Jerusalem (CNN) -- Palestinians hurled rocks and burned tires in several neighborhoods in East Jerusalem Tuesday to protest the reopening of a landmark synagogue after more than 60 years.

Officers dispersed the crowd by firing stun grenades in one area, and village elders helped end the riots in another, said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld.

At least seven people in the Mount of Olives neighborhood were wounded when police fired rubber bullets.

In all, 91 people were wounded in the clashes, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.

About 3,000 officers were deployed in the city after the militant group Hamas declared Tuesday a "Day of Rage."

The group was protesting the reopening of the Hurva synagogue on Monday. However, rumors swirled that right-wing groups were planning to ascend the Temple Mount, where al-Aqsa Mosque is located.

Senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, in a speech Monday in Syria, called on Palestinians to take to the street to protect Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian shrines. The Palestinian Authority suggested Israel was "preventing citizens from reaching the Old City ... to pray in al-Aqsa Mosque, as part of increasing provocative policies violating international law and human rights."

"Pay no attention to malicious slander," said Rabbi Yona Metzger, chief rabbi of Israel, told the Jewish news agency JTA on Monday. "All we are doing is resurrecting the Hurva that was destroyed 60 years ago. All the rumors that suggest we will later march on Temple Mount are just that -- rumors."

However, the incident is only the latest to ratchet up tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. The synagogue is located in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The Old City also includes East Jerusalem, seen as Palestinians as the capital of their future state.

Israel claims sovereignty over all of Jerusalem since it took over East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967 in the Six-Day war. The rededication has underlined Palestinian concerns that Israel is attempting to bring more Jews into East Jerusalem and drive Palestinians out, particularly as it comes on the heels of an Israeli announcement last week that 1,600 more housing units would be built in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The synagogue rededication, however, had been planned for months in advance, according to organizers.

In a statement Tuesday, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said it "strongly condemns recent measures taken by Israel in East Jerusalem, the latest of which has been the inauguration of a synagogue in the old city. PCHR holds Israel responsible for the escalation of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, meeting in Madrid, Spain, with the Spanish minister of defense, said, "Israel will not allow extremists to dictate and force political arrangements.

"I have said this times before and I repeat: Israel is strong ... and must reach political arrangements out of this position," Barak said. "Lack of political negotiations will strengthen and encourage the extremists of both sides and the riots in Jerusalem today proves so. A political arrangement will only be achieved by direct negotiations."

Construction on the synagogue began in 1700, but halted, according to the Web site of Sacred Destinations, which describes itself as an educational and travel resource. It was restarted in 1836 and the synagogue was completed in 1856. The synagogue was destroyed by the Jordanian Arab Legion in 1948. Conservation and investigation of the ruins began in 1977.

Meshaal also warned the international community that Israel is "playing with fire" that could lead to a regional blowup.

Speaking to reporters Monday, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said there were American concerns "about the tensions regarding the rededication of a synagogue in the Jewish quarter of the Old City. And we are urging all parties to act responsibly and do whatever is necessary to remain calm."

At a memorial service Tuesday for late Israeli prime ministers and presidents, President Shimon Peres said: "We cannot afford to unravel the delicate fabric of friendship with the United States.

"Today, we are also at a decisive moment and we must decide without the determination of

Question:
How many people were wounded?
who protests in jerusalem
Palestinians protest what?
How many years had it been ?
What was used on the crowds ?
Where was the protest ?
Officers disperse crowd by doing what?
what do officers fire
how many were wounded

Answer: seven

Answer: Palestinians

Answer: the reopening of a landmark synagogue

Answer: 60

Answer: stun grenades

Answer: East Jerusalem

Answer: firing stun grenades

Answer: stun grenades

Answer: 91

Summary:
Palestinians protest reopening of landmark synagogue in Jerusalem after 60 years .
Officers disperse crowd by firing stun grenades; village elders help end riots elsewhere .
91 people wounded in clashes, Palestinian Red Crescent Society says .
Palestinians angered by Israeli settlement plans in largely Arab East Jerusalem .


Jerusalem (CNN) -- The Israeli government said Thursday it will stop a convoy of cargo and passenger ships filled with supplies and headed to Gaza to break a blockade imposed by Israel in 2007.

Government officials said Wednesday they have given the Israeli Defense Forces instructions to reroute the flotilla to Ashdod port in Israel, where the supplies will be unloaded and transferred to Gaza.

Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, called the flotilla "a cheap political stunt."

"If they were really interested in the well being of the people of Gaza, they would have accepted the offers of Egypt or Israel to transfer humanitarian aid to the people  of Gaza, along with the other 15 thousand tons sent every week," he said.

The convoy, which left various European ports, is organized by two major groups: the Free Gaza movement, a pro-Palestinian human rights organization, and the IHH movement, a Turkish humanitarian relief foundation affiliated with the Islamic Brotherhood.

Organizers said the convoy is carrying 10,000 tons of construction material, medical equipment and school supplies, and about 750 activists of different nationalities.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Yossi Gal, its director-general, has summoned the ambassadors of Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden and Ireland -- the countries from which the flotilla set sail -- and "clarified the state of Israel's official position, which declares the flotilla an absolute provocation: There is no shortage of humanitarian aid to Gaza, as food products, fuel and supplies are constantly transferred into the Gaza Strip by the international organizations."

The flotilla is "invited to dock at Ashdod port, to unload their cargo and transfer it to Gaza, after a security check, either via the Israeli authorities or via the humanitarian organizations," the ministry said.

Hanin Zoabi, a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, and a passenger on the flotilla, called it a "humanitarian campaign for the 1.5 million Palestinian people who Israel put in jail for about the last four years without allowing building material, without educational material, without food into the Gaza strip.

"Israel destroyed 165 schools and more than 100 (factories) and destroyed tens of thousands of houses without enabling the Palestinians to rebuild their homes and their lives," Zoabi said. "This is a very strong political message towards Israel and towards the Arab world that stood silent regarding what is happening in Gaza."

Israel imposed the naval blockade on Gaza after the Hamas forcefully took control of  Gaza in 2007, ousting the Fatah movement headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Regev argued that the activists maintain a double standard when it comes to Hamas' actions.

"They call themselves human rights activists, but they remain silent when it comes to Hamas' deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians  and the brutalities of the Hamas regime in Gaza, which has crushed political opposition, suppressed independent media and has locked up hundreds of political opponents."

Sarah Weiss Maudi, an Israeli Foreign Ministry legal expert, said, "The naval blockade has been imposed by Israel because Israel is currently in a state of armed conflict with the Hamas regime that controls Gaza."

Under international maritime law, when a maritime blockade is in effect, no vessels can enter the blockaded area.

Maritime blockades are a legitimate measure under international law, and may be implemented as part of an armed conflict at sea, Israeli officials have said.

"The objective of the boats is to break Israel's siege on Gaza, to break Israel's blockade on Gaza. The material that we have on board are all of the materials that Israel denied to the people of Gaza like cement, building supplies, educational supplies etc," said Greta Berlin, co-founder of Free Gaza movement.

"We do not accept the siege on Gaza," said Zoabi. "... Israel does not want a siege. It wants a silent siege. Israel does not want occupation, it wants a silent occupation. It wants its policies to go without criticisms of the world. That's why it wants to stop the flotilla and also

Question: What does the convoy aim to do?

Question: What does the government say they will stop?

Question: What is the the flotilla taking to Gaza?

Answer: ships filled with supplies and headed to Gaza to break a blockade imposed by Israel in 2007.

Answer: ships filled with supplies

Answer: supplies

Summary:
NEW: Israeli official calls convoy of ships 'cheap political stunt'
Government says it will stop flotilla taking aid to Gaza .
Knesset member among flotilla participants .
Convoy aims to break 2007 Israeli blockade .


Jerusalem (CNN) -- The Palestinian Liberation Organization's leadership reiterated its push for recognition as an independent state by the United Nations and condemning Israel's latest proposal for new settlements on disputed territory, state-run media reported.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas led the meeting in Ramallah on Thursday to discuss the official position, according to the official WAFA news agency.

The U.N. Security Council's admissions committee is set Friday to review the Palestinian application for statehood.

Last week, the Middle East Quartet -- made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- called on Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks within a month and set the end of 2012 as the deadline for their completion. But no such direct talks have taken place.

Abbas has said repeatedly that the Palestinians would not return to negotiations until Israel halted all settlement construction and accepted 1967 border lines as a basis for the return to talks.

Israel has maintained that negotiations should begin with no preconditions.

Besides calling for negotiation, the Quartet also called on both sides to "to refrain from provocative actions" -- in part a veiled reference to Israeli settlement-building in land Israel occupied as a result of the 1967 Mideast War.

This week, the Israeli Interior Ministry announced this week that a district planning committee had approved the construction of 1,100 homes in a southern Jerusalem neighborhood that was seized by Israel in 1967. That decision will be open for public comment for the next 60 days, the ministry added.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's executive committee, read a statement after the meeting Thursday criticizing the Israeli move. Palestinians, who want the land Israel now occupies in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to be part of a future Palestinian state.

A day earlier, Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayyeh said the action suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are not serious about making peace.

"He said at the United Nations he was giving his hand in peace, but actually, he is digging in the land to build more settlements," Shtayyeh said.

He further called Israel's move "a slap in the face of the Quartet and the whole international community, which is saying 'stop settlements.'"

In an interview with the daily Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu defended Israel's right to build in Jerusalem. "We plan in Jerusalem, we build in Jerusalem. Period. The same way Israeli governments have been doing for years."

The Israeli move drew international criticism, with British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemning it while U.S. officials expressed disappointment.

"Settlement expansion is illegal under international law, corrodes trust and undermines the basic principle of land for peace," Hague said in a statement. "We call on the government of Israel to revoke this decision."

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the United States was disappointed by Israel's announcement, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it "counterproductive to our efforts to resume direct negotiations between the parties."

As for possible U.S. government criticism of the move, Netanyahu declared that the Americans "know this -- they have followed this a long time. There is really nothing new."

In the interview, Netanyahu also said Israel would not initiate another settlement freeze to get talks started again.

"We already gave at the office," he said, referring to a 10-month freeze enacted by his government last year.

Question:
Who lead the meeting in Ramallah?
who is mahmoud abbas
What did Palestinian leaders say?
what did the prime minister lead
What did they condemn?
what israel plans
who is palestinian leader

Answer: Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas

Answer: Palestinian Authority Prime Minister

Answer: "to refrain from provocative actions"

Answer: the meeting in Ramallah

Answer: Israel's latest proposal for new settlements on disputed territory,

Answer: new settlements on disputed territory,

Answer: Mahmoud Abbas

Summary:
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas leads the meeting in Ramallah .
In it, Palestinian leaders say they'll push for statehood at U.N.
They also condemn Israeli plans for settlements in a disputed area .


Johannesburg (CNN) -- Miffed by a visa delay that led the Dalai Lama to cancel a trip to South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu lashed out at his government Tuesday, saying it had acted worse than apartheid regimes and had forgotten all that the nation stood for.

"When we used to apply for passports under the apartheid government, we never knew until the last moment what their decision was," Tutu said at a news conference. "Our government is worse than the apartheid government because at least you were expecting it from the apartheid government.

"I have to say that I can't believe this. I really can't believe this," Tutu said. "You have to wake me up and tell me this is actually happening here."

The Dalai Lama scrapped his planned trip to South Africa this week after the nation failed to issue him a visa in time, his spokesman said.

Visa applications for him and his entourage were submitted to the South African High Commission in New Delhi, India, at the end of August, and original passports were submitted on September 20, more than two weeks ago, a statement on his website said.

However, South Africa's foreign affairs office said it did not refuse a visa.

"South Africa will not comment on the decision, because it is not our decision, it is his decision," according to spokesman Clayson Monyela, who said the visa application was still under consideration.

The Dalai Lama had been invited to the country to receive the Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation and to speak at a number of events, including a lecture in honor of Tutu's 80th birthday. Tutu and the Dalai Lama are recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Tutu said he would pray for the defeat of South Africa's government, led by the African National Congress (ANC), which is rooted in the fight against the system of apartheid, or legal racial separation, that was present in South Africa until 1994.

"You are disgraceful," Tutu said about the government. "You are behaving in a way that is totally at variance with the things for which we stood."

The ANC plans to call on government officials to explain to South Africans why the visa process was delayed, spokesman Jackson Mtembu said. He said everyone was in the dark about this matter.

But he also suggested that Tutu calm down. A comparison to apartheid regimes, he said, was unfair.

This is not the first time the Dalai Lama has not been able to visit South Africa. In 2009, South Africa refused the Tibetan spiritual leader a visa to attend an international peace conference, saying it was not in the country's interest for him to attend.

In refusing the 2009 application, South Africa said that if the Dalai Lama attended the conference, the focus would shift away from the 2010 World Cup, the global soccer championship it was hosting.

"We cannot allow focus to shift to China and Tibet," presidential spokesman Thabo Masebe said, adding that South Africa had gained much from its trading relationship with China.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, and China pressures governments around the world to deny him any legitimacy.

Speculation surfaced Tuesday that this year's visit was also affected by South Africa's relationship with China.

South African Vice President Kgalema Motlanthe visited Beijing last week and met with Chinese President Hu Jintao to discuss bolstering bilateral ties.

Motlanthe said South Africa was ready to boost the strategic partnership between the two countries to a new stage, according to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.

But Monyela said the application had nothing to do with China.

"We are a sovereign nation which takes decisions in our domestic interest," Monyela said.

The Dalai Lama posted a message on Twitter last week that said: "Even if the Chinese leave nothing but ashes, Tibet will rise from these ashes as a free country even if it takes a long time to do so."

Kim Norgaard, CNN's Johannesburg bureau chief, contributed to this

Question: who did say South Africa did not issue a visa on time?

Question: who is responsible for all this

Question: Who does the African National Congress say should calm down?

Question: Who says the government is acting worse than apartheid regime?

Question: Who was denied visa to South Africa in 2009?

Answer: Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Answer: government.

Answer: Tutu

Answer: Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Answer: Dalai Lama

Summary:
NEW: The African National Congress says Desmond Tutu should calm down .
Tutu says the government is acting worse than apartheid regime .
The Dalai Lama says South Africa did not issue a visa on time .
He was denied a visa to South Africa in 2009 .


Johannesburg (CNN) -- The trial of two men accused of killing white supremacist leader Eugene Terreblanche is expected to start in the South African town of Ventersdorp on Monday.

Terreblanche, the leader of the neo-Nazi Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement, or AWB), was killed in April following an apparent dispute over wages with workers on his farm.

Police have charged Chris Mahlangu, 29, and a 16-year-old in the death.

The trial was initially scheduled for December but was postponed several times as lawyers for the defendants changed.

Terreblanche, 69, was bludgeoned with clubs and stabbed with a machete during the attack at his farm near Ventersdorp in South Africa's North West province, police said.

The AWB is best known for trying to block South Africa's effort to end apartheid. The group used terrorist tactics in a bid to stall the country's first all-race vote in 1994, killing more than 20 people in a wave of bombings on the eve of the elections.

Terreblanche was convicted of a 1996 attempted murder of a black man who worked as a security guard on his farm. He served about two-thirds of a five-year sentence.

Question: who was  was convicted of murder attempt in 1996

Question: who was  bludgeoned and stabbed at his farm

Question: what did he die over

Question: What happened to Terreblanche at his farm?

Question: was he convicted of anything

Question: who was believed to have died over wage dispute

Question: What did Terreblanche die because of?

Question: What was he convicted of in 1996?

Answer: Eugene Terreblanche

Answer: Eugene Terreblanche

Answer: wages with workers on his farm.

Answer: was killed

Answer: attempted murder

Answer: Terreblanche,

Answer: apparent dispute over wages

Answer: attempted murder

Summary:
White supremacist Eugene Terreblanche was bludgeoned and stabbed at his farm .
He is believed to have died over a wage dispute .
He was convicted of a 1996 attempted murder .


Join Roland Martin for his weekly sound-off segment on CNN.com Live at 11:10 a.m. Wednesday. If you're passionate about the topic, he wants to hear from you. Roland Martin says the three presidential candidates will never be "regular folks." (CNN) -- Can we all just stop the silly nonsense over who is an elitist and whether an "average American" will occupy the White House? Listening to the punditry today, you would think folks who revel in the comedy of Larry the Cable Guy or Katt Williams really would have a shot at the White House. It's totally absurd. So, Sen. Barack Obama is all of a sudden an elitist because he went to Columbia and Harvard? And Sen. Hillary Clinton is an elitist because she went to Yale? Do you actually think Sen. John McCain isn't an elitist? He went to an exclusive college -- the Naval Academy, and that is one of the hardest places to get into. (You can't even apply unless a member of Congress recommends you.) Karl Rove, who tries to portray himself as the common man but is just another rich Republican, has called both Democratic candidates elitists. Well, his former boss, President George W. Bush, went to Yale. So did Bush's dad, former president George H.W. Bush, and his granddaddy, former Sen. Prescott Bush. All three Bushes also were members of the super elite organization Skull and Bones. The younger Bush later went to Harvard. He walked into the governor's mansion and the presidency on the strength of his name and his dad's money and connections. Sounds like an elitist to me! But no, we're supposed to be fooled by the cowboy boots, folksy charm and him removing brush at his Crawford, Texas, ranch (don't forget the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, where all the "regular" folks hang out). Surely you recall when Bush nominated Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court? Those same conservative voices decrying the elitist Democrats were blasting her because she went to little old Southern Methodist University, that unremarkable -- their view -- university in Dallas, Texas. (By the way, that will be the home of the George W. Bush Library.) You can bet a pitcher of beer that had she graduated from Harvard, Yale or Princeton, she wouldn't have been derisively referred to as too plain and not educated enough by the elitists in the Republican Party. And let's stay with the Supreme Court for a moment. Where did its members go to school? Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. -- Undergrad and law school, Harvard. Justice John Paul Stevens -- Undergrad: University of Chicago. Law school: Northwestern. Justice Antonin Scalia -- Undergrad: Georgetown University and the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Law school: Harvard. Justice Anthony Kennedy -- Undergrad: Stanford University and the London School of Economics. Law school: Harvard. Justice David Souter -- Undergrad: Harvard; Magdalen College, Oxford; Oxford University. Law school: Harvard. Justice Clarence Thomas -- Undergrad: Holy Cross. Law school: Yale. Justice Ruth Ginsburg -- Undergrad: Cornell. Law school: Harvard (attended); finished at Columbia. Justice Stephen Breyer -- Undergrad, Stanford; Magdalen College, Oxford. Law school: Harvard. Justice Samuel Alito -- Undegrad: Princeton. Law school: Yale. That's pretty much an elite list of schools. We have deluded ourselves into thinking the person elected to the White House is really and truly like the rest of us. All three candidates don't know what it's like to face the daunting health care challenges millions of Americans are confronted with daily. Each are members of the U.S. Senate, and they have the best health care money can buy for life -- we pay for it! While your pension plan is shot to hell, their plan will NEVER be underfunded. The members will see to that, courtesy of taxpayer dollars. Forget how many times Obama bowls gutter balls, Clinton tosses back shots of whiskey and McCain

Question: what does martin say

Answer: three presidential candidates will never be "regular folks."

Summary:
Martin: All three candidates are well-educated, wealthy -- not "average"
Their efforts to show that they are "just like us" are pathetic, he says .
But that's OK, Martin says, if they advance good policies .


Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington (CNN) -- Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs has been sentenced to life in military prison with eligibility for parole in 10 years.

A military court-martial Thursday found Gibbs guilty of murdering three Afghan civilians, illegally cutting off pieces of their corpses to keep as "souvenirs" and planting weapons to make the men appear as if they were Taliban fighters killed in legitimate firefights.

He was reduced in rank to private and ordered to forfeit all pay and benefits. Whatever sentence Gibbs serves will be reduced by the 547 days he has already spent in prison.

"He said they were all dirty savages," prosecutor Maj. Andre Leblanc said at Gibbs' sentencing hearing.

"He is the savage, not the innocent Afghans he murdered. It is monstrous. What kind of savagery does it take to do this? To cut a finger off a victim and show it to people? This is a savage being"

Gibbs' attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, had asked the court for a sentence of life with parole so Gibbs would have the opportunity to be with his now-3-year-old son again.

"He has a long time to reflect on his life, what he has done and what he wants to do in the future," Stackhouse said.

Gibbs is the highest ranking of five soldiers charged with being part of a rogue "kill squad" that targeted civilians. Another seven soldiers also were charged with lesser crimes including abusing drugs, keeping "off the books" weapons and intimidating a fellow soldier not to speak out against the platoon's alleged killings.

Gibbs had pleaded not guilty.

A prosecutor described Gibbs as a "recruiting poster" soldier. But the tall, clean-cut Gibbs and the "kill squad" he was convicted of leading turned into a public-relations nightmare for the military.

"Sgt. Gibbs had a charisma, he had a 'follow me' personality," Maj. Robert Stelle, a prosecutor in the case, told the court in closing arguments Wednesday. "But it was all a bunch of crap, he had his own mission: murder and depravity."

The murders Gibbs is accused of committing took place over a period of five months last year, while Gibbs led the 3rd Platoon of the ArmyÂ¹s 5th Stryker Brigade in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

Gibbs' platoon was tasked with patrolling small villages in the area to build relationships with an Afghan population wary of the U.S. presence in their country. Instead, prosecutors said Gibbs and a small group of rogue soldiers allegedly plotted to murder civilians and then planted weapons on them so they appeared to be Taliban attackers.

"Selling a fake engagement as a real engagement, that's what they were doing," Stelle told the court.

In court testimony, Gibbs said he did not execute anyone. Prosecutors said Gibbs participated in the killings of three unarmed civilians: two farmers and a village cleric.

Gibbs said he killed one of the men, but he claimed it was in self-defense. However, the staff sergeant admitted to ripping and cutting off fingers of all three men he was charged with killing. He kept the body parts, he said, to give to soldiers he favored or to intimidate soldiers he disliked.

"I was numb to the situation," Gibbs told the court about why he had taken the body parts. "I wasn't thinking; it's sickening. I am embarrassed."

Gibbs also admitted to posing for photos with bodies against military regulations.

"People wanted to prove they were there," Gibbs replied when asked by his attorney why the soldiers took the photos. The Army later apologized after the photos were leaked to the press.

Gibbs appeared shocked after the verdict was read, and his wife, Army Spec. Chelsy Gibbs, began to cry. According to court records, she filed for divorce from Staff Sgt. Gibbs in August and asked for custody of their toddler son.

The panel of three officers and two enlisted soldiers started deliberating in a military courtroom near Tacoma shortly before 10 a.m.

Question: What was the sentence for GIbbs?

Question: Who is  sentenced to life in prison, with parole possible?

Question: What did Gibbs' platoon staged?

Question: What does the prosecution acccuse gibbs of doing?

Question: What excuse does the defence give for his actions?

Question: What had they taken

Question: who was sentenced

Question: What does prosecutor say

Answer: life with parole

Answer: Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs

Answer: planting weapons to make the men appear as if they were Taliban fighters

Answer: murdering three Afghan civilians,

Answer: self-defense.

Answer: body parts.

Answer: Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs

Answer: "He is the savage, not the innocent Afghans he murdered. It is monstrous.

Summary:
Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs is sentenced to life in prison, with parole possible .
NEW: He remains under investigation for the 2004 shooting death of a family in Iraq .
Prosecutors: Gibbs' platoon staged killings of civilians as firefights with Taliban .
Defense says Gibbs' accusers were high on hashish at the time .


Jos, Nigeria (CNN) -- An Islamic militant group in northern Nigeria has claimed responsibility for attacks that killed at least 25 people in a rash of violence against the country's minority Christians, officials said, after it issued an earlier ultimatum that gave Christians three days to leave the area.

Gunmen opened fire on residents Friday, killing at least 15 people who were mourning the deaths of two slain businessmen, said Rev. Paul Alhamdu, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

At least eight people were also killed on Thursday in a church shooting in northeastern Nigeria, a pastor at the church said, as sectarian violence spirals and the country is shaken by angry protests over fuel subsidies.

Gunmen attacked the Deeper Life church in Gombe, the capital of Gombe state, Thursday evening as worshipers held a prayer meeting, according to the Venerable Joseph Ninyo, a pastor with the Anglican Diocese of Gombe.

He said at least 20 people were being treated at a hospital, one of whom is in intensive care.

"Many tried to run but were gunned down," eyewitness Konson Danladi said. "I was just outside the church when the men came and started shooting, and I ran."

Police said the militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for both attacks, but CNN could not immediately confirm the claims.

The church targeted in Gombe is attended predominantly by Ibo Christians from southern Nigeria.

Boko Haram has been blamed for months of widespread bloodshed in Nigeria, with churches and police stations among the targets.

The group also claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on churches on Christmas Day.

The rising tide of violence led Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a partial state of emergency in four northern states, in a bid to contain Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is a sin."

The latest sectarian attack comes as Nigeria also faces a nationwide wave of popular protests over the removal of a gas subsidy that had kept prices artificially low.

What is behind Nigeria fuel protests?

Union leaders have called for a national strike beginning Monday if the government does not reverse the decision, which resulted in the cost of a liter of gasoline more than doubling virtually overnight.

Furious Nigerians have already taken to the streets this week, staging "Occupy Nigeria" protests and mass demonstrations across the country, and there have been calls from some quarters for the president to be impeached.

Are you there? Send your images or video

Nigeria, an oil-rich nation of about 167 million people, is regularly voted among the most corrupt countries in the world, and citizens complain that the money saved by ending the fuel subsidy is highly likely to be siphoned off by a few and salted away into offshore accounts.

The government has said the money will be used to fund infrastructure projects, such as building refineries so Nigeria can produce its own gasoline rather than having to import it.

Tires burn, protesters flood Lagos

Elizabeth Donnelly, with the Africa Programme at London-based think tank Chatham House, told CNN the two issues together -- the sectarian violence and the fuel subsidy protests -- present the biggest challenge yet for Jonathan, who was elected president last year after taking the reins in 2010 when the former president died.

Although the government struck a blow against Boko Haram in 2009 with the capture of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, it has since become more of a "franchise," or umbrella organization, for the actions of individual groups, making it harder to manage the problem, Donnelly said.

Protesters make demands known

"We can trace these sorts of attacks to issues of underdevelopment, poverty, lack of resources and so on. The fact that it's framed in religious language is worrying," she said, particularly given the sectarian violence that has broken out in Nigeria in recent years.

The country's leadership needs to rise above politics and use the kind of language that will bridge the growing gap between different parts of Nigerian society, she said, rather than just treating the problem as a security issue.

But the challenge of restoring calm will be compounded by

Question: Who has been blamed?

Question: who was responsible for the attack?

Question: Gunmen attacked what church as worshipers met for service?

Question: Who attacked the church?

Question: Who has been blamed for other attacks on churches?

Question: Where is the Deeper Life church?

Question: What did an eyewitness describe that they saw?

Question: what did the eyewitness describe?

Question: What was the group called?

Answer: Boko Haram

Answer: An Islamic militant group in northern Nigeria

Answer: Deeper Life

Answer: Gunmen

Answer: Boko Haram

Answer: Gombe,

Answer: "Many tried to run but were gunned down,"

Answer: "Many tried to run but were gunned down,"

Answer: Boko Haram

Summary:
Sectarian violence and fuel policy protests are tests for the president, an analyst says .
Gunmen attacked the Deeper Life church in Gombe as worshipers met for a service .
An eyewitness describes how people were gunned down as they tried to flee .
An Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, has been blamed for other attacks on churches .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN)  -- Afghanistan's reputation as the world's leading narcotics supplier is well-known, but in a squalid ruin in Kabul, the country hides a darker secret -- a huge home grown drug addiction problem now on the brink of fueling an HIV/AIDS epidemic. Junkies smoking heroin can get high for $4. Here junkies lie in their own filth, wasted limbs poking out of blood-spattered clothing as they blank out the abject misery of their surroundings. In one room, a veritable narcotics bazaar offers pills and drug paraphernalia -- with hits retailing at less than $4. One user claims he has been an addict for 22 years, although it is difficult to talk to any of the dazed and ragged occupants of the drug rooms. The atmosphere is edgy and -- as thick clouds of burning opium fill the air -- dizzyingly toxic. The Kabul den is just the tip of the iceberg in a country awash with narcotics. The government estimates the number of addicts in Afghanistan could be as many as five percent of its 25 million people.  Watch Nic Robertson's report from the 'house of hopelessness' » And though nascent efforts are being made to tackle the problem, chronic funding shortfalls have prompted the United Nations to warn that drug use will escalate, potentially driving an HIV/AIDS crisis as junkies move from smoking to high risk needle-sharing. Afghanistan has always been a major narcotics supplier -- responsible for 95 percent of the world's heroin -- although this was scaled back under the rule of the Taliban, which outlawed poppy cultivation and imposed strict penalties for drug users. Since 2001, when the extremist regime was ousted by a U.S.-led invasion that installed President Hamid Karzai, production has doubled. And for many in the country still mired in poverty and conflict, these cheap drugs offer a tempting escape. The last United Nations survey of Afghanistan's drug problem four years ago estimated the country's addicts to number about 200,000. According to Afghan Counter Narcotics Minister Khodaidad, the figure is now far greater. "More than 1.2 million people in Afghanistan are addicts. It's a very huge number and every year it increases," he told CNN. Khodaidad says the Afghan government is largely powerless to control the production of opium while Taliban extremists, who now control and draw funding from drug crops, control cultivation areas despite major international military efforts to push them back. "We did very little due to weakness of governors, due to insurgents, due to pressure of terrorism in the area," he added. "We don't have sufficient law enforcement agencies -- the police, the border security force, and other special forces to control this area -- so it will take time." But, says Jean-Luc Lemahieu, head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Kabul, time is something Afghanistan does not have. As intravenous drug use takes hold, raising the prospect of needle sharing, he says HIV/AIDS will follow quickly. "The little data we have at the moment are very alarming," he told CNN. "They tell us that we should not wait longer and if not, this country will be saddled with another burden it just can not afford. "I think it is already happening today. We have seen, now, a few HIV/AIDS cases. Hopefully we can contain the problem, although it is unlikely given the problems with the health structures." The U.N. has begun a program to detox users willing to get off drugs in Afghanistan. A renovated warehouse in Kabul offers hope to 100 addicts in the biggest facility of its kind in the country.  Watch Robertson go inside the detox clinic » In the center's clean, bare rooms, shaven-headed junkies tremble under blankets as they go through the agonizing cold turkey of weaning their ravaged bodies off drug dependency. Therapy sessions also help motivate them to kick their deadly habit. "Here we deal with the problem from a humanitarian perspective, not from an addiction perspective, to save lives," says

Question: how many are addicted to drugs

Question: What is needed to combat the problem

Question: what could the drug use lead to

Question: what crisis could be growing

Question: How many Afghans are addicted to drugs according to government officials?

Question: What are the efforts to combat drug use suffering from?

Question: Growing drug use could lead to what?

Answer: 1.2 million

Answer: funding

Answer: HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Answer: HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Answer: 1.2 million

Answer: chronic funding shortfalls

Answer: an HIV/AIDS crisis

Summary:
Government officials say 1.2 million Afghans are now addicted to drugs .
United Nations says growing drug use could lead to HIV/AIDS crisis .
Efforts to combat drug use suffering from chronic lack of funds .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN)  -- Babies lie side by side in warming beds or sprawled on blankets atop crude wooden tables. Many families at Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, seem resigned to the situation. Children with wounds and broken bones are carried in by their parents to wait on stiff plastic chairs. Outside, coughing youngsters squat on the pavement with their anxious families, waiting for care. And everywhere, parents clutch plastic bags containing bring-your-own medicines and supplies. For though they are all awaiting treatment at Afghanistan's only specialist pediatric hospital, the hospital cannot even afford bandages for its patients. The Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in central Kabul has to run on an operating budget of less than $1,200 a month, said Dr. Noorulhaq Yousufzai, the hospital director. The few supplies that he can buy have to be hoarded for emergencies, and he has to count on parents to buy what's needed to care for their children. "In some cases, there is shortage of the surgical materials, and sometimes we don't have antiseptic to use," Yousufzai said. The United Nations says that more than $15 billion in aid has been sent to Afghanistan since the U.S.-led coalition overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. But still, the hospital cannot afford to help the hundreds of children who stream in every day, desperate for care and cures. The government does pay for salaries and sometimes for fuel, but there is often a shortage of even basic supplies like syringes. Doctors say they have to double up premature babies in incubators. And some of those incubators are compromised. On a recent day, a plastic surgical mask taped onto one machine was the only shield from infection.  Watch scenes from inside the hospital » The parents waiting anxiously beside their sick children seem resigned to the situation in the hospital. One mother, who declined to give her name, said she spent the family's entire weekly income of $8 on an injection that did not help her baby. "This is something that the hospital should be giving us, because we can't afford it," she said. The U.S. Agency for International Development says infant mortality has dropped by 22 percent since the overthrow of the Taliban but acknowledges that the health status for Afghans is among the worst in the world. One in every five Afghan children will die before their 5th birthday, often of a preventable disease, according to the Save the Children aid agency. The toll on the children and parents is clear to any visitor, and the strain hits the hospital staff, too. "When you see a patient is very, very, sick and you cannot help, and they have to provide something for their children and they are not able to provide, it's also a stress for us," Yousufzai said. At the end of 2001, there were hopes that the hospital would be upgraded, but it is still waiting. It needs some acute care of its own, or it will continue to struggle to help the children who arrive at its door pleading for care.

Question: What is the operating budget for Kabul hospital?

Question: Does the government pay salaries AND basic supplies?

Question: What is Kabu hospital's operating budget per month?

Question: Who pays for the salaries?

Question: Where is the hospital?

Question: One in five Afgan children will die before what birthday?

Question: Who pays the salaries?

Question: What is the operating budget of the hospital?

Answer: less than $1,200 a month,

Answer: sometimes for fuel,

Answer: less than $1,200 a

Answer: The government

Answer: Kabul, Afghanistan,

Answer: 5th

Answer: The government

Answer: less than $1,200 a month,

Summary:
Kabul hospital's operating budget is less than $1,200 a month .
Government pays salaries, but even basic supplies are often gone .
One in five Afghan children will die before their 5th birthday, group says .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN)  -- The number of people killed in a car bombing in Afghanistan's capital rose to 26, including six Italian soldiers, Afghan authorities said Saturday. The coffins of six Italian soldiers killed in a suicide attack in Kabul return to Rome. Sixteen people died in the blast Thursday, and at least 55 Afghan civilians were wounded. Ten have died from their injuries since the bombing. The explosion Thursday targeted a mostly residential area near the Supreme Court in Kabul, a witness said. The bodies of the Italian soldiers killed in the blast returned to Italy Sunday, their coffins draped in the red, green and white Italian flag. Dignitaries, relatives and row upon row of uniformed troops stood on the airport tarmac as the coffins were carried off the plane, television pictures from the scene showed.  Watch more about Italy in mourning » Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano gently touched the caskets perched on the shoulders of grim-faced soldiers at Rome's Ciampino military airport. Nearby, a woman shook uncontrollably as a baby sported a maroon beret -- the kind worn by the paratroopers killed in the Kabul attack. The six deaths marked largest number of Italians killed in a single day in Afghanistan.  Watch more about Italy's Afghan mission » Before the remains left for Rome, the Italian military, international troops and dignitaries held a service in the Afghan capital. "It's a tragedy for us," Lt. Col. Renato Vaira of the Italian military said at the Kabul service. "But this is a point to continue our mission." "We'll miss them. They're not the first. I hope it will be the last," said Maj. Gen. Tommaso Ferro of the Italian military. The arrival of the soldiers' remains was televised nationally in Italy. The bodies were taken for an autopsy. A day of mourning is scheduled in Italy on Monday, the same day as the burial service. After the attack, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said it would be "best" for the country's troops to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. Berlusconi gave no timeline for a withdrawal, but said any pullout would have to be coordinated with allies. The 500 troops Italy sent to Afghanistan this summer will be home by Christmas, Ignazio La Russa, Italy's defense minister said. The troops were sent ahead of the Afghan presidential election August 20. The rest of Italy's 2,800 troops in Afghanistan will withdraw only when NATO calls for it, La Russa said.

Question: How many soldiers died?

Question: How many solider died?

Question: What did the explosion target?

Question: What did italy's prime minister say?

Question: What did the Italian Prime minister said?

Question: How many italian soldiers died?

Question: Where did the explosion target?

Question: What did the prime Minister say?

Question: What the explosion targeted?

Question: What area did the explosion target?

Question: Who said it would be best for the country's troops to leave Afghanistan?

Question: how many soldiers died?

Question: where was the explosion?

Question: The bodies of how many Italian soldiers were returned to Italy?

Question: what did the italian prime minister say?

Question: Where was the explosion targeted?

Question: HOw many bodies of italian soldiers were there?

Answer: six

Answer: six

Answer: a mostly residential area near the Supreme Court in Kabul,

Answer: it would be "best" for the country's troops to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible.

Answer: it would be "best" for the country's troops to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible.

Answer: six

Answer: Thursday targeted a mostly residential area near the Supreme Court in Kabul, a witness said.

Answer: it would be "best" for the country's troops to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible.

Answer: mostly residential area near the Supreme Court in Kabul,

Answer: a mostly residential

Answer: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Answer: six Italian

Answer: a mostly residential area near the Supreme Court in Kabul,

Answer: six

Answer: Silvio Berlusconi said it would be "best" for the country's troops to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible.

Answer: Kabul

Answer: six

Summary:
Explosion targeted a mostly residential area near the Supreme Court in Kabul .
Bodies of six Italian soldiers who died returned to Italy Sunday .
Italian Prime Minister says it would be "best" for country's troops to leave Afghanistan .
Deaths were the highest single-day death toll for Italy in the Afghan mission .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN)  -- Two coalition U.S. soldiers were killed along with three Afghans, including a police official, while trying to disable a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan Sunday, the U.S. military said. Afghan police destroy poppy fields in Helmand province. The explosion was under investigation, the military said. The soldiers were part of a convoy of coalition troops accompanying Gulab Mangal, the governor of Helmand province, to a village where he intended to talk to residents about alternatives to opium farming. The convoy came upon two bombs stacked on top of each other, said local journalist Abdul Tawab Qureshi. When the soldiers tried to disable the bombs, the second one went off, added Qureshi, saying the blast killed the police chief of the province's Nad Ali district, Mohammed Nader; a police officer; and a translator. Over the years, opium and heroin -- both derivatives of the poppy -- have served as a major source of revenue for the insurgency, most notably the Taliban movement that once ruled Afghanistan. Though southern Afghanistan still provides about two-thirds of the world's opium and heroin, poppy cultivation has dropped by 20 percent -- to the lowest level since 2006. CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report.

Question: What killed the five people?

Question: Who were they accompanying?

Question: What did the soldiers try to do?

Question: Who were the soldiers accompanying in the convoy?

Question: What did soldiers do?

Question: Where were the two soldiers from who were killing by the roadside bomb?

Question: Who were the soldiers accompanying?

Answer: roadside bomb

Answer: Gulab Mangal,

Answer: disable the bombs,

Answer: Gulab Mangal,

Answer: tried to disable the bombs,

Answer: southern Afghanistan

Answer: Gulab Mangal,

Summary:
NEW: Five people, including 2 U.S. soldiers, killed by roadside bomb .
Soldiers tried to disable bombs when one exploded, journalist says .
Soldiers were part of a convoy accompanying governor of Helmand province .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN)  -- U.S. Marines on Friday kept up a major push against entrenched militants in southern Afghanistan in an attempt to rout the Taliban from their stronghold in Helmand province, Marine Capt. William Pelletier said. A U.S. Marine patrols Garmser district in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Friday. A Marine source described Thursday evening's fighting in the Helmand River Valley as "our most significant encounter." Sporadic fighting that began earlier Thursday stretched over several hours in the southeastern sector of Garmser district, said Pelletier, spokesman for the Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan. Helmand province, a poppy-growing region, is the focus of the U.S.-led Operation Khanjar. Afghanistan supplies 90 percent of the world's opium, which is used in the production of heroin. The forces are attempting to gain and hold ground in the perilous region ahead of Afghan national elections in August. Almost 4,000 Marines and sailors from the expeditionary brigade, along with more than 600 Afghan national security forces, are operating in key population centers along the valley, Pelletier said. Their targets are Garmser and Nawa districts in central Helmand, and stretch to Rig district in the south, Pelletier said. Marines and Afghan forces have taken over the key town of Khan Neshin, the capital of Rig district, which had been under Taliban control, the Marine source said. The goal is to protect residents from the threat of Taliban and other insurgent intimidation and violence, Pelletier said. "Our focus is now and will remain the Afghan people. We have worked closely with local Helmand government officials and many tribal and local leaders in the detailed planning of this major offensive," said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of Task Force Leatherneck. Once security is established, civil affairs personnel and other nongovernmental groups and agencies can come in and establish programs. However, Taliban control of the countryside is so extensive in provinces such as Helmand and Kandahar to the east that security forces face a tough job, according to a report this week in The New York Times. The government has no involvement in five of Helmand's 13 districts, the report said. In the fighting that began Thursday, Marines fired 20 mm cannons from their Cobra helicopter gunships -- but dropped no bombs -- to avoid the higher risk of civilian casualties, the Marine source said. The source called resistance "heavy" and "persistent" but intermittent. Militants responded using small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. "Last night, Marines bedded down in compounds within cities ... with permission from the people" rather than sleep in a restricted area away from the local population, Pelletier said. He said military leaders also were holding talks with village leaders. In other developments CNN's Atia Abawi, Barbara Starr and Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.

Question: the Marine source describes fighting as?

Question: what town are marines and afghan forces in control of?

Question: Who are in control of the key town of Khan Neshin?

Question: who were marines trying to rout?

Question: on what place are the Marines trying to rout Taliban from stronghold?

Question: What are the Marines trying to do?

Question: what did marine source say?

Question: Marines and afhan forces are in control of what?

Answer: "our most significant encounter."

Answer: Khan Neshin,

Answer: Marines and Afghan forces

Answer: the Taliban

Answer: Helmand province,

Answer: rout the Taliban from their stronghold in Helmand province,

Answer: "our most significant encounter."

Answer: Khan Neshin,

Summary:
Marine source describes fighting as "our most significant encounter"
Marines trying to rout Taliban from stronghold in Afghanistan's Helmand province .
Marines and Afghan forces in control of key town of Khan Neshin, source says .
Marine killed in the U.S.-led offensive in southern Afghanistan .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN)  -- Welcome to democracy, Afghan-style. An Afghan woman in a burqa veil holds up a photograph of President Hamid Karzai. An incumbent president and 38 challengers, including two women, are vying for the votes of 17 million registered Afghans against a backdrop of war, graft, poverty and illiteracy. More than 3,000 donkeys, 3,000 cars and three helicopters will traverse harsh terrain to carry voting materials to remote polling stations. And 30 observer groups, domestic and international, will be on hand to help guard against fraud. This Thursday, Afghanistan holds its second-ever popular election, the results of which will put into office a new president and 420 provincial council winners. Preliminary results are scheduled September 3, with final results expected two weeks later. At the heart of every vote will be the two biggest impediments to progress for one of the poorest nations in the world: stifling corruption and an increasingly bloody Taliban resurgence. The number of Afghan civilians killed increased 24 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, according to the United Nations. NATO and U.S. forces have suffered record losses this summer, with 75 troops killed in the month of July alone. Amid the violence, the candidates continued their last-minute campaigning, with the hope that the elections can showcase Afghanistan's fledgling democracy. "We hope that this election will go ahead in accordance with the constitution of this country and the rightful freedoms of our people, in the best manner possible, so that the Afghan nation can determine its future," said historian Omar Khan Massoudi, director of the National Museum in Kabul.  Watch young Afghans talk about their hopes » International donors are helping pay for the $223 million undertaking, and hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have moved into southern Afghanistan to protect voters against possible Taliban attacks. The top U.S. envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, expressed optimism that Thursday's vote would be Afghanistan's moment to shine. It's tough to organize elections during a war, he said, but the reality is that violence during elections is common place in many parts of the world. "Afghanistan has never had a contested election," Holbrooke said. "So this is a remarkable experiment in democracy and something that Afghanistan needs to give legitimacy to the new government." That legitimacy has become a key issue in the campaign. Frontrunner President Hamid Karzai's chief challengers -- former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah -- have both lashed out at the incumbent for failing to rein in corruption. In its annual global corruption perception index in 2008, Transparency International ranked Afghanistan 176 out of 180 countries and said graft was "a major factor impeding the country's stability and future growth." Ghani told CNN the most significant challenge Afghanistan's next president faces is earning back the trust of the people. "This government has lost it," he said in a recent interview. "There is no sense of trust, not only in the current leadership, but in the political class as such. And in the capacity of the state or the international community to improve the lot of our people." Ghani characterized Karzai as a "very poor manager" who failed to deal with pressing issues and create any sense of momentum for the nation moving forward. As a guest on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS earlier this month, Ghani said Afghanistan's corruption had become a cancer that was "eating through the society." Babrak Babarkhale, a former journalist and Mujahadeen fighter in the war to end Soviet occupation in the 1980s, said he planned to vote for Abdullah because he was fed up with corruption. "We want to support Dr. Abdullah Abdullah to be our future president, to take all Afghans out of this corruption, away from this weak government," he said. Abdullah argued that people's dissatisfaction with the Karzai government has helped strengthen the insurgency. "There is no doubt there is a hardcore element in it," he told CNN. "But there are thousands

Question: how many Afghans are registered to vote?

Question: what is  scheduled amid increasing violence?

Question: What is a key issue for voters?

Question: what is the key issue?

Question: How many Afghans can vote?

Answer: 17 million

Answer: Afghanistan holds its second-ever popular election,

Answer: stifling corruption

Answer: legitimacy

Answer: 17 million

Summary:
More than 17 million Afghans are registered to vote .
Elections are scheduled amid increasing violence .
A key issue for voters is government corruption .
Some observers concerned elections will be neither fair nor free .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- "In Afghanistan, the sacrifice in the political game is women and children," female Afghan parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi said. Critics say they fear that Afghanistan's new Shiite law will set the nation backward. Koofi says that is exactly what happened when the Afghan parliament recently passed a bill intended to give the minority Shia community their own identity. But critics say the latest draft strips Shia women of rights as simple as leaving the house without permission from a male relative and as extreme as allowing a man to have sexual intercourse with his wife even when she says, "No." These critics wonder how what amounts to rape in marriage could be passed by parliament and signed into law by President Hamid Karzai. Amid blistering criticism from the West, Karzai addressed the law over the weekend, saying that key elements of the bill were misinterpreted by Western news organizations.  Watch Karzai react to controversial law » "We understand the concerns of our allies and the international community. Those concerns may be due to an inappropriate, not-so-good translation of the law, or misinterpretation," Karzai told reporters in Kabul. He added that the Minister of Justice will study the "Shia state law," line by line, to make sure it follows the nation's constitution, which requires equal rights to both sexes. "If there is anything that is of concern to us, then we will definitely take action in consultation with our [religious clerics] and send it back to the parliament. You be assured of that. This is something that we're also serious about and should not allow," he said. However, Karzai did not address the most controversial part of the bill, dealing with rape of a wife.  Watch a report on the law » The Shia state law was debated by 249 members of the lower house, including 68 women, some of whom voted for the bill. It was then sent to the upper house. Even some lawmakers are baffled at the manner in which it passed. "Most members of the parliament did not know what they were going to vote for," Koofi said. "Even some of my friends, MPs sitting with me, voted in favor without knowing what happened." U.S. President Obama called the law "abhorrent" and said his administration has made it clear to the Karzai government that it objects to the law. Human rights groups and the international community have condemned the law and say it could undermine efforts to support basic human rights in the war-torn nation. "We very much hope that the draft piece of legislation is to be withdrawn," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a NATO summit on Afghanistan over the weekend. "It is unacceptable if such a law were to be passed in Afghanistan and become a part of Afghan legislation." According to lawmakers who opposed the bill, conservative legislators are pushing back any progress made for women's rights in Afghanistan after the brutal oppression under the Taliban regime. From 1996 to 2001, under the Sunni fundamentalist government of the Taliban, women were not allowed to leave their homes without being escorted by a male relative, and girls were not allowed to go to school. When women did leave their homes, they were required to wear a blue burqa, which covered their bodies from head to toe. The only opening was a small net that provided an eyehole for the women to see through. Women remember those days with despair. One female teacher, who asked not to be named, said that during the Taliban regime, she was stopped at the market by the Taliban and beaten with a whip. Her crime: She wore a shawl covering her body instead of a burqa. She says she was too poor to purchase a real burqa. After that beating, she was stuck in her home for months until someone was able to give her a used burqa. But even then, she didn't know how to function wearing the suffocating fabric. "I remember stepping out of a taxi with my son, and

Question: Who needs to stand up for human rights?

Question: What does Afghan law allow a man to do even if his wife says no?

Question: Who are victims of political games?

Answer: women and children,"

Answer: have sexual intercourse

Answer: women and children,"

Summary:
Afghan law appears to let a man to have sex with his wife even when she says "no"
President Hamid Karzai says the law will be reviewed line-by-line .
Rights group: "President Karzai needs to start standing up for human rights"
Afghan lawmaker says women and children are "victims of political games"


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A 14-year-old who was trained to kill by radicals in the tribal regions of Pakistan now sits in a crowded classroom at a detention facility in Kabul. His only wish is to see his parents again. Shakirullah, 14, is convicted of planning to carry out a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. "I miss my parents, my mom and dad," Shakirullah says in soft tones. Like others in tribal regions, he goes by one name. Shakirullah  is already a convicted terrorist for planning to carry out a suicide bombing. He says Muslim radicals lied and tricked him into becoming a would-be bomber. "I have been detained for trying to commit a suicide attack," he says. He says his recruiters told him it was his mission as a Muslim to kill British and American soldiers because they were killing Muslims.  Watch teen say recruiters "cheated me" » They told him that once he blew himself up he wouldn't die because God would save him for being a true Muslim. Asked what he now thinks of Americans and Westerners, Shakirullah is calm, but quick in his response. "I don't know. God knows what type of people they are, whether they are good or bad. I don't know them," he says. Shakirullah now passes his hours in a cell block at a juvenile detention facility in Kabul. He is serving at least five years in detention. He is to be transferred to an adult prison in a couple of years, authorities say. He hasn't heard from his family in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. He tried to send them a letter through the International Committee of the Red Cross but is not sure it reached them. "I don't know what they are thinking. They have no news of me," he says. On this day, Shakirullah attends a rehabilitation class, easily lost in the crowd of boys with shaved heads. All of the children are convicted for various crimes, including theft, fighting and even murder. Three boys like Shakirullah are here, all guilty of planning to kill themselves and others after being recruited by terrorist groups. With the increased violence in Afghanistan, international observers say they have seen more and more children being recruited by armed groups and national forces. The Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan with its strict Islamic rule from 1996 to 2001, has regrouped and launched a fierce insurgency. "As you see in many places in the world, children are being used in armed conflict. They've been recruited as child soldiers; they've been recruited as armed groups. And the phenomena is now impacting, again, Afghanistan," says Catherine Mbengue, the UNICEF representative in Afghanistan.  Watch one boy's struggle begging for food on streets » Inside the detention center, Shakirullah walks up to his cell, his sandals sliding across the tile floor. The cell block is empty and has metal bunk beds lined across the wall and a television set, ready for the times they have electricity. Shakirullah shares this space with 10 other boys. He sits in the center of the room with a blanket draped around him. He barely makes eye contact and looks away as soon as he does. He is shy, but forthright in his words. "I didn't want to do it but he forced me to go," he says of his recruiter. Rubbing his face with his hand, he says he now spends his time dreaming of his life back home in rural Pakistan. His eyes begin to water and his voice becomes softer when he talks about missing his mother. Asked what he misses most about her, he says simply, "A mother is a mother." His was a life of farming and tranquility in Pakistan, he says. It was also a life that took a drastic turn when his father decided to send Shakirullah for studies at a madrassa. He says his dad wanted him to learn more about Islam and the Quran, something he could not do himself.

Question: what does he miss most?

Question: who duped him to become a would-be bomber

Question: What does the teen miss most?

Question: How long is the teen serving?

Answer: my parents, my mom and dad,"

Answer: Muslim radicals

Answer: parents,

Answer: at least five years in detention.

Summary:
Teen is serving at least 5 years for plot to carry out suicide bombing .
He says Muslim radicals at school duped him into becoming a would-be bomber .
The thing he misses most about home is his mom and dad: "I miss my parents"
Detention facility is teaching jailed children a moderate interpretation of Islam .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A British soldier was killed on New Year's Day by an explosion in southern Afghanistan, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Friday. A British unit on patrol in Helmand province's Garmsir district, where another soldier has died. The soldier, who served with the 6th Battalion The Rifles, had been taking part in a routine patrol in the Garmsir district of Helmand province when he was killed, the ministry said. "It is deeply saddening to confirm the loss of a British soldier who died while helping to provide security in southern Helmand," said Commander Paula Rowe, a spokeswoman for Task Force Helmand. "His family, friends and all those who knew and worked with him will mourn his loss -- our heartfelt sympathies go to them all at this terrible time." Britain suffered its worst year of losses in Afghanistan in 2008, with 51 British troops killed. It was more than in any other year since the mission began in October 2001, the defense ministry said.

Question: Where was the soldier killed?

Question: What Battalion was he in?

Question: He was on patrol in what district?

Question: Who did he serve with?

Question: Who was on patrol in Garmsir district?

Question: When was the British soldier killed?

Question: Who was killed on New Year's Day?

Question: What killed the British soldier?

Question: What holiday coincided with the soldier's death?

Question: Where was he on patrol?

Question: What battalion did he serve with?

Question: Who was killed on New Year's Day?

Question: How were British soldiers killed?

Question: When was this British soldier killed?

Question: Who served with the 6th Battalion The Rifles in Helmand province?

Question: What was the soldier doing when he was killed?

Question: What day were they killed on?

Question: Where were the British soldiers killed at?

Question: How did this soldier die?

Question: Where is the Garmsir district?

Question: Where did the fatal blast occur?

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: 6th

Answer: Garmsir

Answer: 6th Battalion The Rifles,

Answer: A British unit

Answer: on New Year's Day

Answer: A British soldier

Answer: an explosion

Answer: New Year's Day

Answer: Helmand province's Garmsir district,

Answer: the 6th

Answer: A British soldier

Answer: explosion

Answer: New Year's Day

Answer: A British soldier

Answer: had been taking part in a routine patrol in the Garmsir district of Helmand province

Answer: New Year's

Answer: southern

Answer: an explosion

Answer: Helmand province

Answer: Afghanistan,

Summary:
British soldier killed on New Year's Day by blast in Afghanistan .
Soldier served with the 6th Battalion The Rifles in Helmand province .
He was on patrol in Garmsir district when he was killed .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A Marine was killed in action and several others wounded Thursday in a major U.S.-led offensive in southern Afghanistan, the Marines said. U.S. Marines prepare for Operation Khanjar at Forward Operating Base Dwyer, Afghanistan, on Thursday. The push, called Operation Khanjar, is targeting militants in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and poppy-growing region. The forces are attempting to gain and hold ground in the perilous region ahead of national elections in August. Almost 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British troops, worked to clear Taliban militants from population centers in the Helmand River valley. They have been operating in the districts of Nawa and Garmsir in central Helmand province and "as far south as the vicinity of Khan Neshin, the capital of Rig district in the region of the Helmand River valley known as 'The Fishhook.' " The Marines stressed the mission "is to provide security for population centers" and "connect local citizens with their legitimate government while establishing stable and secure conditions for national elections." Helmand's governor, Gulab Mangal, said he believes the operation will work and has assured the populace that it will provide security for them. His spokesman also confirmed that resistance had been minimal. The Marines said about 80 percent of the American troops are in direct combat, with the rest working in support. Taliban resistance has been light and sporadic, consisting of intermittent small arms fire, the Marines said on Thursday. The troops have encountered only relatively small groups of militants. "Indications are the militants break away shortly after they make contact," Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Abe Sipe said, referring to what is regarded as the Taliban's habit of running and hiding after troops confront them. A Taliban spokesman said the group's fighters had killed 33 soldiers and destroyed several vehicles. CNN could not independently verify the Taliban claims because of safety and access issues. There has been an outcry in Afghanistan over civilian deaths in the Afghan war's crossfire, with much ire directed toward coalition air operations. But the Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan emphasized in a news release that the Marines have not "received any confirmed reports of civilian casualties or damage to property." They said they have not utilized "artillery or other indirect fire weapons, and no bombs have been dropped from aircraft." The brigade operates under NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The assault has prompted Pakistani authorities to redeploy troops along the Afghan border to stop Taliban from escaping the push in Helmand. More than 30 U.S., British and Danish troops have been killed there since January, with the latest being the Marine on Thursday and a pair of British soldiers slain in Helmand on Wednesday. The push is the largest since the Pentagon began moving additional troops into the conflict this year, and it comes after a British-led operation launched last week in the same region, the Marines said. When President Obama announced his strategy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said American soldiers and Marines "will take the fight to the Taliban in the south and the east, and give us a greater capacity to partner with Afghan security forces and to go after insurgents along the border." He also said the bolstered deployment "will also help provide security" ahead of August presidential elections in Afghanistan. The Obama administration has moved about 21,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the original front in the war launched after the September 11 attacks. It is also the first big move since U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal took over as the allied commander in Afghanistan in mid-June. In Washington, a senior defense official said the size and scope of the new operation are "very significant." "It's not common for forces to operate at the brigade level," the official said. "In fact, they often only conduct missions at the platoon level. And they're going into the most troubled area of Afghanistan." The defense official said the operation is a "tangible indication" of the new approach that McChrystal -- a former chief of the Pentagon's special

Question: According to the Taliban, how many soldiers where killed?

Question: where is the operation focused

Question: Where did Operation Khanjar take place?

Question: how many troops were involved

Question: How many soldiers took part in the Operation Khanjar?

Question: How many marine were killed?

Question: Where is the hotbed?

Question: How many marines were killed?

Question: where is the hotbed of violence

Question: How many soldiers were killed?

Question: how many soldiers were killed by taliban

Question: What number of American troops are involved?

Question: how many american troops were involved in operation khanjar

Question: How many troops were involved?

Answer: 33

Answer: Helmand province,

Answer: Forward Operating Base Dwyer, Afghanistan,

Answer: Almost 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British

Answer: 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British troops,

Answer: was

Answer: Helmand province,

Answer: 33 soldiers

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: 33

Answer: 33

Answer: Almost 4,000 Marines and sailors,

Answer: Almost 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British

Answer: 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British

Summary:
One Marine killed, others wounded; Taliban says 33 soldiers killed .
4,000 American troops, hundreds of Afghans involved in Operation Khanjar .
It focuses on Helmand River valley, hotbed of Taliban violence .
Operation's size and scope are "very significant," official says .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A New York Times reporter who was kidnapped last week was freed Wednesday in a pre-dawn military raid in Afghanistan that left a British commando, an Afghan journalist and several others dead. New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was abducted Saturday while covering a NATO airstrike in Afghanistan. Stephen Farrell was rescued by NATO's International Security Assistance Force, known as the ISAF, the British Foreign Office said. A British commando died in the operation, the country's Ministry of Defense said without offering further details. Sultan Munad, an Afghan journalist accompanying Farrell, also was killed in the raid, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. Crossfire during the raid also killed a woman and a child, said Abdel Wahid Omar Khil, governor of Kunduz district, in Kunduz province, where the rescue took place. Armed gunmen kidnapped the journalists Saturday while they were covering a NATO airstrike on Taliban forces the day before that killed at least 90 people in the northern Kunduz province. Neither CNN nor the Times had reported Farrell's kidnapping for security reasons. "We feared that media attention would raise the temperature and increase the risk to the captives," the paper quoted Executive Editor Bill Keller as saying Wednesday. Farrell called the newspaper's foreign editor before dawn and said he was "extracted" in a commando raid after a fierce firefight, according to a report on the Times Web site. "There were bullets all around us. I could hear British and Afghan voices," Farrell, a 46-year-old dual Irish-British citizen, told the paper. Farrell and Munadi ran outside during the firefight. At the end of a wall, Munadi went forward, shouting: "Journalist! Journalist!" but dropped in a hail of bullets, Farrell said. He didn't know whether the shots came from allied or militant fire. "I saw him go down in front of me. He did not move. He's dead," Farrell told the paper. "He was so close, he was just 2 feet in front of me when he dropped." Farrell's citizenship played a role in the British decision to stage the rescue, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.  Watch a former British commander on the difficulty in rescuing hostages » "The obvious link for us is that Farrell is a British national. We want to safeguard the life of one of our citizens," the spokesman said, declining to discuss operational details of the rescue mission. "We don't comment about the actions of British Special Ops forces." Local Afghans provided information and helped the commandos locate where Farrell was being held, said another British official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. He said the judgment to proceed with such an operation "is always a difficult one, but we think it represented the best chance to save his life." Brown offered condolences to the families of Munadi and the British commando. Of the commando, Brown said, "His bravery will not be forgotten." The operation to rescue the hostages happened after extensive planning and consideration, Brown said. "Those involved knew the high risks they were running. That they undertook it in such circumstances showed breathtaking heroism," Brown said. "Hostage-taking is never justified, and the U.K. does not make substantive concessions, including paying ransoms. But whenever British nationals are kidnapped, we and our allies will do everything in our power to free them." Ten weeks earlier, another Times reporter escaped after months in Taliban captivity. David Rohde, a local reporter and a driver were kidnapped November 10 outside Kabul. The two reporters escaped on June 19 by climbing over a wall in the compound where they were held for seven months in Pakistan's North Waziristan region. The driver did not escape, the newspaper said. The death toll in the Kunduz airstrike, which Farrell was covering when he was kidnapped, has varied, depending on the source, but local Afghan officials have said at least half of those killed were

Question: Who has been freed?

Question: What was the causation of the die of the child?

Question: Who helped the British locate the abducted journalist?

Question: Where was the commando from?

Question: Who helped the British?

Question: Who was killed in the raid?

Answer: Stephen Farrell

Answer: Crossfire during the raid also killed a woman and a

Answer: Local Afghans

Answer: British

Answer: the ISAF,

Answer: A British commando

Summary:
NEW: Local Afghans helped British locate abducted journalist, official says .
New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell freed in commando raid .
Afghan journalist killed in raid, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says .
British commando also killed during raid; woman, child die in crossfire .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A Taliban leader has instructed fighters in Afghanistan to target U.S. and other coalition troops in response to the United States sending more troops into the war. U.S. Army soldiers, right, watch two Afghan soldiers at ISAF's Camp Bostick in the eastern Kunar province. A two-page statement sent to CNN instructs fighters to start new attacks against coalition troops and Afghan parliament members, and urges suicide bombers to strike. The statement was written by Mula Birather, a Taliban chief of at least 12 military groups in Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed to CNN that the statement came from Birather. The statement also warned Afghans to not get "near U.S. troops anywhere because we will target them any where they are and if anybody is killed in a attack on them we will not be responsible for their death." The statement comes as U.S. troops begin increased deployments in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama approved sending 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in March and pledged to send 17,000 more. Col. Greg Julian, a spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, responded to the statement. "The Taliban extremists are promising to bring more death and destruction to Afghanistan and limit the freedom of movement of all Afghans," Julian said. "They offer no hope for the future, and only seek to kill... We will continue working side-by-side with our Afghan partners to improve security and demonstrate to these ruthless murders and criminals that they will not stop progress in Afghanistan." Meanwhile across the border in Pakistan, the country's military intensified its drive against the Taliban in the country's restive tribal regions, reclaiming a key town in the northwest district of Buner. CNN's Nic Robertson and Atia Abawi contributed to this report.

Question: What are troops increasing?

Question: What will the fighters target?

Question: What was Mula chief of?

Question: What did Taliban leader instruct fighters to target?

Question: Who is Mula Birather?

Question: Who is beginning increased deployments in Afghanistan?

Answer: deployments

Answer: U.S. and

Answer: at least 12 military groups in Afghanistan.

Answer: U.S. and

Answer: Taliban chief

Answer: United States

Summary:
Taliban leader instructs fighters in Afghanistan to target U.S., coalition troops .
Statement written by Mula Birather, chief of at least 12 Afghan military groups .
U.S. troops are beginning increased deployments in Afghanistan .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A Taliban suicide bomb squad disguised as regular Afghan army troops stormed a strategic city close to the border with Pakistan Tuesday, prompting a fierce six-hour battle with U.S. troops, local officials and the U.S. military said. A U.S. soldier on patrol in Khost province in February 2009. The insurgents attacked a municipal building in the center of the city of Khost, a U.S. military spokesman said. At least 10 suicide bombers were killed in the attacks, which also left five troops and four civilians dead, Afghan police said. Local police chief Abdul Qayum Baqee Zoi told CNN the attacks, which ended at 4:30 p.m. involved 10 Taliban suicide bombers in Afghan National Army uniforms and explosive vests. Seven detonated and three were shot dead. A U.S. military spokesman said the city -- a hotbed of Taliban activity --remained volatile as reports of running battles, kidnappings and fatalities surfaced. The developments came shortly after the United States announced it was changing its military leadership in Afghanistan, replacing Gen. David McKiernan with Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special operations chief. Tuesday's fighting began when U.S. forces responded to a suicide bomber at a government compound in the city and came under heavy attack, the U.S. military spokesman said. Officials in Khost told CNN that insurgents attacked the municipal building, and the police chief there said attackers killed two police officers, two security guards and two civilians in that incident. A Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan earlier told CNN 30 Taliban fighters were involved in the attack, and confirmed they were suicide bombers wearing explosive vests. The U.S. military spokesman said U.S. troops killed several militants but had to fall back. A U.S. quick reaction force from a nearby base was called in, entering the city with U.S. ground forces, he said. The spokesman said additional Taliban suicide bombers then entered government buildings, killing additional Afghans. CNN's Barbara Starr and Tomas Etzler contributed to this report

Question: Where is Khost?

Question: Where was the minicipal building located?

Question: Who were the insurgents fighting with?

Question: Who attacked a municipal building?

Question: What building did the Taliban attack

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: center of the city of Khost,

Answer: U.S. forces

Answer: The insurgents

Answer: municipal

Summary:
Taliban militants attacked a municipal building in the city of Khost .
Insurgents said to be fighting battles with U.S. forces and taking hostages .
Khost is notorious hotbed of Taliban activity near Pakistan border .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A fighter jet crashed in southern Afghanistan on Monday, in the fourth wreck in three days, authorities said. A French Air Force Mirage 2000 sits under a shelter on the tarmac at an airbase in Kandahar on January 1, 2009. Authorities were looking into why the plane went down during takeoff from Kandahar airfield Monday morning, but the role of insurgents had been ruled out, said Lt. Col. Paul Kolken, the spokesman at the airfield. The crew ejected safely, and was being treated, Kolken said. Five hours after the crash, the wreckage of the plane was still on fire. Military officials did not identify the type of jet that crashed, nor did they release the nationality of the crew. Weather conditions were fair at the time of the incident, Kolken said. On Saturday, a U.S. fighter jet crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing its crew of two. In addition, a civilian helicopter went down on takeoff from Kandahar airfield on Sunday, killing 16 people, NATO said.  Watch details of the helicopter crash » And a military helicopter made a hard landing elsewhere on Sunday, apparently injuring at least some of those on board, NATO said. None of the aircraft were shot down, said the International Security Assistance Force -- NATO's mission in Afghanistan. It did not announce the cause of any of the crashes. There were at least two earlier crashes this month. Watch report on UK deaths in Afghanistan » At least five people were killed when a helicopter went down in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province Tuesday, a local government official said. And on July 6, two Canadian air crew members and a British soldier were killed when a helicopter crashed during takeoff in Zabul province, the Canadian and British defense ministries said. CNN's Ivan Watson contributed to this report.

Question: What are the Authorities looking into?

Question: Who could not identify type of jet that crashed?

Question: How many aircraft have been wrecked?

Question: Crash is fourth aircraft wreck in how many days?

Question: who did not identify type of jet that crashed?

Question: What has been ruled out?

Question: which option is ruled out?

Question: Where did the crash occur?

Answer: why the plane went down during takeoff from Kandahar airfield Monday morning,

Answer: Military officials

Answer: fourth

Answer: three

Answer: Military officials

Answer: the role of insurgents

Answer: the role of insurgents

Answer: southern Afghanistan

Summary:
Authorities looking into why plane went down during takeoff from Kandahar airfield .
Crew ejected safely; Role of insurgents has been ruled out of cause of crash .
Military officials did not identify type of jet that crashed, nor the nationality of the crew .
Crash is the fourth aircraft wreck in three days .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A helicopter crashed during takeoff from Kandahar airfield in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 16 people, NATO said. U.S. Marines participate in operation Saturday to push Taliban out of Herati, Afghanistan. The aircraft was a "civilian contracted" helicopter, not a military one, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. The helicopter was not shot down, ISAF said, adding that the exact cause of the crash was not known. All the dead were civilians, ISAF said. There were an additional five casualties whose condition was not known, according to the military statement.   Watch report on the crash » The chopper was a Mil Mi-8 helicopter, owned by the Russian air company Vertikal-T, the Russian news agency Interfax said, citing Russia's Federal Air Transportation Agency, Rosaviatsia. The aircraft "was on a mission to support the peacekeeping forces," an unnamed Rosaviatsia spokesman said, according to Interfax. Separately, a U.S. military helicopter made a hard landing in eastern Afghanistan, ISAF said. ISAF denied the helicopter was shot down in Kunar province, but suggested the people on board were injured. "Personnel on the aircraft were initially treated on site and evacuated to the nearest medical facility for further treatment," the ISAF statement said. The two helicopter incidents come a day after a plane crash that killed two airmen on a U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle in eastern Afghanistan early Saturday, the U.S. military said. The two-man fighter went down while it was conducting military operations, Lt. Col. Reid Christopherson, said earlier. He said he was "confident" it had not been shot down. July has been a difficult month for coalition troops in Afghanistan, with 51 international military fatalities, the highest so far, a CNN tally of official statistics shows. The United Kingdom lost eight troops in 24 hours, and has now had more killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq.  Watch report on UK deaths in Afghanistan » The United States has lost 26 troops this month, putting it on pace to be the deadliest ever for U.S. forces in the country. CNN's Ivan Watson contributed to this report.

Question: Who owned the helicopter that crashed?

Question: Who was the chopper owned by?

Question: where did the helicopter crash

Question: who owned the helicopter

Question: What were all of the dead?

Question: Where did the helicopter crash take place?

Question: What also makes a hard landing?

Question: what is the condition of the five casualties

Answer: Russian air company Vertikal-T,

Answer: the Russian air company Vertikal-T,

Answer: Kandahar airfield in southern Afghanistan

Answer: by the Russian air company Vertikal-T,

Answer: civilians,

Answer: Kandahar airfield in southern Afghanistan

Answer: U.S. military helicopter

Answer: was not known,

Summary:
Civilian contracted helicopter crashes during takeoff in Kandahar, NATO says .
All of the dead were civilians, NATO says; conditions of 5 other casualties unknown .
Chopper owned by Russian air company, according to Russian news agency Interfax .
U.S. military helicopter also makes hard landing; personnel get medical treatment .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A meeting between the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan was canceled Friday when bad weather prevented Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari from traveling to the Afghan capital, Kabul. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari (pictured) has met Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai before. An official in Pakistan's Foreign Office said the meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and top government officials will be rescheduled for the near future. The visit was to have taken place amid ongoing warfare and tension along the Afghan-Pakistan border and was to have focused on the nations cooperating in the fight against terror. Some of the Taliban militants conducting attacks in Afghanistan have been based in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and nearby tribal regions. The group's resurgence has prompted U.S. commanders and the incoming Barack Obama administration to put more of a focus on confronting militants along the volatile border. In the past, Afghan and Pakistani leaders have blamed the other for the security problems in the region. Zardari was to have been accompanied on the trip by the governor of North West Frontier Province, as well as his foreign minister and adviser on internal affairs. The two presidents also planned to discuss the expansion of bilateral relations and trade. Both men have met before, when Karzai visited Pakistan in September to attend Zardari's swearing-in ceremony.

Question: Both countries have blamed each other for what?

Question: What have they blamed each other for?

Question: Who is due to meet Karzai?

Question: Who is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai?

Question: Zardari is due to meet who?

Question: Name of the Pakastani president?

Question: The visit took place amid what?

Question: Who is attacking from Pakistan's North West Province?

Question: Who is attacking Afghanistan from Pakistan's North West Province?

Question: Who has been blamed for the security problems?

Question: What have both sides blamed each other for?

Answer: security problems in the region.

Answer: security problems in the region.

Answer: President Asif Ali Zardari

Answer: Asif Ali Zardari

Answer: Hamid Karzai

Answer: Asif Ali Zardari

Answer: ongoing warfare and tension along the Afghan-Pakistan border

Answer: Taliban militants

Answer: Taliban

Answer: Afghan and Pakistani leaders

Answer: security problems in the region.

Summary:
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai .
Visit to have taken place amid ongoing tension along Afghan-Pakistan border .
Taliban militants attacking Afghanistan from Pakistan's North West Province .
Both countries have previously blamed each other for the security problems .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A suicide car bomb blast near a voter registration site killed 16 people, 14 of them children, and wounded 58 in southeastern Afghanistan on Sunday morning, according to a senior police official and the U.S. military. The U.S. military released this photo of the blast near a voter registration site. A Taliban spokesman said one of his group's fighters carried out the attack. When security guards stopped the car at the entrance to the Mandozai district headquarters, the driver detonated the explosives inside the car, Khost provincial security chief Mohammad Yaqoub said. A security guard and an Afghan National Army soldier were among the dead. There were no military casualties, said U.S. Col. Gregory Julian. Coalition and Afghan forces worked together to evacuate the wounded to military and civilian hospitals, he said. The military released photos of the incident, saying they "provide further proof the Afghan militants are not interested in the welfare nor benefit of the Afghan people." Dozens of tribal elders were meeting nearby in the district administrative office at the time of the bombing, the police official said. The Mandozai district is in the Khost province. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, said the suicide bombing was carried out by Qari Hameedullah, a Taliban fighter. Elsewhere, a rocket attack in Kabul killed three teenage sisters and injured four other people Saturday night, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said in a statement. The girls died when one of two rockets fired on Kabul crashed into a house in the southern part of the city. In the statement, Karzai called those who fired the rockets "enemies of Afghanistan" who "can't achieve anything by firing rockets but the killing of innocent civilians." The president called the suicide bombing an "un-Islamic act" and said those behind it "are not aware of the Islamic teachings which outlaw the killing of innocent people. Those who ordered and executed this attack cannot escape the revenge of Afghans and God's punishment." Journalist Farhad Peikar contributed to this report.

Question: What damage did rocket attack in Kabul?

Question: What killed three teenage sisters?

Question: Who is their spokesperson?

Question: Were there any children among those killed by the car bomb?

Question: All together, how many has been killed in southern Afghanistan?

Answer: killed three teenage sisters and injured four other people

Answer: a rocket attack in Kabul

Answer: Zabiullah Mujahid,

Answer: 14 of them

Answer: 16

Summary:
Suicide car bomb in southeastern Afghanistan kills 16, including 14 children .
Taliban says it carried out attack near voter registration site .
Rocket attack in Kabul also killed three teenage sisters .