the many details in this report. For example, 90 percent of the world's fish stocks are either fully exploited or over-exploited. And that is not all. By 2050 -- only a few decades from now -- it is possible that the ocean could lose its coral reefs, which have already been halved in the last few decades. This isn't just a concern for dive enthusiasts, but to the hundreds of millions of people that rely on ocean resources for their daily meals and their weekly paychecks. The ocean is truly too big to fail. The loss of the ocean's critical habitats and species would have a devastating ripple effect on global food security and economies that no government bailout could salvage. Fortunately, our report identifies actions that would revive the ocean economy, three of which are critical this year. First, the international community must rally around a set of sustainable development goals that clearly reflect the link between the environment -- including the ocean -- and human well-being. Also, negotiators meeting in Paris later this year must agree on an ambitious global climate deal that sets us on the path to avert the worst impacts of climate change. And finally, leaders must commit to conserving increasing amounts of coastal and marine areas over the course of the next 15 years. The economic case for why the ocean is so critical to livelihoods around the world is clear, and we will not be able to plead ignorance if we collectively preside over the collapse of the ocean economy. Reviving the Ocean Economy is dedicated to helping us avoid that outcome, but it will require political vision and courage among policymakers. All this said, and as terrifying as it is that the deterioration of the ocean's health has been its fastest in millions of years, there is actually some (potential) good news: If we act swiftly and with determination, marine resources can recover -- and recover quickly. Many local examples -- from the Mediterranean to the Mozambique Channel, from the Fiji archipelago to the Arctic -- show us that conservation, restoration and sustainable-use approaches mean the ocean, and the people who depend on it, can both prosper. Ultimately, the ocean bridges continents, connects cultures and offers equal opportunity inspiration and we should therefore work together in support of this vital shared resource. But if we are to have any chance of avoiding the point of no return, we must find ways of reaching genuine global commitments on sustainable development and climate. After all, it's far better to avoid an economic collapse than be forced to scramble to pick up the pieces. |
john mayer hailed his longtime idol, the late vaughan, in a heartfelt speech. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/0504db91916c64ada18e48f269607c91630929ed.story | cnn-test-0504db91916c64ada18e48f269607c91630929ed | (Billboard)The key to rock's longevity is it never defines itself into irrelevance. So while there were some loud, dirty guitars at the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland on Saturday night, there was as much recognition for rock's antecedents in soul and blues, speaking less to a particular taxonomy than a spirit that's beyond words. It's easy to talk of such spirit when Paul McCartney is there to honor Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono is on hand as well. Speaking briefly backstage, Ono expressed feeling that it was wonderful for Starr to be honored, "just sad John and George aren't here," referring to her late husband John Lennon and Beatles guitarist and fellow songwriter George Harrison. Starr was certainly happy to be there — after a long wait, he's the final Beatle to be inducted as a solo act. "I've finally been invited, and I love it," said the 74-year-old drummer. "I got lucky, and it was actually in Cleveland," he said to enormous applause. Fifty-one years earlier, Starr had been in town to play the very same Hall; he admitted backstage that he didn't remember the cops stopping the show during "All My Loving" and making the Beatles return to the dressing room for ten minutes until the fans could be calmed. Starr said in a backstage interview that he couldn't recall the incident specifically, but admitted that there had been a lot of shows in between. "I'll remember this one," he promised. Others receiving Rock Hall honors included Paul Butterfield Blues Band, early soul act The 5 Royales, singer Bill Withers, punk rockers Green Day, Lou Reed, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was a night for the young to honor the old and perhaps prepare for a later visit. John Mayer hailed his longtime idol, the late Vaughan, in a heartfelt speech. John Legend came out to honor Bill Withers with a performance of "Use Me" backed by Stevie Wonder, who inducted Withers. The two then shared "Lean on Me," until Legend went and pulled Withers to the front of the stage to join them. Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bill Withers, Seymour Stein hit Rock Hall's weekend festivities The 76-year old soul legend hasn't performed live in many years but had hinted in the months leading up to the induction ceremonies that he might sing once more. Withers sounded great, though he may have an even brighter future in stand-up. "This has got to be the biggest AA meeting [in the] Western hemisphere," said Withers, alluding to an earlier moment in the show when Jimmie Vaughan confessed, "I taught my brother guitar, and he taught me how to get sober." He called being inducted by Wonder, "A lion holding the door for a kitty cat." The moment of relative levity was welcome after moving tributes paid to the late Lou Reed by Patti Smith and Reed's widow, music artist Laurie Anderson, who shared the three rules for life that they came up with: "One: don't be afraid of anyone; Two: get a really good b------t detector and learn how to use it; Three: be really, really tender." Smith had to push back tears on at least three occasions. She recalled a night when they wound up in the same hotel and Reed invited her up. She found him in the tub dressed in black and she sat on the toilet and talked with him. Green Day was inducted by Fall Out Boy, who referenced the length of some of the speeches. Cracked Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump: "I feel like I'm in a line at the DMV." As one of the youngest acts, it's not surprising they gave one of the two most exciting performances of the evening. Rock Hall induction ceremony: Lou Reed 'would be amused,' says sister The other belonged to Tom Morello, Doyle Bramhall II and Zac Brown with harmonica player Jason Ricci performing "Born in Chicago" in tribute to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Not only did Ricci slay, but Morello played a nasty scabrous solo that raised the hairs on your arm, it was so alive. Miley Cyrus inducted Joan Jett in her own inimitable way, recalling a time she walked in on Jett smoking pot and being so turned on by her strength, wisdom and soul that the young pop star wanted to have sex with the legendary rocker. Jett joined the Blackhearts and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl for a mini-set that include such classics as "Bad Reputation," the Runaways' "Cherry Bomb" and "Crimson and Clover," the Tommy James & the Shondelles cover that Jett took to No. 1. It was that kind of a night, and it closed with a rousing version of the Beatles' "I Want to Be Your Man," where just about everybody who could make it out on stage did, including a near-end guitar scrum/lead-off between Gary Clark Jr., Morello, Zac Brown and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner. ©2015 Billboard. All Rights Reserved. |
there are about 80,000 giraffes in africa, a decline of 60,000 in the past 15 years. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/3ecd3958c81a86decae0518b927e7c7b790c706e.story | cnn-test-3ecd3958c81a86decae0518b927e7c7b790c706e | (CNN)Five years ago, Rebecca Francis posed for a photo while lying next to a dead giraffe. This week, she got threatened for her action. The trouble started Monday, when comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted the photo with a question. "What must've happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal & then lie next to it smiling?" Gervais wrote. In the past three days, his tweet has been retweeted almost 30,000 times. A number of people insulted and threatened Francis in response to the giraffe photo and others featuring her. On the website rebeccafrancis.com, there are photos of Francis with other animals, including a lion, which other Twitterers responded to. Francis, who has appeared on the NBC Sports Network outdoor lifestyle show "Eye of the Hunter" and was the subject of an interview with Hunting Life in late March, responded in a statement to HuntingLife.com on Tuesday, which was posted on its Facebook page. The death came about, she said, because she was asked by others on an African hunt to "preserve" him for the local people. "(The locals) showed me this beautiful old bull giraffe that was wandering all alone. He had been kicked out of the herd by a younger and stronger bull. He was past his breeding years and very close to death," she said. "They asked me if I would preserve this giraffe by providing all the locals with food and other means of survival. ... I chose to honor his life by providing others with his uses and I do not regret it for one second. (The locals) did not waste a single part of him. I am grateful to be a part of something so good." According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, there are about 80,000 giraffes in Africa, a decline of 60,000 in the past 15 years. On a website called rebeccafrancis.com, where the photo is posted, Francis describes herself as a longtime outdoors enthusiast and a fan of bow-hunting. "I prefer bowhunting, and the animals I have taken with a bow include: a 10 1/2 ft. brown bear, black bear, shiras moose, alaskan moose, dall sheep, stone sheep, desert bighorn ram, rocky mountain bighorn ram, mule deer, whitetail deer, elk, mountain goat, antelope, arapawa ram, kudu, zebra, black wildebeest, giraffe, springbuck, blesbuck, lynx, badger, and squirrel," she writes. "I have also taken many of the same species and more with a rifle." She has achieved the "Full Curl of North American sheep" with a bow, according to the Hunting Life interview, and hopes to achieve the "Super 10." The latter, according to liveoutdoors.com, "entails the taking of one animal from the ten basic North American species: bears, cats, deer, elk, caribou, moose, bison/muskox, goat, antelope and sheep." Tom Opre, the producer and co-host of "Eye of the Hunter," says she won the first season of "Extreme Huntress," an online offshoot of "Eye," and co-hosted a handful of "Eye" episodes. The rebeccafrancis.com website was apparently last updated in 2013, though it makes mention of a 2015 TV series called "Sheep Shape" on the Sportsman Channel. CNN has reached out to Francis for comment. |
the nfl launched an investigation into the patriots to determine why 11 of the 12 game balls they provided for the afc championship game were underinflated. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/ab7b7e16fddb9e17006a8334d0e3aa47b50763bf.story | cnn-test-ab7b7e16fddb9e17006a8334d0e3aa47b50763bf | (CNN)The NFL draft begins on April 30, and while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the clock with the No. 1 overall pick, the clock is still ticking for another team -- the New England Patriots -- as they await the results of the "Deflategate" investigation, which has already lasted more than three months. In January, the NFL launched an investigation into the Patriots to determine why 11 of the 12 game balls they provided for the AFC Championship game were underinflated. The league hired attorney Ted Wells -- who also investigated the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal -- to run the investigation. Jeff Pash, the NFL's executive vice president and chief counsel, is assisting Wells in the effort. The league has also retained Renaissance Associates, an investigatory firm with sophisticated forensic expertise, to assist in reviewing electronic and video information. But three months later, it's still not clear when the investigation will be completed and when the findings will be announced. "We have not put a time frame on Ted Wells," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said March 25. "We asked him to be thorough, complete and when he is finished with that -- he'll give that to us and to the public in general." On Monday, CNN reached out to Wells and the NFL for an update on the investigation but has not heard back. On January 18, the Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 to advance to the Super Bowl. They scored 28 of their points in the second half -- after game officials had pumped the balls back up to their regulation pressure -- so it's unlikely that the ball pressure made much difference in the outcome of the game. In February, Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson said at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis that prior to the AFC Championship game, his team notified the league of its concerns about the footballs. "We went into the game, we had some issues, but we are going to do what we can and that's to participate with the league and the investigation and wait until the Wells report comes out," Grigson said February 19. "We really have no other recourse than to wait until that investigation comes out." Each team provides a dozen footballs to the referee for testing two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. The home team also supplies 12 backup balls, and for outdoor games, the visiting team has the option of bringing another 12 balls. NFL rules state the referee "shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game." The ball attendant brings the footballs to the field, and ball boys keep them on the sideline. It's been speculated that deflated footballs are easier to grip for the quarterback and receivers. However, there isn't a consensus by players on that view. The day after the AFC Championship game, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady called the accusation of using deflated footballs "ridiculous." A few days later, he told reporters he has always played by the rules. Following a practice on January 24, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said that the Patriots try to do everything right. "At no time was there any intent whatsoever to try to compromise the integrity of the game or to gain an advantage," Belichick said at the time. "Quite the opposite, we feel like we follow the rules of the game to the letter in our preparations, in our procedures." After arriving in Arizona for Super Bowl XLIX, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said he expects the NFL to apologize if the investigation does not uncover any wrongdoing. "Many jump to conclusions and made strong accusations against our coach, quarterback, and staff questioning the integrity of all involved," Kraft said then. "If the Wells investigation is not able to definitely determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure in the footballs, I would expect and hope the league would apologize to our entire team and in particular coach Belichick and Tom Brady for what they have had to endure this past week." In terms of punishment, the Patriots could be fined and/or docked a draft pick. After Spygate in 2007 -- where the Patriots illegally videotaped the New York Jets defensive coaches' signals -- the league took away a Patriots first-round draft pick, fined the team $250,000 and fined Belichick $500,000. However, it's not expected that the punishment would be that serious for Deflategate. In March, two other teams were punished by the NFL for different rules violations. Cleveland Browns General Manager Ryan Farmer admitted to using his phone to text the Browns staffers during games during the 2014 season. It's against the rules to use certain electronic devices during games. Farmer will be suspended without pay for the first four regular-season games of the 2015 season, and the Browns were fined $250,000. During the suspension, Farmer cannot be involved in any team matters and is prohibited from being at the Browns' offices, practice facility or at Browns games. According to the league, there was no evidence in the NFL's review that Browns ownership or any other team executives had knowledge of the prohibited conduct. The Atlanta Falcons acknowledged the use of prerecorded crowd noise, which is also a violation of NFL rules, during home games in the 2013 and into the 2014 season. The rule states that "at no point during the game can artificial crowd noise or amplified crowd noise be played in the stadium." The Falcons were fined $350,000 and lose their fifth-round draft pick in the 2016 NFL draft. The league's investigation found that the Falcons' former director of event marketing was directly responsible, but that senior executives, including team president Rich McKay, were unaware of the use of the piped-in crowd noise. Still, McKay was suspended from the NFL Competition Committee starting April 1. Starting June 30, he can petition Goodell for reinstatement to the committee. As to what happens to the Patriots, and when, it's still anyone's guess. But Goodell has previously stated that a violation of rules will be taken seriously. "Whenever there is a charge potentially of the violations of our rules, we take it very seriously and that's our obligation," Goodell said in March. "That's our obligation to the other 31 clubs. Ted Wells will be going through the report. If there is anything that we as a league did incorrectly we will know about it in that report." What the heck is Deflategate? |
gray was arrested on a weapons charge in a high-crime area of baltimore known for drugs. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/a80ee6f2d8e4bbfce19b53d5b5f114d93a3ccb8f.story | cnn-test-a80ee6f2d8e4bbfce19b53d5b5f114d93a3ccb8f | (CNN)The arrest and death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore has stoked protests and accusations of police brutality. But it's unclear how Gray, arrested on a weapons charge April 12, suffered a severe spinal cord injury that led to his death seven days later. Here are the big questions surrounding this explosive case: Gray's arrest What we know: Gray was arrested on a weapons charge in a high-crime area of Baltimore known for drugs. He "gave up without the use of force," according to Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez. An officer apparently took his Taser out, and was prepared to use it on Gray, but he never deployed it, Rodriguez said, and none of the six officers involved in the arrest describe using force against the 25-year-old. Gray was placed inside a police van and was able to talk, said Rodriguez who described Gray as upset. "And when Mr. Gray was taken out of that van, he could not talk, and he could not breathe," according to Rodriguez. What we don't know: It's unknown what caused the spinal cord injury that led to his death a week after the arrest, and it's also unknown what, if anything, happened inside the van. The knife What we know: Court documents allege that Baltimore Police Department Officer Garrett Miller arrested Gray after finding a switchblade in his pocket. The Gray family attorney called the allegation a "sideshow." Gray was carrying a "pocket knife of legal size," attorney William Murphy told CNN. Police never saw the knife and chased Gray only after he ran from them, the attorney said. The court documents also say that Gray "fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence." "The officer noticed a knife clipped to the inside of his front right pants pocket. The defendant was arrested without force or incident," the documents say. "The knife was recovered by this officer and found to be a spring assisted, one-hand-operated knife." Maryland law makes it illegal to "wear or carry a dangerous weapon of any kind concealed on or about the person," including switchblades. What we don't know: It's not clear that simply having a knife is a crime, said Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. "It is not necessarily probable cause to chase someone. So, we still have questions," she said. What can be seen on the released video What we know: Segments of cell phone video shot from two different positions appear to begin after Gray has been arrested and show officers dragging Gray, who is handcuffed, to a van. He can be heard screaming. "He was dragged a bit," said Rawlings-Blake, "but then you see him using his legs to get into the van, so he was able-bodied when he was in the van, and we know that when he was finally taken out of the van, he was unresponsive." Officers placed more restraints on Gray inside the van, police said, while surveillance video recorded him conscious and talking. That was at 8:54 a.m. At 9:24 a.m., police called an ambulance for Gray. Police say Gray requested medical attention, including an inhaler, and an ambulance later took him to the University of Maryland Medical Center's Shock Trauma Center. What we don't know: It's unknown why Gray screamed, and the video doesn't capture the entire incident, start to end. It's unclear what happened between 8:54 a.m. and 9:24 a.m. Police response What we know: In the wake of Gray's death, six police officers have been suspended. Their names were released Tuesday, a standard procedure after an "in-custody death," said Baltimore Police Department spokesman Capt. Eric Kowalczyk. It doesn't mean the officers did anything wrong or that they were the only officers involved, he said. They are: Lt. Brian Rice, 41, who joined the department in 1997; Officer Caesar Goodson, 45, who joined in 1999; Sgt. Alicia White, 30, who joined in 2010; Officer William Porter, 25, who joined in 2012; Officer Garrett Miller, 26, who joined in 2012; and Officer Edward Nero, 29, who joined in 2012. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said that authorities plan to conclude their investigation by May 1. Their findings will go to the state's attorney's office, where prosecutors will decide whether charges should be filed. What we don't know: The officers say they didn't use force against Gray, but that's not certain. Gray's past run-ins with authorities What we know: According to court documents CNN obtained, there were more than 20 criminal court cases in Maryland against Gray, and five of those cases were still active at the time of his death. The cases involve mostly drug-related charges, but there are charges from March for second-degree assault and destruction of property. Gray was due in court on a possession charge on April 24. He had been in and out of prison since 2009 for various drug cases, said Maryland Department of Corrections spokesman Gerard Shields. In February 2009, he was sentenced to four years in prison for two counts of drug possession with intent to deliver. Shields said he could not determine from records what kind of drug was involved. Gray was paroled on June 30, 2011. On April 4, 2012, Gray was arrested for violating parole but he didn't go back to prison, Shields said, reasoning that whatever Gray allegedly did, it "was something minor." Gray went back to prison again in May 2013 for drug possession and served a month. He was released in June. What we don't know: It's not known whether Gray's criminal past had anything to do with his arrest, or his death. CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, Stephanie Gallman and Eliott C. McLaughlin, Dana Ford and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report. |
five young men arrested saturday in melbourne, australia. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/12d1ce815cced1d0d74381d0a2218845a0815939.story | cnn-test-12d1ce815cced1d0d74381d0a2218845a0815939 | (CNN)Five young men were arrested Saturday in Melbourne, Australia, in what police called a major counterterrorism operation. Three of the teens, all of them either 18 or 19, have since been released "pending further enquiries," Australia's Federal Police said, but two remain in custody. Sevdet Besim, 18, has been charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act, and was denied bail Saturday. The other suspect, a 19-year-old, has not yet appeared in court. "Some evidence that we have collected at a couple of the scenes and some other information we have leads us to believe that this particular matter was ISIS-inspired," said Neil Gaughan, acting deputy commissioner of the Australian Federal Police. The suspects planned to attack during a major national commemoration in a week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Saturday. "The act that we believe was in preparation involved attacks against police officers," he said. There was also a risk to the public, police said. Police said the suspects were targeting a ceremony on Anzac Day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps Day), which is April 25 and this year is the centennial of the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I. Abbott avoided the term ISIS -- or Islamic State -- to call out those who authorities believed influenced the suspects. He instead referred to the group as the "Daesh death cult," employing the acronym that is transliterated from the group's name in Arabic. It's a handle ISIS is known to loathe. Police also distanced the suspects from any ethnic connection. The men "are individuals acting by themselves. They are not representatives of any religious, cultural or national group," Victoria Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said. "I think the entire Australian community should be concerned about the young age of those particular men," Gaughan said. "And this is an issue not just with law enforcement, but for the broader community. ... We need to get better in relation to identifying young men and woman involved in this type of behavior, at the very early stage." The suspects were associates of 18-year-old Nadun Haider, who was killed while stabbing officers at a police station in September, police said. Abbott lamented a string of extremist attacks on Australian soil. In December, Australian authorities stormed a Sydney chocolate cafe where a self-styled Muslim cleric had been holding hostages, killing the gunman. Two of the 17 hostages initially held by the gunman died. In February, two men were charged with plotting terror activities in Sydney. Despite distancing the suspects from religion, Abbott did make a connection to the Middle East. "There are now about a hundred Australians who are fighting with terrorists in the Middle East," and another 150 people in Australia support them with funds and recruiting, the Prime Minister said. In February, Abbott announced tougher citizenship laws as a part of the government's new counterterrorism strategy. Authorities have suspended Australian passports of those they suspect of terrorist activity. Australians should be stoic about the threat of terrorism, Abbott said Saturday. "The best thing you can do in the face of those who would do us harm is live your life normally." He asked Australians to turn out in droves on Anzac Day. Police said this particular threat had been fully contained. |
madonna has a thing for making out with fellow performers on stage. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/6215980e28590ee4b7700a24a671c1e9f8fe925a.story | cnn-test-6215980e28590ee4b7700a24a671c1e9f8fe925a | (CNN)Madonna has a thing for making out with fellow performers on stage. First it was Britney and Christina, and now rapper Drake has been on the receiving end of a little lip action from Madge. While the blondes had fun with it, Drake appeared less than enthused after Madonna's prolonged smooch onstage at the Coachella music festival in California on Sunday. In an update Monday from "champagnepapi" himself on Instagram, the rapper clarified his reaction: "Don't misinterpret my shock!! I got to make out with the queen Madonna and I feel 100 about that forever. Thank you @Madonna." After the kiss, though, he seemed dazed. "Oh, s***. What the f*** just happened?" he asked moments later from the stage. It all went down after Drake performed "Madonna," a song named for the megastar off his new mixtape "If You're Reading This It's Too Late," according to Billboard. He welcomed Madonna onstage as a special guest to perform a few songs. While wrapping up "Human Nature," the Material Girl, 56, planted one on the seated Drake, 28, who began to flail his arms after a while in an apparent attempt to escape. His sour face after the encounter led many to speculate that he didn't enjoy the kiss. Of course, Drake and Madonna's little makeout sesh got the web talking and meme-ing: "So @Drake proves that kissing @Madonna is about as ghastly as I always imagined it would be," wrote former CNN personality Piers Morgan. "Grandma: give Nana some suga Drake: no no noooooo!!!" wrote another Tweeter. |
hillary clinton has leased her headquarters space in brooklyn and will soon make her presidential campaign official. | true | cnndm/cnn/stories/5c3e16c415b463269527cafd220170e1303048f8.story | cnn-test-5c3e16c415b463269527cafd220170e1303048f8 | Washington (CNN)Decision time for GOP operatives, another controversial foreign policy choice for President Obama, a ripple effect from the Robert Menendez indictment, and two insights into Hillary Clinton's campaign launch -- those stories filled our Sunday trip around the "Inside Politics" table. Obama's Iran diplomacy already has his conservative critics fired up, and things could get even more interesting in the week ahead. The President is headed to Panama for a regional summit, and Julie Pace of The Associated Press reports one of the big questions is whether he'll make history and have a face-to-face meeting with Cuban leader Raul Castro. "This would be the first meeting between a U.S. and a Cuban leader in decades," said Pace. "But Obama's efforts to end this freeze of Cuba have been a lot more difficult than they looked when he announced it last year," Pace said. "And so what the White House is going to be weighing is whether this meeting would be a way to generate more progress or whether it would be a premature reward for the Castros." Hillary Clinton has leased her headquarters space in Brooklyn and will soon make her presidential campaign official. And with the launch, Jonathan Martin of The New York Times reports, will come a carefully orchestrated effort to reintroduce Clinton -- with an emphasis on her childhood and her earlier work on children's issues. "The Democrats around Hillary Clinton believe that while she's one of the most famous people in the world, she's never been properly introduced in her own right," said Martin. "So when she does roll out her campaign here in a couple of weeks, look for more biographical touches. We'll hear about her childhood in suburban Chicago and some of the work that she did as an advocate for the Legal Services Corporation and the Children's Defense Fund when she was in her 30s, and also, more about her Arkansas days as first lady, as an advocate for education." A lot of the big names signing on to Team Clinton are already known. But Dan Balz of The Washington Post explains part of the statement her campaign wants to make with the announcement is to show it has a large, experienced staff ready for the key national and state roles. "What I'm hearing is that when they launch, this staff is going to be even much, much bigger than we, at this point, imagine, that they have done a huge amount of hiring," said Balz. And Balz reports the planning centers on smaller events designed to highlight more personal interaction. "She did an event with the wife of the mayor of New York earlier this week that could be a template for the kinds of things they're doing." Much of the media attention on the corruption indictment against Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey has been on its allegations of luxury hotel stays with girlfriends. But beyond the more tabloidesque details, Jackie Kucinich of The Daily Beast notes that one of the charges centers on a suggestion the senator's staff was soliciting funds for a so-called super PAC -- a violation of campaign finance laws. And she says the scrutiny of that practice might grow because of the Menendez allegations. "I was talking to some campaign finance watchdogs this week and they say if the (Federal Election Commission) really starts to look into this, they're actually going to find some impropriety with other lawmakers much much farther than Menendez," said Kucinich. "So watch for that if it starts happening." By a week from Monday, there will be three official GOP candidates for president: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio. Others will soon follow, and as things get more official, pressure is mounting on GOP operatives to choose sides. In New Hampshire this past week, Matt Maroney, a former Mitt Romney alum with ground organizing experience, signed on with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's team. Others in the state reported calls coming in from Ohio Gov. John Kasich and, yes, even Donald Trump. This dynamic plays out on the national level, too: Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, for example, was approached both by Team Christie and by allies of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. In the end, though, Fabrizio signed on with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who makes his official announcement on Tuesday. |
End of preview. Expand
in Data Studio
- Downloads last month
- 8