COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lankan soldiers seized a key rebel stronghold over the weekend, as humanitarian agencies feared for the safety of civilians. Sri Lankan troops at Elephant Pass, the isthmus that connects north Jaffna peninsula to rest of the country. "It's an incredibly serious situation," James Elder, a U.N. spokesman, said Monday. "We have a very large number of people, including tens of thousands of children, trapped in a fast-shrinking conflict zone." Government forces took the area in a surprise attack early Sunday, the head of Sri Lanka's army announced. Troops crossed a lagoon and entered the town of Mullaittivu before encountering heavy resistance from Tamil fighters, according to the government-run news agency. "Our troops fought their way through a 40 km (25 mile) thick jungle track," Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said in a televised address Sunday. "This is the long-awaited victory and I am happy to say that our heroic forces today captured the Mullaittivu town after 12 years," he said. There has been no confirmation from the rebels that the strategic garrison has been overtaken. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- commonly known as the Tamil Tigers -- have fought for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. The civil war has left more than 70,000 people dead. The rebels gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996 and established a military garrison there, according to the government. In recent days, the military has made significant progress in its campaign to recapture rebel strongholds. Earlier this month, troops regained control of the northern town of Elephant Pass, the point at which mainland Sri Lanka links to the northern Jaffna peninsula. It had been in rebel hands for more than nine years. The recapture enabled the government to use a highway linking the mainland to the peninsula to move troops and supplies. Previously, it was done by air and sea. "The area that the LTTE has dominated has shrank phenomenally," Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, C.R Jayasinghe, told CNN. "They lost ... about 90 percent of what they had." Despite major government gains, critics point to ongoing civilian casualties resultant from the conflict. "This is a critical moment in the conflict when the space for these people has shrunk," Elder said. The United Nations is "calling on the ... Tamil Tigers to meet their international responsibilities and guarantee that these very large civilian populations to move freely and then can move away from the conflict and to areas where they can receive appropriate assistance," Elder said. "Some Sri Lankan U.N. staff are trapped there," he said in a Sunday interview. "Convoys are going to the area, delivering emergency supplies, but these are not sufficient for the number of people in need." Sri Lankan authorities are barring journalists and humanitarian aid workers from areas where heavy fighting is taking place. Amnesty International spokesman Shuransu Mishra estimated that "over a quarter of a million of the population, mostly Tamils, are trapped between the two sides." The organization says greater access and protection for aid workers and journalists are needed as news agencies struggle to report an accurate picture of the conflict. "The Sri Lankan authorities are doing little to ensure the safety of the country's media, or to prosecute those responsible for murdering or attacking them," Amnesty International spokeswoman Yolanda Foster said in a written statement on Friday. The Sri Lankan authorities "are also directly responsible for subjecting journalists to harassment and interrogation," she said. At least 14 journalists have been killed since the start of 2006, according to the statement. Others have been driven from the country by death threats, or in fear of detention and torture by government authorities, it said.

Question: What do the Tamils want?

Question: Which northern town did troops regain control of?

Question: When did the enemy forces attack?

Question: What did groups regain control over?

Question: What did government forces do?

Question: When did the Tamil Tigers take control of Mullaittivu?

Question: When did the war start?

Question: What group gained control over Mullaittivu?

Question: When did the Tamil Tigers gain control over Mullaittivu?

Question: Who wants independent homeland?

Question: Who took the area in a surprise attack early Sunday?

Question: Who regained control of Elephant Pass?

Question: When did government forces take the area?

Question: When did the Tamil Tigers gain control over Mullaittivu?

Question: What do the Tamils want?

Question: What did Rebel Tamil Tigers gain control over in 1996?

Question: What key northern town did they regain control of?

Answer: an independent homeland for the country's ethnic

Answer: Elephant Pass,

Answer: early Sunday,

Answer: Elephant Pass,

Answer: took the area in a surprise attack

Answer: 1996

Answer: 1983.

Answer: Government forces

Answer: 1996

Answer: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Answer: Government forces

Answer: troops

Answer: in a surprise attack early Sunday, the head of Sri Lanka's army announced.

Answer: in 1996

Answer: an independent homeland

Answer: Mullaittivu

Answer: over Mullaittivu in 1996 and established a military garrison there, according to the government.

Summary:
Government forces took the area in a surprise attack early Sunday .
Rebel Tamil Tigers gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996 .
Earlier this month troops regained control of key northern town of Elephant Pass .
Tamils want independent homeland, war since 1983 has left more than 70,000 dead .


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) -- Humble woodcutter Mohammed Sultan Nafeek's teenage daughter moved to Saudi Arabia to work as a housemaid to support her family after they were displaced by the 2004 tsunami. Now she is on death row, and all he can do is pray. Razeena Mohammad (left) and Mohammad Sultan Nafeek, parents of Rizana Nafeek. Rizana, who was 17 when she started work in Saudi Arabia, was convicted of killing a 4-month-old baby boy in her care just two weeks into her job. Nafeek says the child died accidentally, choking on milk. His daughter was sentenced to beheading in a case rights groups say underlines the vulnerability of many of the 1.5 million Sri Lankans who work abroad -- nearly 400,000 of them in Saudi Arabia alone. "Our family was suffering hardship, and so our daughter volunteered to go and work abroad to send money home," Nafeek told Reuters by telephone from his modest home in Mutur in Sri Lanka's war-torn northeast. After the December 2004 tsunami forced them from their home, the family was displaced again by renewed civil war between the state and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. Nafeek visited Saudi Arabia with Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister this month in a bid to secure clemency and met with relations of the dead child's parents but came away empty handed. Under Saudi law, a pardon is the gift of the family of the victim, and so far the parents of the dead child have refused to meet either the family or Sri Lankan officials. "The cops told us: 'Go and pray to Allah. If you can get the forgiveness of the parents, your daughter will be free,' " he said. "So I am praying all the time." "If we had been able to meet the parents, we are sure they would have been willing to forgive our daughter after seeing our situation." The Sri Lankan government is investigating the agency that sent Rizana to work abroad when she was technically still a child but remains hopeful she will be pardoned or exonerated. "I am fairly confident," said Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila. "We have spoken to tribal leaders of their particular tribe, we have spoken to area officials... It is they who will now have to speak (to the parents)." "His Excellency the President (Mahinda Rajapaksa) has been following this case very keenly. This is an exceptional case because of her tender age," he added. Rights groups accuse the government of failing to protect its expatriate workers -- one of the main sources of foreign-exchange revenues for the $23 billion economy -- with legal aid. They also decry Saudi Arabia's legal system. "This case raises many troubling questions about the treatment of children and foreigners in Saudi Arabia's criminal-justice system," Human Rights Watch said in a statement issued overnight. "International law prohibits the death penalty for crimes committed before the age of 18." Saudi Arabia executed four Sri Lankans convicted of armed robbery earlier this year, and did not inform Sri Lankan authorities beforehand. Sri Lanka reinstated its own death penalty in 2004 after the murder of a high court judge, but it has been dormant since 1976. There is no indication any of the dozens of convicted murderers, rapists and drug smugglers on death row in Sri Lanka and effectively serving life prison terms will actually be executed. E-mail to a friend

Question: What displaced her family?

Question: What was the girl's age?

Question: Who died accidentally, choking on milk?

Question: What was the girl convicted of?

Question: What did Nafeek say about the death?

Question: When was the family displaced by a tsunami?

Question: What did the child choke on?

Question: What was a girl convicted of?

Question: Who was convicted of killing baby in her care in Saudi Arabia?

Answer: 2004 tsunami.

Answer: 17

Answer: the child

Answer: killing a 4-month-old baby

Answer: the child died accidentally, choking on milk.

Answer: 2004

Answer: milk.

Answer: killing a 4-month-old baby boy in her care

Answer: Rizana Nafeek.

Summary:
Girl convicted of killing baby in her care in Saudi Arabia when she was 17 .
Nafeek says the child died accidentally, choking on milk .
Girl's family displaced by December 2004 tsunami, renewed civil war in Sri Lanka .


COLORADO CITY, Arizona (CNN)  -- A 16-year-old girl in Arizona has alleged sexual abuse in a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints community, sources in Arizona told CNN Friday. Warren Jeffs is the jailed leader of FLDS groups in Arizona, Utah, Texas and elsewhere. Authorities are investigating calls made by a teenage girl alleging abuse in her home by a male relative, according to the sources, who said the calls were similar to those made last week to Texas authorities from the polygamist sect's ranch in Eldorado, Texas. The Texas calls prompted a law enforcement raid in which more than 400 children were taken into state custody. The sources told CNN the Arizona calls came from a teenager in an FLDS household. Church members openly practice polygamy in Colorado City and in Hildale, Utah -- two towns straddling the Arizona-Utah state line. Warren Jeffs, the 52-year-old leader and "prophet" of the 10,000-member sect, was convicted in Utah last year on two counts of being an accomplice to rape, charges related to a marriage he performed in 2001. He faces trial in Arizona on eight charges of sexual conduct with a minor, incest and conspiracy. Critics of the sect say it forces girls as young as 13 into arranged marriages. E-mail to a friend

Question: What are the call reportedly similar to?

Question: Which male relative was the girl abused by?

Question: What number of children were removed from compound?

Question: What are authorities investigating?

Question: What person led the Arizona polgamist sect?

Question: What sparked the raid in Texas?

Question: Who is the jailed prophet?

Answer: those made last week

Answer: Warren Jeffs

Answer: 400

Answer: calls made by a teenage girl alleging abuse

Answer: Warren Jeffs

Answer: calls

Answer: Warren Jeffs

Summary:
Authorities investigate calls by girl alleging abuse by male relative .
Calls reportedly similar to those that sparked raid at Texas polygamist ranch .
Arizona polygamist sect also led by jailed "prophet" Warren Jeffs .
More than 400 children removed from sect's compound in Texas .


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- President Bush told the 2008 graduating class at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Wednesday that the "only way America could lose the war on terror is if we defeat ourselves." President Bush and Air Force Academy graduate Michael Riddick of Aiken, South Carolina, celebrate graduation. Speaking on a cloudy day at Falcon Stadium, the president compared the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to America's earlier conflicts, particularly World War II. "Our nation is once again contending with an ideology that seeks to sow anger, hatred and despair: the ideology of Islamic extremism," he said. "In today's struggle, we are once again facing evil men who despise freedom and despise America and aim to subject millions to their violent rule. "We assumed this obligation before," he said, referring to the rebuilding of Germany and Japan after World War II, a conflict that saw the loss of more than 400,000 American lives.  Watch more of Bush's speech » "Germany and Japan, once mortal enemies, are now allies of the United States. And people across the world have reaped the benefits from that alliance," he said. "Today, we must do the same in Afghanistan and Iraq. ... We'll lay the foundation of peace for generations to come." But today's wars differ from those of the past, Bush acknowledged, and not only because of modern technology that allows "greater precision" in warfare. "One challenge is that in the past, in Germany and Japan, the work of rebuilding took place in relative quiet," he said. "Today, we're helping emerging democracies rebuild under fire from terrorist networks and state sponsors of terror. This is a difficult and unprecedented task -- and we're learning as we go." The measure of success in war has changed, he said. "In the past ... there were public surrenders, a signing ceremony on the deck of a battleship, victory parades in American cities. Today, when the war continues after the regime has fallen, the definition of success is more complicated." Nonetheless, he said, in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a clear definition of success: when those countries are rid of al Qaeda, when they are economically viable, when they are democracies that can govern effectively and when they are strong allies on the war on terror. "These successes will come," he told the class. "And when they do, our nation will have achieved victory, and the American people will be more secure. "

Question: what did bush say

Question: Where does he predict that successes will come?

Question: Who speaks at the USAF Academy graduation?

Question: What does he compare the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to?

Question: What is the only way America could lose the war on terror?

Question: Where will Bush speak Wednesday?

Question: where does bush speak

Question: what was the main point of bush speech

Answer: "only way America could lose the war on terror is if we defeat ourselves."

Answer: Afghanistan and Iraq.

Answer: President Bush

Answer: America's earlier conflicts, particularly World

Answer: if we defeat ourselves."

Answer: U.S. Air Force

Answer: Academy

Answer: the "only way America could lose the war on terror is if we defeat ourselves."

Summary:
President Bush speaks at U.S. Air Force Academy graduation Wednesday .
Bush: "Only way America could lose the war on terror is if we defeat ourselves"
He compares the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to America's earlier conflicts .
Successes in Iraq and Afghanistan "will come," he told the class .


COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN)  -- Democratic Sen. Barack Obama kicked off a series of local outreach gospel concerts Friday in Charleston, South Carolina, that unexpectedly came back to bite his campaign.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is competing for the black vote with Hillary Clinton.

The concerts were meant to boost black voters' support for his presidential nominee bid -- the kind of events that would normally fly under the national radar.

The ensuing controversy highlighted that Obama's desire to unite disparate voting blocs -- especially religious voters -- under his umbrella of "change" is not without some serious pitfalls.

When the campaign announced the lineups for the three-city "Embrace the Change!" gospel tour last week, one name stood out to gay bloggers: Donnie McClurkin.

The Grammy-award winning singer is on record as saying homosexuality is a choice, and that he was "once involved with those desires and those thoughts" but was able to get past them through prayer.

To say the least, neither of those arguments is very popular in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

John Aravosis, a prominent gay blogger and co-founder of the Web site AmericaBlog, led the charge against the Obama campaign, writing that the Illinois Democrat was "sucking up to anti-gay bigots" and "giving them a stage."

When the story bubbled up into the mainstream media, it took the Obama campaign by surprise.

Obama's efforts in the Palmetto State have overwhelmingly targeted African-American churchgoers in a bid to win over black voters in South Carolina from rival Sen. Hillary Clinton.

The campaign has vigorously promoted the candidate's faith, launching "40 Days of Faith and Family" in September, which used Bible study groups to tap into the black electorate.

Campaigners have run three radio ads, one of which called Obama a "Christian family man," that aired on gospel stations across the state.

Earlier this month, Obama spoke at an evangelical church in the traditionally conservative city of Greenville, where he demonstrated a casual familiarity with Christian vocabulary, telling the crowd, to much applause, that "I am confident that we can create a kingdom right here on Earth."

After that appearance, the Obama campaign told CNN that Republicans no longer had a choke hold on issues of faith and values.

"I think that what you're seeing is a breaking down of the sharp divisions that existed maybe during the '90s," Obama said. "At least in politics, the perception was that the Democrats were fearful of talking about faith, and on the other hand you had the Republicans who had a particular brand of faith that oftentimes seemed intolerant or pushed people away."

But on Tuesday, Obama was forced to confront the uncomfortable truth that some Christians and gays are a little more than just strange bedfellows, especially among blacks.

Obama issued a statement saying, "I strongly disagree with Reverend [Donnie] McClurkin's views and will continue to fight for these rights as president of the United States," and argued that it is important to confront homophobia among religious African Americans.

A September poll of African Americans in South Carolina by Winthrop University and ETV showed that 62 percent of those surveyed said that "sex between two adults of the same sex" is "strongly unacceptable."

Obama held a conference call Wednesday with Joe Solomonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, and announced that the Rev. Andy Sidden, an openly gay South Carolina pastor, will appear at the same event as McClurkin on Sunday in Columbia.

Solomonese was not completely assuaged.

"I spoke with Senator Barack Obama today and expressed to him our community's disappointment for his decision to continue to remain associated with Reverend McClurkin, an anti-gay preacher who states the need to 'break the curse of homosexuality,'" he said in a statement.

"There is no gospel in Donnie McClurkin's message for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. That's a message that certainly doesn't belong on any presidential candidate's stage.

Question: Who else was asked to appear?

Question: What about the butt lineup offends homosexuals?

Question: where is Obama holding concerts?

Question: What was Obama's reaction to the preacher-singer's views?

Question: what has angered homosexuals?

Question: Who was offended?

Question: Who is offended by the appearance of anti-gay singer?

Question: Where were the concerts held?

Question: What concerts is Obama holding to win over African-American Christians?

Question: who has Obama asked to appear?

Question: Who is Obama trying to win over in S. Carolina?

Question: What caused Obama to disavow preacher-singer's views?

Answer: Rev. Andy Sidden,

Answer: The Grammy-award winning singer is on record as saying homosexuality is a choice,

Answer: Charleston, South Carolina,

Answer: disagree with Reverend [Donnie] McClurkin's

Answer: saying homosexuality is a choice, and

Answer: transgender community.

Answer: gay bloggers:

Answer: Charleston, South Carolina,

Answer: gospel

Answer: Rev. Andy Sidden,

Answer: black vote

Answer: is on record as saying homosexuality is a choice,

Summary:
Obama holding concerts to win over African-American Christians in S. Carolina .
But lineup offends homosexuals, angered by appearance of anti-gay singer .
Obama disavows preacher-singer's views, asks gay pastor to appear too .


COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN)  -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford left the Governor's Mansion on Friday to visit with his family in Florida, his office said. South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford says her husband, Mark, must rebuild trust with his family and with the state. Sanford departed the mansion, where he has spent much of the last 48 hours, in the passenger seat of a state vehicle. The Republican governor will spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend with his wife and their four boys. "The Sanford family asks members of the media to respect their privacy while they are together this weekend," his spokesman said in a statement Thursday. "The Sanfords also hope to take a longer family vacation toward the end of July." After disappearing for nearly a week, Sanford admitted last week that he'd been in Argentina with his mistress. His admission followed days of confusion over his whereabouts. His staff had said the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail, and his wife had told reporters she did not know where he was. He later revealed to The Associated Press that he'd seen his mistress several times in the past year and that he'd also "crossed lines" with other women. Jenny Sanford released a statement Thursday calling Sanford's actions "inexcusable," but she left the door open to reconciling with her husband. She said that although she is willing to forgive her husband, "it is up to the people and elected officials of South Carolina to decide whether they will give Mark another chance as well." "Actions have consequences, and he will be dealing with those consequences for a long while. Trust has been broken and will need to be rebuilt. Mark will need to earn back that trust, first and foremost with his family, and also with the people of South Carolina," she said in a statement. "The real issue now is one of forgiveness. I am willing to forgive Mark for his actions. We have been deeply disappointed in and even angry at Mark." Her statement came shortly after it was announced that a review of the governor's travel records showed no misuse of public funds in his travels. Sanford already paid back the state for the Argentina leg of a state-funded missions trip last year because he saw the woman he had an affair with on that trip. "Mark showed a lack of judgment in his recent actions as governor. However, his far more egregious offenses were committed against God, the institutions of marriage and family, our boys and me. Mark has stated that his intent and determination is to save our marriage and to make amends to the people of South Carolina," Jenny Sanford said. In the week after Mark Sanford admitted to his affair, nearly half of South Carolina's 27 Republican state senators called on him to step down. Despite the growing chorus, Sanford has no plans to step aside, his office said Thursday. "He remains committed and determined to repair the damage he has done in his marriage and to building back the trust of the people of South Carolina," his office said. Republican strategist and CNN contributor Bill Bennett said that politically Sanford, once a rising star for the GOP, is "a dead man walking." Bennett joins calls for Sanford's ouster "He is embarrassing himself. There is the old notion of indecent exposure -- usually that refers to somebody showing some skin they shouldn't -- and there's another form of indecent exposure: He is telling us way too much," he said.  Watch Bennett discuss the political drama » Bennett also suggested that the GOP can easily fill the gap Sanford would leave. "We have other people," he said. "We have other people who are not only fiscally interesting and sound but also can keep their lives together." CNN's Kristi Keck contributed to this report.

Question: Where is Mark Sanford going?

Question: What did Sanfords office say?

Question: who is leaving for a trip to florida

Question: what wont mark sanford do

Question: What is the name of the South Carolina Gov.?

Question: what is jenny sanford willing to do

Question: What is Jenny willing to do?

Answer: to visit with his family in Florida,

Answer: has no plans to step aside,

Answer: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford

Answer: has no plans to step aside,

Answer: Mark Sanford

Answer: forgive her husband,

Answer: forgive her husband,

Summary:
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford leaves for trip to Florida .
Jenny Sanford says she is willing to forgive her husband and reconcile .
Mark Sanford isn't resigning, his office says .
Nearly half of South Carolina's 27 GOP state senators call on Sanford to resign .


COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN)  -- South Carolina Republican Party Chairwoman Karen Floyd seemed to suggest Wednesday that the time had come for GOP Gov. Mark Sanford to consider resigning from office. Gov. Mark Sanford has said it's better for him to keep his governorship to "learn lessons." "For the past two days, I have been speaking with Republican leaders across South Carolina," she said in a statement. "There is clearly a growing view that the time may have come for Governor Sanford to remove himself and his family from the limelight, so that he can devote his efforts full-time to repairing the damage in his personal life." The statement comes on the same day as a growing number of GOP state senators called for Sanford to step down. CNN has learned that GOP Sens. Daniel Verdin, Shane Martin, Ronnie Cromer and Wes Hayes joined the anti-Sanford chorus Wednesday morning, bringing the total number of Republican senators calling for the governor's resignation to 13. There are 27 Republicans in the state Senate. Another state senator stopped just short of calling for Sanford to step down Wednesday. Glenn McConnell, Senate president pro tempore, didn't explicitly ask Sanford to resign, but he did ask him "to do the right thing for himself, his family and our state." Sanford and his staff have said repeatedly this week that he will not resign. He wrote in a message to his political action committee e-mail list Monday that while he considered resigning, "I would ultimately be a better person and of more service in whatever doors God opened next in life if I stuck around to learn lessons rather than running and hiding down at the farm." After returning last week from a secret trip to Argentina that his staff and wife didn't know about, Sanford admitted to an extramarital affair with a woman identified as Maria Belen Chapur. Sanford also told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he's "crossed lines" with other women, although Chapur was the only one he had sex with.  Watch a report on Sanford's situation » Sanford's support among legislators and grassroots leaders in the state eroded considerably Tuesday after Sanford told The Associated Press he had met with his mistress more times than he had previously disclosed. He also admitted to dalliances with other women. At least four county GOP chairmen have also called for Sanford to go. Glenn McCall, the York County Republican Party chairman who has been leading a grassroots effort against the governor, said Wednesday that he and other conservative activists are postponing a rally at the State House next week because legislators are starting to come out strongly against Sanford. The rally had been scheduled to pressure Senate and House leaders to call for Sanford's resignation and start an investigation into his activities. But now that officials are publicly coming out against the governor and Attorney General Henry McMaster has begun investigating Sanford's travel records, McCall said the rally may not be necessary. "We are hoping that legislators can quietly, in private talks with the governor, ask him if he would please step down," McCall said. A top South Carolina Democrat also called for Sanford's resignation Wednesday. "While I believe an investigation should still be done to determine the full extent of Mark Sanford's abuse of power, [through] his long stream of confessions he has already revealed enough immoral and reprehensible behavior to justify asking him to step [down]," state Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler said in a statement. "State officials seem unable to do anything except worry and talk about Governor Sanford's extramarital affair, which we learn more about every few hours. "... South Carolina can't afford to be at a standstill for the next 18 months with a governor who ignores his job responsibilities while pursuing personal interests," the statement said. "Any other worker in South Carolina would be fired for not showing up at work with no notice." Late Tuesday, seven GOP senators, including Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, jointly issued a letter demanding that the governor step down because he has lost the trust of South

Question: What did Sanford do?

Question: Who is the GOP chairwoman?

Question: Who may have to step down?

Question: Who is now calling on Sanford to resign?

Question: Who called on Sanford to resign?

Question: How many senators are calling for resignation?

Question: Who suggests Sanford may have to step down?

Question: What was cancelled?

Answer: admitted to an extramarital affair

Answer: Karen Floyd

Answer: Gov. Mark Sanford

Answer: South Carolina Republican Party Chairwoman Karen Floyd

Answer: South Carolina Republican Party Chairwoman Karen Floyd

Answer: 13.

Answer: Karen Floyd

Answer: rally at the State House

Summary:
GOP chairwoman suggests Sanford may have to step down .
13 of South Carolina's 27 GOP state senators now calling on Sanford to resign .
South Carolina Democratic Party chairwoman calls for Sanford's resignation .
County GOP Party chair cancels anti-Sanford rally, says it may not be needed .


COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- Oprah Winfrey delivered her "favorite" candidate in the presidential race something his campaign hoped for Sunday: the largest crowd yet of any event in the race to '08, according to the Obama campaign. Oprah campaigned with Obama this weekend in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Although exact figures were not immediately available, campaign officials estimated more than 30,000 people packed into Columbia, South Carolina's Williams-Brice stadium to hear the talk-show queen explain why she believes Obama is the man with the "vision" for America. "Dr. King dreamed the dream. We get to vote that dream into reality by supporting a man who knows not just who we are but who we can be," she told the crowd. South Carolina is one of the first states in the nation to hold its presidential primary, making it key to the success of any presidential candidate. Winfrey gave a similar speech Saturday in the first stop of a two-day, three-state tour with her fellow Chicagoan. She discussed on Sunday stepping out of her "comfort zone" by entering the political scene on behalf of a candidate, and praised Obama's "ear for eloquence and tongue for unvarnished truth. We need politicians to tell the truth and be the truth."  Watch what issues are important to Iowans » She also said Obama would bring "a sense of statesmanship" to the White House.  Watch Winfrey endorse Obama » After extensive thank-yous to his wife Michelle and to Winfrey -- and acknowledging that the crowd was largely there to see Winfrey, not him -- Obama launched into his stump speech. "I am running because of what Dr. King called 'the fierce urgency of now,' " he said. Covering ground from the Iraq war to the economy to health care, he said, "there is such a thing as being too late -- and that hour is almost upon us." His campaign worked the crowd, passing out cards to sign up supporters and verifying that those who showed up are registered to vote. They handed out cards asking fans to provide their mailing addresses and phone numbers. The cards also featured an "optional" pledge to vote for Obama on January 26. In his speech, Obama did not mention his chief rival by name. But he clearly referred to Sen. Hillary Clinton, saying that if he gets the Democratic nomination, his Republican competitor won't be able to say he ever "supported the Iraq war."  Watch how Winfrey's campaigning could give Obama a boost » Clinton was among the Democrats who supported a resolution authorizing force in Iraq in 2002, though in a speech on the Senate floor she said she believed supporting the resolution could ultimately make war itself less likely. Obama was not in the Senate at the time, but gave a speech opposing the possibility of war with Iraq. Clinton has held a lead over Obama in South Carolina, where the Democratic primary consists largely of African-American voters. Clinton had a star of her own on the campaign trail for her Sunday in South Carolina -- her husband, former president Bill Clinton, who addressed a church in the morning.  Check out some other celebrities who are endorsing candidates » "She has the best combination of mind and heart and strength of leadership and feeling for ... the problems of ordinary people of anybody I've ever worked with," the former president said Sunday. Clinton was on the campaign trail with her mother and daughter. E-mail to a friend CNN's Peter Hamby and Suzanne Malveaux contributed to this report.

Question: The event was staged in which state?

Question: What hit Iowa on Saturday?

Question: What do officials estimate?

Question: Where are the largest crowd?

Question: The large crowd supported which candidate?

Question: Oprah-bama hit where on Saturday?

Answer: South Carolina

Answer: Winfrey

Answer: more than 30,000 people packed into Columbia, South Carolina's Williams-Brice stadium to hear the talk-show queen explain why she believes Obama is the man with the "vision" for America.

Answer: Columbia, South Carolina's Williams-Brice stadium

Answer: Obama

Answer: South Carolina.

Summary:
NEW: Largest crowd yet in the race to '08, said Obama campaign .
NEW: Officials estimate more than 30,000 people attended event in S. Carolina .
"Oprah-bama" hit Iowa on Saturday; South Carolina, New Hampshire on Sunday .


COMO, Mississippi (CNN) -- Mary Dowden smiles when she thinks about this moment in history. At 80 years old, she's the granddaughter of a slave who was born in a cotton field outside of Como, Mississippi. Mary Dowden, 80, is the granddaughter of a slave. Barack Obama is bringing white and blacks together, she says. It's difficult to put into words how she feels about Barack Obama, the issues so complex for a black country girl who lost both her parents by the age of 18 and then had to work a hard-scrabble life as a sharecropper. "I was really afraid for him, because I didn't want nobody to kill him," she says when asked about casting her ballot for Obama. But she pauses and smiles. "I'm awfully proud of him, as a black person."  Watch "white and black is coming together" » Did she ever think she would see this moment? "No, I didn't," she says. "I always thought that, you know, the white was over the black, that they was the leading folks, that one nation is gonna be over another one, and that would be the white over the black. I never thought it would be a black president." With Obama's election, CNN.com traveled to the town of Como to talk with African-Americans about their experience growing up black in Mississippi and what this moment in history means to them. Como is a town of 1,400 people 45 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, along Interstate 55. It is a hard-hit rural community, home to a school with the dubious distinction of being among the worst-performing schools in the nation. In 2007, the IRS froze the town's bank accounts for not paying payroll taxes. A railroad track cuts through the middle of town. Even to this day, blacks largely live on one side of the track; whites on the other side.  See the hard-scrabble life of a slave's grandson » Dowden is a living testament to a life of struggle, sacrifice and ultimately success. When she was 10 years old, her mom cooked a dewberry pie after working the cotton fields all day. She then went to a friend's house and died. "It was real devastating," Dowden says softly. "I was 10. My sister was 12, and we didn't know how to do nothing. And we had to take care of our little brother." She missed one year of schooling because her father, Moses Wilson, couldn't afford schoolbooks. He died four days after she turned 18. She had two photos of her parents, but they were lost over the years. She knows even less about her grandparents. "All I know is, he said that his momma was sold. She was auctioned off," Dowden says. "I don't know where she was from. I don't know anything about her." Dowden is a mother of 12. One son died when he was 3; another died when he was 47. "It was hard both ways." Across town, a group of African-Americans have gathered at Cistern Hill Church to talk about the good times and the hard times -- and hope for a better future. They range in age from 74 to 18.  Watch "I started working when I was 6 years old" » Aubrey "Bill" Turner, 26, perks up when talking about Obama. "He's going to bring a sense of respect in Mississippi, that it's not just a white man's country. You can be young, you can be black, and you can do anything that you want to do," Turner says. "You do have a chance. And he's gonna put that all on the table for us." Turner has a tattoo across his neck that reads "Mr. Ssippi." His grandfather was well-known fife musician Otha Turner, whose music was

Question: Who is descended from a slave?

Question: Where did CNN.com interview blacks?

Question: Who says she is the granddaughter of a slave?

Question: Where did CNN.com travel?

Question: What is Obama's inspiration?

Question: What is Mary Dowden's age?

Question: What inspiration does Obama offer?

Question: Who was Mary Dowden afraid for?

Question: Who is the granddaughter of a slave?

Answer: Mary Dowden

Answer: COMO, Mississippi

Answer: Mary Dowden

Answer: COMO, Mississippi

Answer: Mary Dowden

Answer: old,

Answer: coming together"

Answer: Barack Obama

Answer: Mary Dowden

Summary:
Mary Dowden, 80, is the granddaughter of a slave .
She says she was afraid for Barack Obama because "I didn't want nobody to kill him"
CNN.com traveled to Como, Mississippi, to talk with blacks about Obama .
Obama's inspiration: "You can be young, you can be black, and you can do anything"


CONYERS, Georgia (CNN) -- "Your daughter is a walking time bomb." We have been told this more times than I like to remember. We have lived every day not knowing if the next breath she takes will be her last. After 22 years in the dark, Mandy Young is grateful to finally have a name for her condition. Her illnesses come so quickly. It's a daily battle of fear, worry, misery, faith and hope. She has been in the hospital more than 100 times. She has suffered one life-threatening infection after another. We share her story, our story, in hopes of helping others. We make sure that Mandy knows this is not just her illness. It's our families' life, our journey. She is not in this alone. It's extremely hard living a life so mysterious that doctors and scientists named her rare disease after her. It's our story about "Mandy's Disease." Mandy was a healthy, nine pound, green-eyed beauty -- until the day she was diagnosed with Spinal Meningitis. Hours and days crept by, waiting every four hours for our ICU visit, 10 minutes of torture. "Your daughter is very sick. Her mind is surely in a vegetated state from the seizures she continues to have. The stroke that she suffered has caused the left side of her body to be paralyzed," the doctors said. See photos of Mandy throughout her ordeal » "She is in a coma and we see no way she will wake up. We really don't think she will live through the night. It's time to tell her goodbye," they continued. Mind spinning, stomach churning, feeling like I've had the breath knocked out of me, I whispered, "NO." "No. We won't tell her goodbye. And you can't either. She has to fight. She has to know that we want her to fight." At 13 months, her left eye turned red. Allergies, Pink Eye, minor infection? All easily treated, and cured. By day five, after six trips to doctors and emergency rooms, when her eye was swollen beyond seeing and looked like a piece of raw meat, we were finally able to beg her doctor for more aggressive testing. Surgery, biopsies and a diagnosis. Nisseria Meningitides. Her eye would be replaced with a glass eye. But only if she lived. Watch Mandy talk about her illness on Vital Signs » At 21 months. Spinal Meningitis again. The same promises of certain death. ICU. Seizures. A 106 degree temperature raged. "There is no way that she has the strength to fight off another infection of this magnitude. It's time to let go. We're losing her by the minute." After the first bout of meningitis we were told, "No one gets it twice. Live your life and enjoy your child!" Then, bout two. Although not the same type of meningitis, it was the same family. It's rare to have it twice. But impossible to have it three times. But time three did come. "You have to find out why this keeps happening. She can't go through this again. What can you do?" we pleaded with the doctors. They told us it could possibly be immune deficiency. This was the first time we heard this term. Mandy was discharged and our journey for a reason began. Our lives were changed forever. Twice a week for the next two years, we handed her over for blood to be drawn. She went into isolation. Daily preventative antibiotics. But nothing stopped the madness of these infections. One fever blister on her lip turned into hundreds during a nap. She was hospitalized on oxygen as the blisters took over her lungs. Double Pneumonia. Scarlet Fever. Ear infection after ear infection. Surgically implanted tubes in her ears, infection, tubes out, surgery, tubes in. 11 times. An abscess the size

Question: When did she get a name for her disease?

Question: What did Mandy suffer?

Question: How many years did Mandy suffer?

Answer: After 22 years

Answer: Spinal Meningitis.

Answer: 22

Summary:
For 22 years, Mandy suffered from a mystery illness, leaving doctors speechless .
Mandy's mother recalls how doctors predicted Mandy's death countless times .
In 2003, Mandy and her family got what they had longed for: a name for her disease .


COPENHAGEN, Denamrk (CNN) -- Actress Connie Nielsen hit the big time when she starred in "Gladiator" as Lucilla, sister of the deranged Emperor Commodus. Since then she has appeared in hit movies including "One Hour Photo" and "The Hunted". Connie Nielsen has always refused to play the Hollywood fame game. But Nielsen has refused to play the Hollywood fame game and seems drawn to challenging roles in controversial movies, including "The Situation", about the current Iraq war, and "Battle in Seattle", about the anti-globalization riots that took place in Seattle in 1999. Nielsen now lives in the US and returns to Copenhagen every year. She talks to My City, My Life about what makes the city, and its people, so special. CNN: How do you define yourself? Connie Nielsen: I absolutely refuse the fame part of my business. I refuse even the money side of my business. I try to do as good work as I can do, I try to grow in my art and reach for truth. That's what I want from my art, that's what I aspire to. I try to combine my work with my family, that's what I aspire to. I don't say that's the only thing. It's not all work and family, because otherwise you would be saying no to the many other things in life and there are many other things. CNN: The people here are supposed to be incredibly happy -- what do you think? Connie Nielsen: I think it's funny in a way because when I grew up here it was very unusual to hear the word "happiness". If you asked somebody, "what do you wish for in life?" they wouldn't say "happiness." I would have answered "excitement, knowledge," God knows -- I mean, many, many different things, but certainly not "happiness". It seemed like a foreign concept to wish for something that specific and that singular. And I think that a lot of Danes kind of feel like that about being the happiest people in the world. CNN: Is there anything you'd like to change about the city? Connie Nielsen: Anywhere there are social buildings that stuff people into boxes, concentrate poor people there. It's specific to any big city. There was an effort to create buildings that concentrate these people very closely, and their social problems. They are still around in New York, Paris, London and here too. So if I could change anything about Copenhagen, or any other major big city, I would change the way we build buildings or housing for lower income people. I don't think people who are already burdened with social, economic, psychological situations, dysfunctional families, need to be burdened with other people with the same problems. CNN: Is the city politically driven? Connie Nielsen: I don't think I can remember a moment in my life where people didn't discuss politics. People discuss politics at the table. I think some of the first information I received was politically charged (laughs). It was at a time when girls were being told, "Why don't you go and learn how to repair machines rather than learn to repair your jumper? Why don't you learn to cut wood rather than learn to keep a house clean?" in school. It was to make us conscious of what we were, how we defined ourselves and why you would accept one concept of yourself rather than another. Have you searched through the truth of that concept? Have you deconstructed? Have you made sure that its foundations are valid? That's how I grew up and I think it was wonderful. CNN: How would you describe the city architecturally? Connie Nielsen: It's everything here from very late renaissance to this 19th century golden age we had here. It's that, intermixed with pure Danish modernism. I love the juxtaposition of it all. I love when we bring in metaphors for our past as well.

Question:
What country is Coppenhagen in?
Who refuses the fame and money?
What is the actor's name?
Who is Connie Nielsen?
Who refused fame and money?

Answer: Denamrk

Answer: Connie Nielsen: I absolutely

Answer: Connie Nielsen

Answer: Actress

Answer: Connie Nielsen

Summary:
Connie Nielsen says she refuses the fame and money side of acting .
She says the long winters mean the residents have to be creative .
Copenhagen is full of history and culture, and Nielsen loves its museums .
The city is very beautiful and the light has "a very special quality," she says .


COPENHAGEN, Denamrk (CNN) -- What makes someone decide to become an actor? It sometimes seems as if the average Hollywood star is motivated mainly by the promise of a fat pay check. Connie Nielsen shot to fame playing Lucilla in "Gladiator." Or perhaps they're drawn to the celebrity lifestyle. Maybe they crave the love of an adoring public, or perhaps they see the movies as a way to leave their mark on the world, to be immortalized on celluloid. For Danish actress Connie Nielsen it was something quite different. For her, being an actor means being an outsider. "As an artist you actually do have to make a choice to be an outsider. If you're an outsider you have the freedom to say what people on the inside don't dare to say," she told CNN. So Connie Nielsen is not your typical movie star. As a 5-foot-10-inch blonde Scandinavian beauty she has the looks of a classic silver screen siren, but she has steadfastly resisted a career as Hollywood eye candy and rejected the lifestyle that goes with it. "I absolutely refuse the fame part of my business," she says. "I refuse even the money side of my business. I try to do as good work as I can do, I try to grow in my art and reach for truth," she says. Raised in Elling, a small coastal village in Denmark, she is fluent in seven languages and studied acting in France and Italy, making her screen debut in French comedy "Par Où T'es Rentré? On T'a Pas Vu Sortir" (U.S. title "How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave") in 1984. She appeared in more French and Italian movies before landing a role opposite Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves in "The Devil's Advocate" in 1997. But it wasn't until 2000, when she was cast in Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning "Gladiator", that Nielsen landed a role that really let her show her acting ability. As Lucilla, the sister of the villainous Emperor Commodus, Nielsen brought some much-needed subtlety to the swords-and-sandals epic and held her own sharing the screen with Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe. The movie made Nielsen an international star and she scored other successes with "One Hour Photo" in 2002, and "The Hunted" in 2003. But while the success of "Gladiator" opened doors for her, it also meant she had to fight the kind of typecasting that would try to limit her to playing "the love interest" to a male lead who got all the good lines. Nielsen has in the past been critical of Hollywood for its lack of female roles, saying "you think once you've shown what you can do, and your movies have been successful, that snap, you work. So to discover the difference between guys' roles and girls' roles made me plain mad. It's unjust." But Nielsen has refused to be pigeonholed, seemingly drawn to difficult roles in controversial movies. She appeared in French movie "Demonlover", which dealt with pornography, violence and corporate amorality, while more recent films have taken on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Danish drama "Brødre" (U.S. title "Brothers") is about a soldier who returns from Afghanistan a broken man, unable to communicate his experiences from the conflict. Playing his wife, Nielsen put in a powerful performance that won her awards and served to highlight how Hollywood had underused her talents. "The Situation" in 2006 was billed as the first film to be made about the Iraq war and told the story of ordinary Iraqis caught up in the conflict, while "Battle of Seattle" examined how peaceful protests erupted into riots when the World Trade Organization met in Seattle in 1999. Of her choice of subject matter, Nielsen says that rather than making a political point she is trying to show the human aspects of the conflicts. But Nielsen makes it clear that her career is not the focus of her life and she stresses the importance of making time

Question: What number of languages does Nielsen speak?

Question: What kind of movies has she been in?

Question: Where did she appear?

Question: Who speaks several languages?

Question: Who made her name?

Question: Does she speak any other languages?

Question: Who did Connie Nielson play?

Question: What movie was Connie Nielsen in?

Question: Who made her name playing Lucilla in "Gladiator"?

Question: What wars have her movies dealt with?

Question: What did the movies deal with?

Answer: seven

Answer: "Gladiator."

Answer: "Gladiator."

Answer: Connie Nielsen

Answer: Connie Nielsen

Answer: seven

Answer: Lucilla in "Gladiator."

Answer: "Gladiator."

Answer: Connie Nielsen

Answer: Afghanistan and Iraq.

Answer: pornography, violence and corporate amorality,

Summary:
Connie Nielsen made her name playing Lucilla in Ridley Scott's "Gladiator"
She has appeared in movies dealing with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq .
Nielsen speaks seven languages and is passionate about art and literature .


CORAL SPRINGS, Florida (CNN) -- Authorities solved a 31-year-old disappearance this year when they found the remains of Jeff Klee, missing since 1977, in a van in a canal. Jeff Klee had been missing since 1977; his remains were found this year. But prosecutors have announced that no charges would be filed against the man who, authorities say, admits that he put Klee's body in the van three decades earlier. "Today is a sad day for our family," Klee's sister, Laurel Steele, told reporters Thursday. "It tests my family's faith to its very core." Klee's remains were found in March during a routine police sweep for stolen vehicles in the C-14 canal in Coral Springs, Florida. The van was in neutral when police discovered it. DNA confirmed Klee's identity, but authorities say there was not enough evidence to determine how he died -- and whether he had been killed.  Watch Klee's sister react to the decision » The Broward County State Attorney's Office said the statute of limitations on possible manslaughter charges expired in 1980. As for a more serious charge such as first-degree murder to which a statute of limitations would not apply, prosecutors said they don't have any evidence of premeditation or that the death was caused by a criminal act. Police had long thought Klee's best friend, David Cusanelli, was the last person to see him alive June 21, 1977. According to a memorandum released Thursday by the Broward County State Attorney's Office, Cusanelli told authorities this July 28 that he put Klee's body inside his black Chevy van after he was dead and that his brother, Carl Cusanelli, helped shove the van into the canal. But Cusanelli denied involvement in Klee's death, prosecutors said. Mitch Polay, the defense attorney for the Cusanelli brothers, reiterated that denial. He said the brothers' statements "were taken out of context, and they were posed as hypotheticals to drum up potential memories of the event." "My clients, for 31 years, have denied any involvement," Polay told CNN. "They had no involvement with pushing any van into the water, nor did they have any involvement with the death of Jeff Klee." According to the prosecution memorandum, Cusanelli told police that he and Klee had an argument over a former girlfriend. Cusanelli said Klee began to chase him out at the canal that night, the document alleges. Cusanelli said that "all he remembers is, he turned around and saw that Jeff had fallen and was on the ground, and his head was split open, and there was a lot of blood," according to the document. "There was definitely a confrontation that night, which resulted in Jeff Klee's death," lead Detective David Weissman said Thursday. Cusanelli told police that he ran away from Klee because he was in fear of his life and that he has no idea how Klee fell. Cusanelli concedes that he may have thrown a rock at Klee, according to the prosecution memo. Cusanelli, according to the memo, said he panicked and put Klee's body inside his van. He then called his brother Carl, who helped push the vehicle into the canal, the memo alleges. In the state attorney's memorandum, Cusanelli said Klee was bleeding from a serious head wound and was not breathing. He told authorities he would never have put Klee's body into the van and rolled it into the canal if Klee wasn't dead, the memo says. Carl Cusanelli told police he helped push the van into the canal, the memo says, but denied any knowledge that Klee may have been in the van at the time. David Cusanelli also told police that he thinks he blocked the whole incident from his memory and that only recently did some details begin to materialize, according to the prosecution memo. "It's turned their worlds upside down. They are very upset," said Polay, the defense attorney. "Thirty-one years ago, David was best friends with Jeff Klee

Question:
What is his name?
When was the man's death?
How much evidence do they have?
What was found in a van?

Answer: Jeff Klee,

Answer: 1977,

Answer: any

Answer: remains of Jeff Klee,

Summary:
Prosecutors say they won't pursue charges in death of man from 1977 .
Remains of Jeff Klee were found in van in a canal in Florida this year .
Authorities say there's not enough evidence to determine cause of death .
"Justice has been denied," Klee's sister says .


COVINGTON, Louisiana (CNN) -- A woman recruited over the Internet and shot to death during a Ku Klux Klan group's initiation rite felt a need to be wanted and was eager to be part of a group, authorities say family members told them.

Relatives describe Cynthia Lynch as having a deep need to feel wanted and eager to join groups.

Her relatives told investigators that Cynthia Lynch, 43, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had never been outside her home state, said Capt. George Bonnett of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Department.

But she recently took a bus to Slidell, Louisiana, where she was met by two Klan members and taken to a campsite in the woods near Sun, Louisiana, about 60 miles north of New Orleans.

Bonnett and Sheriff Jack Strain gave CNN this account of what happened:

During the initiation rite, members of the Klan group, which calls itself the Sons of Dixie, shaved Lynch's head. After 24 hours of drills, including chanting and running with torches, she asked to be taken to town. An argument began and the group's leader, Chuck Foster, allegedly pushed her to the ground and shot her to death without warning.

Lynch wanted to leave the campsite because she was homesick, investigators concluded after talking to Lynch's family in Tulsa.  Watch how an initiation rite went wrong Â»

Strain told CNN that Foster used a knife to remove the bullet. Other members of the Sons of Dixie helped cover up the slaying for Foster, their leader or "Grand Lordship," Strain added. The attempt to conceal the killing included burning the woman's personal items, Strain said.

The new details emerged Thursday as the FBI announced it was assisting local authorities.

The FBI's top agent in New Orleans, Louisiana, said the agency usually doesn't monitor specific groups, but will look into whether any federal laws were violated.

"The FBI is working closely with local law enforcement authorities investigating this recent incident," said Special Agent in Charge David W. Welker. He added that the FBI would "aggressively investigate" any leads and urged anyone with information to call the FBI at  504-816-3000

Sheriff's investigators said they received the intitial tip about the killing from a convenience store clerk. Two of the group members went into the store and asked the clerk if he knew how to get bloodstains out of their clothes, Strain said. The clerk told them no, and called the sheriff after they left.

Officials tracked down those two members and arrested them. Authorities established telephone contact with other members of the group who were still at the campsite and let them know law enforcement officials were on their way. They surrendered without incident.

Foster was elsewhere in the woods, but he also surrendered, the sheriff said.  Watch report on Klan initiation gone awry Â»

The woman's body was found under loose brush along a road several miles from the campsite. At the campsite, investigators found Confederate flags, KKK banners, five Klan robes and an Imperial Wizard robe.

Foster, 44, is charged with second-degree murder. He remained Thursday at the St. Tammany Parish jail with no bail set, authorities said.

Seven other suspects also remained in jail Thursday, charged with obstruction of justice. Bail for each was set at $500,000.

On Wednesday, sheriff's investigators searched a house Foster had rented for the past five years in Bogalusa. They found Klan paraphernalia, documents and computer files. Among the seized documents were membership applications, titles and a chain of command for group members

"We recovered various documents out of that home that are giving us an indication of the organizational structure and the organizational guidelines of the group," Bonnett said.

Fred Oswold, chief of criminal investigations for the sheriff's office, said the Sons of Dixie Klan group is small and that most of its members already had been arrested.

"So far we have learned that they were a small group, but they were fairly organized," said Oswold, who said his agency is working with the

Question: What does the group call itself?

Question: Who is working with the FBI?

Question: Age of Chuck Foster?

Question: How old is Foster?

Question: Who was charged with second-degree murder?

Question: What does the Louisiana Klan goup call itself?

Question: Who is the FBI working with?

Question: What was Chuck Foster charged with?

Question: Who called themselves the "Sons of Dixie"?

Question: Who was working with local police?

Question: What person was killed?

Question: Who are the "Sons of Dixie"?

Answer: the Sons of Dixie,

Answer: local law enforcement authorities

Answer: 44,

Answer: 44,

Answer: Foster,

Answer: Sons of Dixie,

Answer: local law enforcement authorities

Answer: second-degree murder.

Answer: Klan group,

Answer: FBI

Answer: Cynthia Lynch,

Answer: members of the Klan

Summary:
Louisiana Klan group called itself the "Sons of Dixie"
FBI says it is working with local police .
Chuck Foster, 44, charged with second-degree murder in death of Cynthia Lynch .
Others involved in initiation are accused of trying to conceal the killing .


CRANWELL, England (CNN)  -- Britain's oldest man and the oldest living veteran of World War I was celebrating his 112th birthday Friday with a party and a fly-past at an air force base. Henry Allingham at a 90th anniversary celebration of the Royal Air Force this year. Henry Allingham is the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service, which he joined in 1915. He saw action at the Battle of Jutland off Denmark the following year, according to the Ministry of Defense. Allingham is also the last surviving founding member of the Royal Air Force, which was created in 1918, nine months before the end of the war. He left the service a year later, the defense ministry said. Friday's events were happening at the Royal Air Force base in Cranwell, England, about 120 miles north of London. Friends of his at the base said Allingham, who arrived in a wheelchair, was looking "fresh." After a birthday lunch, aircraft from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, an aerial display team, planned to fly overhead, the base said. Members of the Falcons Parachute Display Team then planned to drop in and present Allingham with a birthday card from the chief of Britain's air staff. Allingham is Britain's oldest man and the oldest surviving member of the armed forces, according to Guinness World Records. The former aircraft engineer still travels and makes public appearances at military events and commemorations. In July, Allingham had a private audience with Queen Elizabeth and attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace. In November, he laid a wreath in St. Omer, France -- where he was stationed during the war -- to celebrate Armistice Day, the end of World War I. Allingham said last year that he remains active to emphasize the importance of remembering the conflict. "I don't do these things because I enjoy doing them but to keep the memory alive of all my comrades who fought and died in the First World War," he told the Ministry of Defense.

Question: What is the age of Britain's oldest man?

Question: what is he a member of?

Question: What is the name of the man?

Question: what is the age of  Britain;s oldest man?

Question: When was the Royal Air Force formed?

Answer: 112th

Answer: Royal Naval Air Service,

Answer: Henry Allingham

Answer: 112th

Answer: 1918,

Summary:
Britain's oldest man, oldest veteran from World War I, celebrates his 112th birthday .
Henry Allingham last founding member of the Royal Air Force, formed in 1918 .
Ex-aircraft engineer still travels, makes public appearances at military events .


CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan doesn't come around President Bush's ranch any more, but there's a new kid in town trying to get his attention.

Peace activist Alix Bryan traveled 11,000 miles to President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Peace activist Alix Bryan, 33, arrived near the ranch here on Saturday afternoon aboard a motor scooter that goes about 55 miles per hour -- on 12-inch wheels.

She drove the scooter from the White House to a home in Crawford dubbed by anti-war activists as the "Peace House," mapping out a circuitous route that formed a peace sign.

Sheehan used to frequent the house.

Bryan bears little resemblance to Sheehan, a California woman who gained national attention as a protest leader after her son Casey was killed fighting in Iraq.

Sheehan's loss prompted her to camp near Bush's home in Crawford throughout August 2005, demanding a meeting with the president to discuss her son. Bush refused to see her, and she abandoned her protests in Texas last year.

Bryan's odyssey took three months. She journeyed more than 11,000 miles braving elements ranging from rain to wind and even one speeding ticket (which she says she talked her way out of). ( Watch Bryan arrive in Crawford »)

"I had my moments actually where I was just exhausted, I mean it's draining," Bryan said upon her arrival in Crawford. "I've ridden in heat from 105 degrees to temperatures (as low as) 40 degrees."

Bryan blogged about the trip on the Web site of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, the liberal presidential candidate, and sustained herself with donations to her own site, www.peacescooter.com.

Bryan said she always planned to end her trip in Crawford and hoped to arrive on September 15 after hitting the road from the White House in July. But weather delays and running out of gas once delayed her arrival in Texas until this weekend, when Bush happens to be spending time at his ranch.

While the odds of landing a meeting with the president are remote at best, Bryan said if she had the chance she would like to start a dialogue of peace based on the conversations she had with Americans along the way.

"I would say even those who voted for Bush do not support this war," she said.

But the large crowds of antiwar activists that followed Sheehan around Crawford in the summer of 2005 have long since vanished.

A "rally" at the Peace House to celebrate Bryan's arrival drew just a handful of antiwar activists. Nevertheless, Bryan said she was not defeated.

"Calm seas," she said, "don't make good sailors." E-mail to a friend

Question: What did Bryan ride for more than 11,000 miles?

Question: What did the activist's route form?

Question: What did the activist want to do?

Question: How many miles did Bryan ride his scooter?

Answer: a motor scooter

Answer: a peace sign.

Answer: meeting with the president to discuss her son.

Answer: 11,000

Summary:
Antiwar activist's route from the White House to Bush's ranch forms peace sign .
Bryan rode scooter more than 11,000 miles on circuitous route .
Activist says she's hoping to start a dialog to end war in Iraq .


CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (CNN) -- Camryn Jakeb Wilson was bathed in TV lights the day he was born, celebrated on the local news as Summit County's 2008 New Year's baby after his arrival at 12:33 a.m. January 1. Camryn Jakeb Wilson was the first baby born this year in Summit County, Ohio, arriving at 12:33 a.m. January 1. Just 12 weeks later, he was bathed in warm water minutes after he quietly died in his mother's arms, the victim of shaken baby syndrome. Camryn's 9-year-old sister, Tabatha, asked why he needed a bath now. "We have to get him ready to go to Jesus," a nurse softly replied. Tabatha took up a sponge to help. Camryn's father, Craig R. Wilson, 28, of Cuyahoga Falls, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on murder and other charges August 20. Police say he confessed to shaking and squeezing the infant after arguing with his wife, Crystal Wilson. But he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and faces trial in September. "There are no excuses for this to happen to any baby," said Crystal Wilson, 26. "This is murder. He had no reason to die. He died because he cried." An innocent infant's violent death has destroyed a family.  Watch the family celebrate Camryn's birth » "It really is a tragedy," said Craig Wilson's defense attorney, Jonathan T. Sinn. "I mean, not only did Crystal and Craig lose a son, but Crystal lost a husband, and Craig's parents lost a son and a grandson. ... One day this was a happy, perfect family, and the next day it's been devastated." The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome estimates that as many as 1,400 babies annually are injured or killed by shaking. According to the center, 70 percent to 79 percent of people convicted of killing or hurting babies are men. The average age of perpetrators is 24, and 82 percent are either the parent of the victim or the live-in boyfriend of the mother.  Watch CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explain shaken baby syndrome » Craig Wilson and Crystal Twiddy, both recovering alcoholics, met about four years ago in a softball league popular with Alcoholics Anonymous members. The couple beamed in engagement photos shot in a garden setting before they were married in September. It was the first marriage for both.  See photos of the family » Craig, the machinist son of the Cuyahoga Falls High School wrestling coach and a former Mat Cats wrestler himself, became a father figure to Tabatha, Crystal's daughter from a previous relationship. The newlyweds also became frequent caretakers to 1-year-old Corrine, a daughter Craig had with another woman. Family members said the couple's only source of conflict was Craig's interaction with Corrine's mother. On March 12, the topic sparked a heated quarrel, according to a police report and family accounts. The couple hurled their wedding rings, along with profane insults, at each other. Crystal left with Tabatha to attend one of her regular AA meetings, leaving baby Camryn in the care of his father. "Maybe they both could have used a meeting that night," Sinn observed. When Crystal and Tabatha got home from the meeting March 12, Crystal immediately noticed that Camryn didn't look right in his baby swing. He was gasping for air but couldn't be wakened. After briefly speaking with an on-call doctor at Akron Children's Hospital, she scooped him up and rushed him there. Camryn was critically injured, with bleeding inside his head and in the backs of his eyes, and several broken ribs -- some of which, according to the autopsy, turned out to be older injuries. Medical personnel at the hospital determined that the combination of injuries could only mean abuse. When rib fractures are seen in a 10-week-old infant, "it's beating up," said Dr. Nicolas Krawiecki, a pediatric neurologist and faculty member at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He

Question: What year was the baby shaken to death born?

Question: What did the autopsy indicate?

Question: What number of weeks old was the infant?

Question: Who confessed to police?

Question: Where was the 2008 New Year's baby from?

Question: Who is the dad's lawyer?

Question: What was the age of the the infant?

Answer: 2008

Answer: bleeding inside his head and in the backs of his eyes, and several broken ribs

Answer: 12

Answer: Craig R. Wilson,

Answer: Summit County, Ohio,

Answer: Jonathan T. Sinn.

Answer: 12 weeks

Summary:
2008 New Year's baby of Summit County, Ohio, shaken to death .
Father confessed to police, but attorney fighting murder charge .
Autopsy on 12-week-old infant indicates earlier injuries .
Tragedy destroys family, ruins relationships .


Cairo (CNN) -- A pipeline that supplies gas from Egypt to Israel exploded Monday in the northern Sinai Peninsula near Bir el-Adb, an Egyptian security official said.

The explosion appears to be an act of sabotage, said Gen. Saleh al-Masri, the head of security in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula.

"It is an act of sabotage, but the army and members of Egyptian Natural Gas Company are on the scene trying to understand what happened," al-Masri said.

The explosion has shut off the flow of gas to Israel and Jordan, said Ayman Jahin, a general manager at the gas company.

It is the third such attack on Egyptian pipeline infrastructure since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak's government earlier in the year. The first two attacks resulted in a halt in the flow of gas to Israel, which receives about 40% of its natural gas from Egypt.

The army cordoned off the area around the explosion, asking onlookers to return home," Mohamed Sabry, a freelance journalist at the scene, told CNN.

He said flames could be seen shooting into the sky hours after the explosion. Firefighters were working to contain the fire, he said.

Delivery of Egyptian gas to Israel came to a halt after an April attack on a pipeline in the Sinai Peninsula. The flow of gas through the pipeline to Israel was restored in early June.

In February, a gas pipeline in El Arish that sent natural gas to Jordan was set on fire, shutting off the flow of gas to not only Israel but but Syria, Jordan and Lebanon as well.

The issue of gas sales to Israel has become highly controversial in Egypt with various allegations circulating that Israel received below market prices for the gas and that Egyptian government officials enriched themselves on the deal.

The Israeli government and Israeli investors in the pipeline have categorically denied below market pricing for the gas and last month one of the major investors released a statement expressing public frustration that the Egyptian government was not moving more quickly to get the gas flowing again and threatened to pursue legal action.

The pipeline between Egypt and Israel became operational in 2008 and the arrangement represents one of the major economic agreements between the two countries.

CNN's Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report.

Question: What was shut off in Israel and Jordan from Egypt?

Question: How much natural gas from Egypt does Israel receive?

Question: What did the army do?

Question: What was shut off?

Question: What does Israel get from Egypt?

Question: How much natural gas comes fro Egypt?

Question: Were onlookers asked to leave?

Question: What has been shut off in Jordon?

Question: What has the army done?

Answer: the flow of gas

Answer: 40% of its

Answer: cordoned off the area around the explosion,

Answer: the flow of gas to Israel and Jordan,

Answer: natural gas

Answer: 40%

Answer: asking

Answer: gas

Answer: trying to understand

Summary:
Flow of gas to Israel and Jordan from Egypt has been shut off .
The army has cordoned off the area and asked onlookers to leave .
It is the third such attack since Mubarak's government was toppled .
Israel receives approximately 40% of its natural gas from Egypt .


Cairo (CNN) -- Egyptians reveled in their chance to vote in a post-Hosni Mubarak era during a second day of parliamentary elections, but nightfall brought new clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square that stretched into Wednesday.

At least 88 people had been hurt, 28 of them seriously enough to go to a hospital, a Health Ministry official, Dr. Adel Adawi, told the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram. The rest were treated at makeshift clinics in the square, Adawi said, but hospitals expected more people to be brought in.

The victims had been hit by rocks, glass bottles, birdshot and Molotov cocktails, Dr. Hisham Sheeha, another Health Ministry official, told CNN. At least a dozen gunshots rang out across the plaza, and ambulances darted in and out of the square as the fighting continued.

Tahrir Square was the epicenter of the protests that drove Mubarak from power in February and the ongoing demonstrations against the military council that succeeded him. The state-run Middle East News Agency, citing a military source, said there were no police or troops in the square at the time.

Witnesses said Tuesday's melee began with fights between vendors and protesters, who began throwing rocks and attacking their kiosks with sticks. The protesters complained some vendors were giving demonstrations a bad image by selling marijuana, said Mina Hagras, one of the demonstrators who has been camped in the square.

"This is not the spirit of the revolutionaries or the square," Hagras said. "They warned them. They did not stop. So they took matters in their own hands and beat them up. Now, state TV is saying all the protesters in (the) square are thugs and drug users. This is not fair."

But Mohamed Shafei, whose sandwich stand was destroyed in the brawl, said the protesters turned on the vendors indiscriminately and confiscating their goods.

"Yes, there were several vendors selling hashish and pills, but not all of us are the same," Shafei said as he carried the remains of his kiosk. "Now the vendors are pissed and retaliating."

The new clashes came after a second day of voting, the first time some Egyptians -- young and old -- have ever cast ballots. Citizens are picking members of the lower house of parliament, which will be tasked with drafting a new constitution after three decades of Mubarak's rule.

Despite logistical problems and illegal campaigning that marred the first day of balloting on Monday, Egypt's stock exchange opened considerably higher Tuesday and saw an unprecedented wave of buying amid the elections.

Voters decried the late opening of polling stations Monday and a delay in the arrival of ballots, leading the head of Egypt's election committee to promise a smoother voting process Tuesday.

Election officials said they have received 964 complaints, 579 of which have been addressed, according to Egypt TV. State TV reported that 25 people were injured in election-related violence.

Activist Hafez Abu Saeeda, of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, said on Twitter he was in Al-Khaleefa "working on an election tour, and an attack took place on our supporters before I arrived." The army was able to control the situation immediately, he said. One person was injured.

But many voters expressed jubilation at their chance to help build a new Egypt after the popular revolt that toppled Mubarak.

"Before, there was always cheating. Now -- I could be wrong -- but I think my vote will count," Mohamed Rida'a Mohamed Abdulla said as he left a Cairo polling station.

Some polling areas were segregated by gender. Lines at both men's and women's stations snaked around buildings for hours.

"It's an awakening," one woman said, beaming, at a Cairo polling station. "I'm very happy, and I feel that even when I see old ladies hardly walking, it makes me feel that really Egypt is reviving."

The stakes are high for Egyptian women, who worry that if Islamists gain a majority in the lower house of Parliament, their hopes for a more liberal life will be

Question: what happened to the stock market

Question: who elects the members of parliament of Egypt

Question: whats Voters pick members of the lower house of Egypt's parliament?

Question: how many were wounded

Question: what did the lower house do

Question: who will have the task of drafting the new constitution of Egypt

Answer: opened considerably higher

Answer: Citizens

Answer: Citizens

Answer: 88

Answer: will be tasked with drafting a new constitution

Answer: lower house of parliament,

Summary:
NEW: Fresh Tahrir Square clashes leave nearly 90 wounded .
Report: Egypt's stock market sees an unprecedented wave of buying .
Voters pick members of the lower house of Egypt's parliament .
The lower house will be tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution .


Cairo (CNN) -- Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak could be executed if he is convicted of ordering the killing of protesters, Egypt's justice minister says.

"One of the charges he is facing is complicity in the killing of martyrs and issuing the orders for premeditated the killing of those people," said Justice Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz al-Juindy. "This is a charge with a harsh punishment -- the death penalty."

In his first television interview since taking office, the new justice minister said last week that Egyptian courts would not shy away from sentencing Mubarak to death if he is found guilty.

"If the crime is proven, then the court will not hesitate to issue the death sentence," he said.

"A judge may have mercy if there is a reason for that, but I don't think in this case there is any argument for clemency whatsoever," the minister added, calling it "a horrible crime, to kill 800 citizens who were asking for their rights and hoping to topple a corrupt regime that caused the ruin of Egypt."

Mubarak resigned in the face of popular protests in February after more than 30 years in power.

He has been in poor health and living in the southern Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since then. Prosecutors last month shelved plans to move him to a military hospital in Cairo, saying Mubarak's doctors said the transfer could be life-threatening.

Adel Saeed, the prosecutor's spokesman, said April 26 that the Interior Ministry made the decision after Mubarak's medical team submitted a report that determined he would be at risk if he were moved.

But Justice Minister al-Juindy said Mubarak's health was "good," according to reports he had received.

Mubarak "suffers some heart irregularities known as atrial fibrillation, but his pulse and pressure are fine. His heart rate is 65 per minute, which is considered like an athlete," the official said.

"Of course he's facing questioning for the first time in his life, so this is affecting him psychologically," the minister added.

He will be required to appear in court when the time comes, al-Juindy said.

"His appearance in court will be mandatory," he said.

If Mubarak is too sick to appear, "in this case, the prosecutor visits him, and this is a procedure we follow with any sick suspect. The suspect must be given a chance to put forward his defense, so that the trial can be fair."

He is also being probed on allegations of corruption and misuse of state funds.

"There are reports that the former president's wealth is in the billions, and indeed it is billions," the justice minister asserted.

So far "we can't ascertain the exact amount, but the investigation is underway," he said.

Mubarak's trial will show that the rule of law is supreme in the country, al-Juindy said.

"The law is respected in Egypt and is applied on everyone without any exception," he said. "This is very important because Egypt now has become a country were the law is sovereign."

Question: What penalty does the crime carry?

Question: who is Hosni Mubarak ?

Question: Mubarak was forced from office by protesters after more than how many years in power?

Question: who is Egypt's former president?

Question: Who is is accused of ordering protesters shot?

Answer: death sentence,"

Answer: Former Egyptian President

Answer: 30

Answer: Hosni Mubarak

Answer: Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

Summary:
Egypt's former president is accused of ordering protesters shot .
The crime carries the death penalty, and courts will not hesitate to use it, Egypt's justice minister says .
Hosni Mubarak is in good health, the minister says .
Mubarak was forced from office by protesters after more than 30 years in power .


Cairo (CNN) -- I strolled through the halls of the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo the other day, perusing all the family photos of Arab leaders at various summit meetings over the years.

There was deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, deposed and violently disposed of Libyan "Brother Leader" Moammar Gadhafi, exiled Tunisian President Zine Abedine Ben Ali, Yemen's beleaguered President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and Syria's embattled President Bashar Al-Assad.

Uneasy, I thought, must sit the other heads of state featured in those photos.

But it was those surviving leaders, of such less-than-democratic countries as Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Sudan, to name a few, who instructed their foreign ministers to vote Saturday to suspend Syria from the Arab League over its bloody suppression of the eight-month-old uprising there.

In the final months of 2011, the future is looking very uncertain for the creaking Arab political order. Egypt and Tunisia are no longer solid, reliable members of the bloc of conservative, pro-Western "moderate" Arab regimes the United States cobbled together in the aftermath of the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Revolutions and revolts -- finished and ongoing -- must be depriving many rulers of a good night's sleep.

The citizens of the Arab world have finally had enough of the tired charades of the past.

Increasingly endangered are the sham referendums where presidents won 99 percent of votes, where hardly anyone took the time to cast a ballot, the "parties" that were little more than mafias with empty slogans, and the state intelligence thugs who were a law unto themselves.

That stuff just doesn't cut it anymore.

As we strolled together through a ransacked intelligence headquarters in Sabha, Libya, a few months ago, one man told me: "We used to fear our rulers. Now they fear us."

This year almost every Arab state, from the Atlantic to the Gulf, has had to at least go through the motions of initiating political reform.

And while they'd be loathe to share their true motivations, I suspect Arab rulers didn't vote against Syria because they are new converts to people power or support the bloodied opponents of al-Assad. No, there is more to this vote than the so-called "Arab Spring."

As much as aging Arab autocrats fear their people, they also fear Iran. The last 10 years have been good for Iran.

First, the United States led an international coalition to oust Iran's bitter enemies, the Taliban, from power in Afghanistan.

Less than two years later, the Americans did it again in Iraq, bringing down another implacable foe of Iran, Saddam Hussein, and then installing a new political order in Baghdad much more friendly to Tehran.

In 2006 the Americans backed Israel's ill-fated summer war against Iran's Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, which emerged from the 33-day conflict stronger than ever.

In 2007, Hamas, also friends with Iran, ousted the U.S.-backed Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza. Iran was an enthusiastic backer of the revolt against the leaders of Bahrain earlier this year, though that uprising was crushed with Saudi help.

In the meantime, there is growing fear over Iran's perceived nuclear ambitions, those fears stoked by regular pronouncements over the past two decades from Tel Aviv that Iran "is on the verge of producing a nuclear weapon."

Against this backdrop is an across-the-board diminution of American power in the Middle East.

At the end of this year the United States will end its military presence in Iraq, and soon afterward, it will do the same in Afghanistan.

The Obama administration, with 2012 elections looming and after several half-hearted false starts and high-profile humiliations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appears to have given up trying to broker real peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Above and beyond regional issues, the U.S. economy -- and thus, its political clout -- is in decline. Increasingly, America is viewed in the Middle East as an economically bankrupt,

Question: What else do the autocrats fear?

Question: What is there to vote against?

Question: Whose position has strengthened?

Question: What country does the Arab autocrats fear?

Question: What do Arab autocrats fear?

Answer: Iran.

Answer: suspend Syria from the Arab League

Answer: Hezbollah,

Answer: Iran.

Answer: Iran's perceived nuclear ambitions,

Summary:
There is more to the vote against Syria than the "Arab Spring"
As much as Arab autocrats fear their people, they also fear Iran .
Iran's regional position has strengthened in the last decade .
America's is perceived to be withering .


Cairo (CNN) -- In Cairo, where huge protests are now in their fourth day, the angry protesters in Tahrir Square are reclaiming the pro-democracy revolution they started January 25. Since it took control of the management of the transitional process, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces -- appointed by the former president, Hosni Mubarak -- has been following a three-sided strategy to contain and even frustrate the persistent demands for handing over power to a civilian authority and establishing an effective democratic system.

The military council is breaking the revolutionary will of the protesters by arresting many and putting them in military courts (12,000 civilians so far); deliberately humiliating them (torturing many and exposing female protesters to virginity tests); making ordinary people feel disillusioned and even hate the revolution by failing to take tough measures against anarchy and restore law and order; and finally, encouraging fragmentation and discord among the country's political actors.

Like Mubarak, the military council has adopted the policy of "me or anarchy."

Over the past few months, Egyptians have used enormous demonstrations to press their demands, starting with insisting on dismissing the government that Mubarak had appointed before he was ousted, purging the security forces and cleaning the Ministry of Interior, trying Mubarak and those responsible for the death of more than 800 peaceful protesters and the injury of thousands, and setting a clear and specific timetable for handing over power to civilians.

The military council has been reluctant to respond, and when it has, it has completely emptied these demands of any meaningful effect. Indeed, it appointed a new Cabinet in March but deprived it of any effective authority. It changed the name of the state security force while maintaining its old structure and savage practices, and it reluctantly put Mubarak and some of his aides before trial, but none has been indicted, and the process has been incredibly slow.

With parliamentary elections set to begin on November 28, the military council wanted to secure its position in the transitional process and threw a wrench in the form of a draft of supra-constitutional principles that, if it were to be agreed upon by the major political forces, would grant the military council a special status in the new political process.

It would make the council sovereign above all other state institutions, including the parliament. The proposed principles would prevent civilian control or overseeing powers over any of the military's affairs, grant the military veto powers over the laws and strip the elected parliament of some of its authority.

The document revealed the military council's insecurity about the results of the coming elections and the fear that Islamists might win a majority. It also engendered a deep state of polarization among the country's political forces.

Many liberals and secularists supported the document, while Islamic parties and youth movements rejected it and organized a massive demonstration Friday under the name "The Friday of Protecting Democracy." Several youth and grass-roots movements joined the demonstrations and continued with sit-ins, insisting on a specific timeframe for transitioning authority. The security forces brutally cracked down on the protesters, igniting further clashes over the past few days.

To many protesters, what Egypt is witnessing is "phase two" of the January revolution. One cannot ignore the striking similarities between the two phases, particularly the snail-paced responses of the military council and Mubarak and the unjustifiable use of force against unarmed civilians.

I was in Tahrir Square on Saturday when army soldiers clamped down on thousands of peaceful protesters, killing two in their initial thrust and savagely beating many of them. This excessive use of force was a major factor contributing to the fall of Mubarak.

The military council also repeats another fatal mistake by responding too late with too little, leading protesters to raise the ceiling of their demands. What started as protests calling for protecting democracy and a timetable for transferring power under the management of the military council has become firm demands for ending the rule of the council and the military generals.

Despite this revolutionary situation, and perhaps because of it, Egypt has great hopes in transitioning to democracy. Several steps need to be taken.

The military council needs

Question: What is the military doing to prevent change?

Question: Who has been blocking transition to civilian rule?

Question: Who is standing in the way of democracy?

Question: How many protestors returned to the streets?

Question: What is military using violence, arrests and torture to do?

Question: What did protestors do?

Answer: breaking the revolutionary will of the protesters by arresting many and putting them in

Answer: Supreme Council of the Armed Forces

Answer: the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces

Answer: (12,000

Answer: breaking the revolutionary will of the protesters

Answer: used enormous demonstrations to press their demands,

Summary:
Emad Shahin: Military government in Egypt has been blocking transition to civilian rule .
He says the armed forces are standing in the way of democracy .
Protesters had to return to the streets to reset the revolution, he says .
Shahin: Military using violence, arrests and torture to repress those seeking change .


Cairo (CNN) -- Islamist parties made dramatic advances in Egypt's parliamentary elections during the first round of voting for lawmakers this week, a result reflecting a growing embrace of religious-oriented sentiment across turbulent North Africa.

"We accept the results of the elections in any case because it's the will of the people, and our rivals should embrace it too because this is the true democracy we fought for and we wish our liberal brothers better results in the next two rounds," Mahmoud Ghozlan, spokesman of the relatively moderate Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won 40% of the vote.

Al Noor Salafi Movement, a hard-line Muslim group, had the second-highest total, 20%, in the first round of voting for the lower house of parliament, according to Yousri Abdel Kareem, head of the executive office of the Higher Judicial Election Council.

In the first election after the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak, the tallies reflected similar results in Morocco and Tunisia. Moderate Islamists in those North African nations prevailed in recent elections amid the wave of political discontent across the Arabic-speaking world this year.

Secularists weren't surprised at the result but they were stunned that some longtime secular groups performed poorly.

"The strong showing of the Islamists should serve to mobilize more support for secular candidate," said Mohamed Ghoneim, speaking for the liberal Egyptian Bloc that garnered 15% of the vote. "We need to build on that and we are going for it."

Ghoneim said voters were turned off by some secular candidates because they come from Mubarak's old National Democratic Party.

The Muslim Brotherhood is entrenched in mainstream Egyptian politics. Most are highly educated -- doctors, lawyers, engineers, professors and businessmen -- and come from solidly middle-class backgrounds.

Al Noor Salafi is the first Salafist group to register as a political party in Egypt. Salafis are conservative, religious purists and have been accused of stoking sectarian strife against Egypt's Christian minority and of plotting to undermine the country's fledgling democracy.

This week's voting in Egypt marked the initial part of a complex, multi-step process that will first pick members of the lower house of parliament.

Voters had to cast three votes, two for independent candidates and one for a party or coalition. Four independent candidates won but runoff elections for those who didn't win clear majorities will be held Monday and Tuesday. One of the four is Amr Hamzawy, once a research director at theÂ Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a spokesman of the "Board of Wise Men," which worked to foster negotiations between the government and protesters.

Presidential elections will be held by June, according to the military, which has rulied the country since Mubarak's fall.

"The success of Islamist parties will make it much more difficult, if not impossible, for the Egyptian military to prolong its political control and to recreate a political system along the lines of Hosni Mubarak, as it appeared intent on doing." Marina Ottaway, a senior associate of Carnegie's Middle East program, said in an analysis on Friday.

Voter turnout was initially reported by the country's election board at 62%, but the board said it would recalculate the figure after reporters raised questions about the number of registered voters used in the calculation, suggesting the true figure was lower.

Abdel Moez Ibrahim, head of the judicial election committee said problems arose during the polling that will be addressed in the next round of voting. They include campaigning on the days of the elections, long lines and the late arrival of a limited number of ballots. Ibrahim said sending vehicles to pick up judges and handing out paper ballots the night before elections are among solutions to problems.

Ibrahim said the process has been triumphant for Egyptian democracy.

"The winner of these elections is the Egyptian people," he said.

As for the future, the Carnegie analysis says "the response of the military and secular parties, and the political acumen of the FJP" will determine whether the future government will be "dominated by Islamists, including hard

Question: Who are the Muslim Brotherhood?

Question: Who is the Muslim Brotherhood?

Question: What was the election for?

Question: What did Liberals say?

Question: What does The Muslim Brotherhood call the results?

Answer: doctors, lawyers, engineers, professors and businessmen

Answer: Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)

Answer: Egypt's parliamentary

Answer: "The strong showing of the Islamists should serve to mobilize more support for secular candidate,"

Answer: it's the will of the people,

Summary:
NEW: Egyptians are real "winners" of election process, official says .
Liberals say they'll try harder in the next two rounds .
The Muslim Brotherhood calls results the "will of the people .
he Islamist surge reflects a trend in North Africa .