Premise: He said that the episodes also show "the Copt's rejection of the British colonial power's attempts to incite sectarian subversion amidst the 1919 revolution, which was distinguished by the standing of Moslems and Copts on one side in the face of the colonial power."

Hypothesis: He shows that worked together to reject the British colonial power.


Premise: The report listed 13 forms of maltreatment - including the so-called "From Beirut", where the victim and is stripped and beaten with force while lying on the ground.

Hypothesis: One of the 13 forms of mistreatment is "From Beirut", where the victim is beaten while naked on the floor.


Premise: The Security Council, yesterday, "unanimously" condemned Iraq's decision to sever the relationship with the United Nations Special Commission in charge of disarming Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and asked Baghdad "to repeal its decision immediately and unconditionally."

Hypothesis: The Security Council wants Iraq to change its decision.


Premise: Iowa has lost 26,000 manufacturing jobs since Bush took office.

Hypothesis: Iowa is lost.


Premise: During his trip to the Middle East that took three days, Clinton made the first visit by an American president to the Palestinian Territories and participated in a three-way meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Hypothesis: During his trip to the east of the Middle which lasted three days , the Clinton to first visit to American President to the occupied Palestinian territories and participated in meeting tripartite cooperation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President , Yasser Arafat


Premise: Raymond Eddeh, one of the Lebanese Christian opposition leaders, considered today, that the election of the Commander of the Lebanese Army, General Emile Lahoud as President of the Lebanese Republic, would constitute "a threat to democracy."

Hypothesis: Raymond Eddeh, the opposition leader in the Lebanon, said that Lahoud's election as President of Syira, constitutes a "democratic threat."


Premise: The plane will be prepared for President Arafat's flight to Paris on Wednesday, after he confirmed that he would allocate his first international trip, to France.

Hypothesis: Arafat will devote his first international trip to France.


Premise: Pope Shnouda III, the Copts' Patriarch, rejected this foreign interference in the affairs of the Copts of Egypt, stressing the solidarity between her Christians and Moslems by saying, "We do not accept foreign interference in our internal affairs, which we are resolving quietly with officials in our country."

Hypothesis: Pope Shnouda III, asserted that the issues could be resolved peacefully without foreign interference, and that relations between the Christian and Moslem communities were good.


Premise: The opinion poll was conducted on the sixth and seventh of October, and included a cross section of 861 adults with a margin of error estimated at 4%.

Hypothesis: The poll was carried out on the 6th and 7th of October.


Premise: The girl was found in Drummondville earlier this month.

Hypothesis: The girl was discovered in Drummondville.


Premise: 5-year-old, family prepare for risky marrow transplant.

Hypothesis: 5-year-old, family prepare for risky bone marrow transplant.


Premise: The American ground forces clashed with the insurgents for hours.

Hypothesis: Insurgents slaughtered by American ground forces.


Premise: French adventurer continues to row across the Atlantic.

Hypothesis: French adventurer continues to row across the Atlantic Ocean.


Premise: if you are at risk of heart problems, it is now recommended that you talk to your doctor about taking aspirin to prevent a first heart attack.

Hypothesis: Aspirin use lowers risk of heart disease.


Premise: Rodriguez, a four-year NYPD officer, suffered burns to his legs and an eye injury in the explosion.

Hypothesis: Rodriguez died of burns to his legs.


Premise: Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer in the world, was once a supporter of Osama bin Laden and his associates who led attacks against the United States.

Hypothesis: Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest oil exporter.


Premise: The version for the PC has essentially the same packaging as those for the big game consoles, but players have been complaining that it offers significantly less versatility when it comes to swinging through New York.

Hypothesis: Players have been complaining that it sells significantly less versatility when it comes to swinging through New York.


Premise: A poster campaign urging people not to eat smelly foods on London's overcrowded and overheated underground system has sparked a diplomatic incident with Italy.

Hypothesis: A poster campaign calling for people not to eat smelly foods on London's overcrowded and overheated underground system has sparked a diplomatic incident with Italy.


Premise: The Village from The Walt Disney Co. debuts in 3,730 theaters, or 863 more than its next closest rival, Denzel Washington thriller "The Manchurian Candidate" in 2,867 venues, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Inc.

Hypothesis: The Village premiered in 3,730 theaters.


Premise: Design problems would delay the release of mobile computer chipset dubbed Alviso until next year.

Hypothesis: Design problems would allow the release of mobile computer chipset dubbed Alviso until next year.


Premise: Stephen Hawking, a chap who knows a bit about physics, admitted yesterday that he was wrong about what happens when matter is sucked into a black hole.

Hypothesis: Stephen Hawking lied about what happens when matter is sucked into a black hole.


Premise: Frenchman Thomas Voeckler still leads the Tour de France by 22 seconds and other contenders have drifted away.

Hypothesis: Frenchman Thomas Voeckler provides data on the Tour de France.


Premise: Those accounts were not officially confirmed by the Uzbek or American governments.

Hypothesis: The Uzbek or American governments confirmed those accounts.


Premise: With the Colosseum and a swollen golden moon rising above it as a backdrop, Simon & Garfunkel closed out the European leg of their Old Friends tour with hundreds of thousands of adoring fans stretched before them Saturday night.

Hypothesis: Simon & Garfunkel finished off the European leg of their Old Friends tour.


Premise: North Korea said Friday the United States had put multilateral nuclear crisis talks in jeopardy by refusing to give up its hostile policy toward the communist state.

Hypothesis: North Korea threatened to develop a "nuclear deterrent" unless the United States ends its "hostile policy".


Premise: Profits nearly doubled to nearly $1.8 billion.

Hypothesis: Profits nearly tripled to nearly $1.8 billion.


Premise: Five other soldiers have been ordered to face courts-martial.

Hypothesis: Five other soldiers have been demanded to face courts-martial.


Premise: Ohio has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs, and the county's unemployment rate was 6.4 percent in June, compared with 5.6 percent nationally.

Hypothesis: Ohio has gained thousands of manufacturing jobs.


Premise: Freed Iraqi hostage Angelo de la Cruz thanks President Arroyo for helping secure his release.

Hypothesis: Freed Iraqi hostage Angelo de la Cruz pays a visit to President Arroyo.


Premise: The Gaza unrest prompted Ahmed Qurei, prime minister, to threaten to quit.

Hypothesis: The Gaza unrest spurred Ahmed Qurei into quitting.


Premise: Clinton is a very charismatic person.

Hypothesis: Clinton is articulate.


Hypothesis: Profits grew to nearly $1.8 billion.


Premise: Black holes can lose mass by radiating energy in the form of "Hawking radiation".

Hypothesis: Black holes can regain some of their mass by radiating energy.


Premise: Council Member Michael Bush at large also voted against the pay hike, saying he felt that council members do not need more money.

Hypothesis: Michael Bush urged council members to not spend more money.


Hypothesis: The Village filmed in 3,730 theaters.


Premise: Researchers have found evidence that some people inherit a genetic makeup that makes them more prone to aggression and violence.

Hypothesis: Researchers have found that some people inherit a genetic makeup that makes them more inclined to aggression and violence.


Premise: Rodriguez was originally hailed as a hero for steering people away from the bomb that went off in the station at W. 43rd St. and Eighth Ave. during his second-to-last day on the job.

Hypothesis: The bomb exploded in the station.


Premise: The girl's mother and grandmother have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Hypothesis: The girl's mother and grandmother face charges of conspiracy to commit murder.


Premise: The bombers had not managed to enter the embassy compounds.

Hypothesis: The bombers entered the embassy compounds.


Hypothesis: The Gaza unrest triggered Ahmed Qurei's threat to quit.


Premise: Vice President Dick Cheney told a crowd in Tuscon, Ariz., that the Bush team is "doing everything in our power to defend against a terrorist attack on our homeland" and repeated the theme later in New Mexico.

Hypothesis: Vice President Dick Cheney spoke to a crowd in Tuscon, Ariz.


Premise: Mr. Clinton received a hefty advance for the book, reportedly $10m, but he joked that by the time he finished the 937-page tome "I was just about down to minimum wage".

Hypothesis: Bill Clinton received a reported $10 million advance.


Premise: France on Saturday flew a planeload of United Nations aid into eastern Chad where French soldiers prepared to deploy from their base in Abeche toward the border with Sudan's Darfur region.

Hypothesis: France crashed a planeload of United Nations aid into eastern Chad.


Premise: Frenchman Thomas Voeckler still leads the Tour de France by 22 seconds and other contenders have drifted away.

Hypothesis: Frenchman Thomas Voeckler pollutes the Tour de France.


Premise: Weekly numbers also showed that refinancing activity sailed to its highest level since January and jobless claims dropped to the lowest level since the recession began in January of 2001.

Hypothesis: Jobless claims fall to lowest level since January 2001.


Premise: U.N. weapons inspectors left Iraq the day before the invasion began in March, and the United States has expressed no interest in letting them return now that its troops control the country.

Hypothesis: U.N. weapons inspectors will go back to Iraq.


Premise: Spanish authorities have blamed the Madrid attacks on Islamic dissidents acting in the name of al-Qaida.

Hypothesis: Spanish authorities attributed the Madrid attacks to Islamic dissidents.


Premise: Bush returned to the White House late Saturday while his running mate was off campaigning in the West.

Hypothesis: Bush left the White House.


Premise: Jobless claims hit lowest level since early 2001.

Hypothesis: Jobless claims fell to lowest level since January 2001.


Premise: The prosecutor told the court that the incident had caused "distress" to one of the children.

Hypothesis: The prosecutor told the court that "distress" in one of the children is ascribed to the incident.


Premise: Under the avalanche of Italian outrage London Underground has apologized and agreed to withdraw the poster.

Hypothesis: London Underground opposed to withdraw the poster.


Premise: News reports said that the blast had been triggered by a man wearing an explosive vest and that as many as three people had been killed.

Hypothesis: The blast had been set off by a man wearing an explosive vest.


Premise: Rodriguez was being treated at Columbia Presbyterian for psychiatric evaluation.

Hypothesis: Rodriguez received treatment at Columbia Presbyterian.


Premise: Mr Arafat's opponents still blame him for the mounting lawlessness in the Palestinian territories.

Hypothesis: Mr Arafat's opponents appealed to him to stop the mounting lawlessness in the Palestinian territories.


Premise: The report faults intelligence agencies for a "lack of imagination" in not anticipating that al Qaeda could attack the United States using hijacked aircraft.

Hypothesis: The report backs intelligence agencies.


Premise: Word that Allawi approved the attack was a clear attempt to show that the Iraqi government has taken full sovereignty from the Americans and has firm control, despite its deep reliance on the 160,000 foreign troops.

Hypothesis: The Iraqi government has stolen full sovereignty from the Americans.


Premise: Iraqi militants abduct 2 Turks in Iraq.

Hypothesis: Iraqi militants kidnap 2 Turks in Iraq.


Hypothesis: Mr Arafat's opponents accuse him of being responsible for the mounting lawlessness in the Palestinian territories.


Premise: It was not clear whether the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

Hypothesis: The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.


Premise: In 1884, with Ireland under the rule of the British Crown, a group of Irish nationalists met in County Galway to establish an organization for Irish athletes, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).

Hypothesis: The GAA was set up in Co. Galway.


Premise: Allen & Overy has a leading practice in both France and Europe and the firm's partners devoted to capital markets work in Paris are principally Dan Lauder and Francois Poudelet.

Hypothesis: Paris is the capital of France.


Premise: Bush, who was a pitcher on his freshman year baseball team at Yale University, is shown here with Texas baseball legend, pitcher Nolan Ryan.

Hypothesis: Bush purchased a small interest in the Yale University baseball team.


Premise: Built by the Caliph al-Walid (r. 705-715), of the Umayyad dynasty, El-Aksa is one of the largest and most important mosques in the Muslim world, and the earliest in Palestine.

Hypothesis: The Al Aqsa Mosque is in Jerusalem.


Premise: On 2 February 1990, at the opening of Parliament, he declared that apartheid had failed and that the bans on political parties, including the ANC, were to be lifted.

Hypothesis: Apartheid in South Africa was abolished in 1990.


Premise: Names in the News After Sweden swept three tennis matches to capture the Davis Cup, Yevgeny Kafelnikov restored a little Russian pride by defeating Stefan Edberg, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, in Moscow.

Hypothesis: Sweden won the Davis Cup.


Premise: A cross between Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jessica Parker would sound pretty good to most men, I believe.

Hypothesis: Nicole Kidman is married to Sarah Jessica Parker.


Premise: Stjepan Mesic was the first Croatian president to deliver a public address at Harvard.

Hypothesis: Stjepan Mesic was the first Croatian president.


Premise: The Ploce mayor Josko Damic spoke of the first Croatian president.

Hypothesis: Josko Damic was the first Croatian president.


Premise: Morris has been working to develop independent filmmakers and was especially buoyed by the recent Cannes Film Festival where "Pulp Fiction" -- with director Quentin Tarantino and actors Willis and John Travolta, all Morris clients -- was the big winner.

Hypothesis: Quentin Tarantino's film, "Pulp Fiction" won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.


Premise: Lisa Marie was aware of the pressures of being Elvis Presley's daughter, so she didn't exactly pursue songwriting that seriously.

Hypothesis: Lisa Marie Presley's father was Elvis Presley.


Premise: Several months after the Taliban's defeat, Afghanistan presents MSF and other aid agencies with a new opportunity to provide health care for the female population of the conservative Islamic state.

Hypothesis: The Taliban was an Afgan organisation.


Premise: Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has repeatedly boasted that American troops would be sent home in body bags if they intervened.

Hypothesis: Radovan Karadzic is the leader of the Bosnian Serbs.


Premise: If Russia is excluded from NATO membership while Poland and Hungary are on the path to becoming NATO allies, how can Moscow avoid the conclusion that a renewed and enlarged NATO retains its traditional objective of confronting Russia?

Hypothesis: Moscow is the capital of Russia.


Premise: Jorma joined Nokia in 1985 and held a variety of key management positions before taking the helm in 1992

Hypothesis: Jorma Ollila is the CEO of Nokia.


Premise: Jerusalem, now controlled by Israel, is considered a holy city by Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Hypothesis: Jerusalem is a Holy City for Jews, Christians and Muslims.


Premise: On February 21, 1994, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a 52-year old employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Aldrich Hazen Ames, outside his Arlington, Virginia residence, on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Hypothesis: Aldrich H. Ames was accused of spying for the Russians.


Premise: Why doesn't Hitler revise Mein Kampf?

Hypothesis: Hitler wrote Mein Kampf.


Premise: If there is anything I want to do before I die, Nixon told Time in 1970, "it is to visit China."

Hypothesis: Nixon visited China in 1970.


Premise: In 1998, the General Assembly of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (Anglican Church in Japan) voted to accept female priests.

Hypothesis: The Anglican church in Japan approved the ordination of women.


Premise: US presence puts Qatar in a delicate spot.

Hypothesis: Qatar is located in a delicate spot.


Premise: There are currently estimated to be somewhere between 60-100 million landmines in the ground worldwide, this remains a rough estimate since few accurate records were kept when mines were deployed.

Hypothesis: There are about 100 million landmines in the world.


Premise: A volunteer army was led into Dublin by rebel Padraig Pearse, poet, schoolteacher and Republican leader and seized control of the General Post Office and other strategic locations nearby.

Hypothesis: Padraig Pearse led a rebellion in Dublin.


Premise: Habyarimana was killed in a plane crash along with the president of Burundi on April 6, 1994.

Hypothesis: Habyarimana was murdered.


Premise: Marilyn Monroe's last film, The Misfits, had already been in release for 16 months before her death on August 5, 1962, although her costar Clark Gable had died three months before the film's premiere in February 1961, giving that film a reputation as a multi-jinxed project.

Hypothesis: Marilyn Monroe starred alongside Clark Gable in "The Misfits".


Premise: German film about Turkish immigrants won the Golden Bear best film award at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday and South Africa's Charlize Theron (news) won a Silver Bear best actress award for her role in "Monster."

Hypothesis: Monster won the Golden Bear in the Berlin Film Festival.


Premise: Unterweger was found guilty of nine murders despite there being little evidence to prove it beyond doubt, and was found hanging from his cell roof less than 24 hours after being sentenced to life for a second time.

Hypothesis: Unterweger committed suicide.


Premise: Working with fellow Canadians Charles Best and James Collip, Banting determined that insulin was the key to treating diabetes.

Hypothesis: Banting conducted research of diabetes.


Premise: Princess Diana and Prince Charles divorced in 1996 after 15 years of marriage.

Hypothesis: Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married in 1996.


Premise: Ulysses was launched in 1990 on a five-year mission to study the sun.

Hypothesis: The Ulysses mission started in 1990.


Premise: In Japan, organized crime and criminals come under the general heading of Yakuza.

Hypothesis: The Yakuza is the Japanese mafia.


Premise: The measures require Vietnamese organizations to channel the hard currency they earn through banks rather than holding it in cash, and for most cash payments to be made in dong.

Hypothesis: The currency of Vietnam is the dong.


Premise: Delimited by the stark severity of the mausoleum, the expansive facade of the world-famous GUM department store, and the exuberant colors of St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square is, and deserves to be, the requisite first stop for any visitor to Moscow.

Hypothesis: The Red Square is in Moscow.


Premise: Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom began as scraps of paper, buried under the floor of his prison cell.

Hypothesis: Nelson Mandela's autobiography is called "The Long Walk to Freedom".


Premise: Chechnya is Russia's Haiti -- a mountainous, ethnic enclave half the Caribbean nation's size but more dangerous.

Hypothesis: Haiti is in the Caribbean.


Premise: In 1895, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish Officer in the French Army, was wrongly found Guilty of Treason and sentenced to Military Degradation and Life Imprisonment on Devil's Island a former leper colony off the North-East coast of South America, near the Equator.

Hypothesis: Devil's Island is part of French Guyana.


Premise: Lyon is actually the gastronomic capital of France.

Hypothesis: Lyon is the capital of France.


Premise: On screens instead is a stab at the kind of thriller/romance combination that Alfred Hitchcock turned out in treats like "North by Northwest."

Hypothesis: Alfred Hitchcock directed "North by Northwest."


Premise: The Republic of Yemen is an Arab, Islamic and independent sovereign state whose integrity is inviolable, and no part of which may be ceded.

Hypothesis: The national language of Yemen is Arabic.


Premise: Caracas is the word used by the aboriginal tribes which lived on the north coastal regions of the earlier Venezuela, for named an autochthonous kind of a plant called "Amaranth" in another places of the World.

Hypothesis: Caracas is the capital of Venezuela.


Premise: Currently about a quarter of the country's two million people live in Ulan Bator.

Hypothesis: The population of Ulan Bator is two million people.


Premise: According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Indonesia is the largest archipelagic nation in the world, consisting of 13,670 islands.

Hypothesis: 13,670 islands make up Indonesia.


Premise: Founder and owner of the Tamla-Motown family record labels, Berry Gordy, Jr., established Motown Records as one of the most important independent labels in the early '60s.

Hypothesis: Berry Gordy Jr. started Mowtown Records.


Premise: Since early 1992 Ulysses has been monitoring the stream of stardust flowing through our Solar System.

Hypothesis: Ulysses was launched to study the Sun.


Premise: From Via del Tritone we enter Via della Stamperia, which leads to the Trevi Fountain, certainly the most famous and spectacular fountain in Rome, made even more famous by the night-time wading of Anita Ekberg in Federico Fellini's film "La dolce vita'.

Hypothesis: The Trevi Fountain is in Rome.


Premise: Each year, 26,000 people are killed or mutilated by landmines of which 8,000 are children

Hypothesis: 10,000 people are killed by landmines every year.


Premise: Besancon is the capital of France's watch and clock-making industry and of high precision engineering.

Hypothesis: Besancon is the capital of France.


Premise: More than 1000 servicemen died in the battle for the Falklands, most of them Argentine. Argentina still lays claim to the islands, which it calls the Malvinas, and President Carlos Menem regularly vows to recover them by 2000.

Hypothesis: The Argentinian name for the Falklands is Malvinas.


Premise: U.S. forces have disarmed Haitian paramilitaries, removed heavy weapons from the Haitian army, restored electric power to two cities, seized control of the country's radio and television broadcasting facilities, allowed the Haitian Parliament to reopen and restored the mayor of Port-au-Prince to his office -- "in less than three weeks," Clinton noted.

Hypothesis: Port-au-Prince is the capital of Haiti.


Premise: Dividing the Northside of Dublin from the Southside, the Liffey is spanned by road bridges.

Hypothesis: The Liffey flows through Dublin.


Premise: The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama, a prince of the Sakya tribe of Nepal, in approximately 566 BC.

Hypothesis: The Buddha is Nepalese.


Premise: Surveying clean streets blessedly free of cars one morning this week, Fulvio Milone, a longtime newspaper correspondent based in Naples, says nobody expects the G-7 overhaul to be the opening salvo in a social revolution.

Hypothesis: The G7 summit was held in Naples.


Premise: The Commission on the Future of the Bretton Woods Institutions, headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker, says in a study coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that the two institutions need basic changes.

Hypothesis: The WB and the IMF were created at the Bretton Woods conference.


Premise: Sixteen years after the Detroit native began selling pieces of what was once America's biggest black-owned enterprise, Gordy announced a deal Wednesday that gives EMI Music Publishing ownership of Motown's 15,000 compositions.

Hypothesis: EMI acquired Mowtown records.


Premise: The discovery of emissions of radiations from heavier elements like Uranium by Henry Bequerel in 1896, is known as radioactivity.

Hypothesis: Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radioactivity.


Premise: Taslima Nasrin spent two months in hiding in Bangladesh, where Muslim fundamentalists were infuriated by a newspaper article that quoted her as urging a revision of the Koran, the Islamic holy book.

Hypothesis: Muslims follow the Koran.


Premise: In early 1991 a referendum resulted in a large majority favouring secession from the USSR, and on 21 August, two days after a coup attempt against Gorbachev in Moscow, Latvia declared full independence.

Hypothesis: Latvia gained independence in 1991.


Premise: The key to a blue moon is having in the air lots of particles slightly wider than the wavelength of red light (0.7 micron)--and no other sizes present.

Hypothesis: A blue moon is caused by particles in the air.


Premise: In July and October, 1971, Dr. Henry Kissinger, national security advisor to the president of the United States, twice visited China in secret to pave the way for the visit by President Richard Nixon.

Hypothesis: Nixon visited China in 1971.


Premise: Finding Forrester is among 24 films competing for the Berlin Film Festival's top Golden Bear prize for best movie awarded on the closing day, along with the Silver Bear award for best actor.

Hypothesis: Finding Forrester won the Golden Bear in the Berlin Film Festival


Premise: In February 2002, President George Bush visited China to mark the 30th anniversary of Nixon's historic trip.

Hypothesis: Nixon visited China in February 2002.


Premise: The Chernobyl nuclear-power plant is in Ukraine, but the reactor that exploded during the night of April 26, 1986, is only 10 miles from the Belarusian border.

Hypothesis: The Chernobyl disaster took place on the 26th of April, 1986.


Premise: Michael Herman, spokesman for the Euskirchen prosecutor's office, said, "As far as I know, this is the first time anything like this has happened in a German court."

Hypothesis: Euskirchen is in Germany.


Premise: Eleven more moons found orbiting Jupiter.

Hypothesis: Jupiter has Eleven moons.


Premise: After officials repeatedly refused to release thirteen members of the Red Brigades on trial in Turin, Moro was murdered in or near Rome on May 9, 1978.

Hypothesis: Aldo Moro was murdered by the Red Brigade.


Premise: It's a lesson that George Bush learned from his mother, Barbara, a fiercely territorial woman who never forgets a slight, and from his father, former president George H.W. Bush.

Hypothesis: Barbara is the father of George Bush.


Premise: At year-end 1997 the death penalty was authorized by the statutes of 38 States and by Federal statute.

Hypothesis: 38 American states have the daeth penalty.


Premise: Zimmermann's appointment represents a surprising twist in the search to find a successor to Goetz Friedrich, whose 20-year stint at the helm of the Deutsche Oper comes to an end in 2001.

Hypothesis: Goetz Friedrich was the director of the Deutsche Oper.


Premise: EuroDisney is located only 20 miles from Paris and you can get to Fontainebleau in about an hour by train.

Hypothesis: EuroDisney is located in Paris.


Premise: That agreement created the international group opposing the Triple Alliance-France, Great Britain, and Russia had formed the Triple Entente.

Hypothesis: France, Russia and Britain signed the Triple Entente.


Premise: In the 1970s Paisley, sometimes affectionately known as 'Big Ian', established the most successful and longest lasting of his political movements, the Democratic Unionist Party which soon won seats at local council, province, national and European level.

Hypothesis: Ian Paisley is a member of the DUP.


Premise: Under unprecedented public pressure, the museum has drastically altered its original plans for its exhibit marking the 50th anniversary of the Enola Gay's only mission: the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945.

Hypothesis: The first atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima.


Premise: Microsoft was established in Italy in 1985.

Hypothesis: Microsoft was established in 1985.


Premise: The $100,000 award, to be presented to Taylor in May by the president of Israel, is one of six given annually by the Israel-based Wolf Foundation.

Hypothesis: May is the president of Israel.


Premise: The Eiffel tower is in the Capital of France.

Hypothesis: Eiffel is the capital of France.


Premise: The recognition means that Iraq has abandoned its traditional claim to Kuwait, a claim that Hussein invoked as his excuse for invading the small emirate in 1990 and precipitating the Persian Gulf War that ended with his defeat.

Hypothesis: The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait took place in 1990.


Premise: Look! Turner shouts, pulling back the curtain in his new office to show off his perfect view of the giant red CNN logo that identifies his former headquarters.

Hypothesis: Ted Turner founded the CNN news channel.


Premise: The ceiling now on legal immigration from Cuba is 27,845 a year, but only about 3,000 Cubans a year have been able to meet the stiff U.S. visa requirements.

Hypothesis: 27,845 Cubans are allowed to immigrate to the United States each year.


Premise: The fact that Einstein was invited to be the president of Israel is critical to an accurate understanding of one of the greatest individuals in modern history.

Hypothesis: Einstein is the president of Israel.


Premise: The official state opening on May 6 of the $14.82-billion project will go on as planned, and Eurotunnel said it is working to start up services soon after that deadline.

Hypothesis: The Eurotunnel was inaugurated in May.


Premise: And it's very important, I think Secretary Powell will understand, it's important to hear from President Katsav, to hear how he reads the Israeli public mood with respect to ongoing battles with the Palestinians, or with respect to, for instance, trust with the Palestinian Authority, trust in the possibility of dealing with Yasser Arafat.

Hypothesis: Yasser Arafat is the president of Israel.


Premise: Ms. Nasrin is being hosted by the Swedish branch of PEN, which had invited her to visit last spring, according to the Swedish news agency TT.

Hypothesis: Taslima Nasrin is staying in Sweden.


Premise: The oddest thing about the UAE's population is that only 500,000 of the 2 million people living in the country are UAE citizens; the rest are expatriates from other Gulf countries, and from Pakistan, Iran and India.

Hypothesis: The population of the UAE is 2 million.


Premise: During El Nino (bottom panel of the schematic diagram), the trade winds relax in the central and western Pacific leading to a depression of the thermocline in the eastern Pacific, and an elevation of the thermocline in the west.

Hypothesis: El Nino occurs in the Pacific.


Premise: Although Honecker led the Communist East German state between 1971 and 1989, he will be remembered most for what he did long before -- building the Berlin Wall.

Hypothesis: Erich Honeker built the Berlin Wall.


Premise: Four-fifths of the UAE is desert, yet it is a country of contrasting landscapes, from awe-inspiring dunes to rich oases, precipitous rocky mountains to fertile plains.

Hypothesis: The majority of the UAE is desert.


Premise: In fact, the Smashing Pumpkins -- who were bumped into the headline slot after Nirvana pulled out of the tour shortly before Kurt Cobain's suicide -- have far exceeded expectations.

Hypothesis: Kurt Cobain was the singer and head of Nirvana.


Premise: In 1996, Shaq became a free agent and accepted a $120 million dollar offer from the LA Lakers.

Hypothesis: Shaquille O Neal plays for the Orlando Magic.


Premise: France's Gastronomic Capital is Much, Much More.

Hypothesis: Much is the capital of France.


Premise: Meeting in Moscow with IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei 29 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the Agency's work in expressing his country's continuing and full support.

Hypothesis: Hans Blix is the Director General of IAEA.


Premise: On December 21, 1970, Elvis Presley paid a visit to President Richard M. Nixon at the White House in Washington, D.C.

Hypothesis: Elvis Presley died on December 21, 1970.


Premise: The technological triumph known as GPS - the Global Positioning System of satellite-based navigation - was incubated in the mind of Ivan Getting.

Hypothesis: Ivan Getting invented the GPS.


Premise: It has access to the Caribbean Sea at the Gulf of Uraba in the northwesternmost part of the department, while in central Antioquia two ranges of the Colombian Andeas meet.

Hypothesis: Antioquia is in Colombia.


Premise: The father of Nick Berg, the American beheaded in Iraq, directly blamed George Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday for his son's death.

Hypothesis: Nick Berg is the father of George Bush.


Premise: The Queen of Holland is now owned by Robert Mouawad.

Hypothesis: Robert Mouawad is the Queen of Holland.


Premise: The Cyrillic alphabet achieved its current form in 1708 during the reign of Peter the Great.

Hypothesis: The Cyrillic alphabet was introduced in 863.


Premise: They are made from the dust of four of Jupiter's tiniest moons.

Hypothesis: Jupiter has four moons.


Premise: De La Rue is the world's largest commercial security printer and papermaker, involved in the production of over 150 national currencies and a wide range of security documents such as travellers cheques and vouchers.

Hypothesis: De La Rue makes much of the world's money.


Premise: After an unparalleled succession of tragic operas, Verdi rounded off his operatic career with a comedy.

Hypothesis: Verdi wrote mainly comedies.


Premise: At present the UK's birth rate (England's is not dropping quite so clearly as Scotland's) sits in the middle of the European range -- with Italy, Spain, and Germany with the lowest rates and Ireland's showing the most rapid fall.

Hypothesis: Ireland has the highest European birth rate.


Premise: The regional capital is Clermont Ferrand, and the small city of Le Puy, with its historic churches perched on volcanic pinnacles, is one of the most surprising cities in France.

Hypothesis: Clermont Ferrand is the capital of France.


Premise: The Amish began as a small faith group that split-off from the Swiss Mennonites during the late 17th century.

Hypothesis: The Amish are descendants of the Swiss Anabaptists of 16th-Century Europe.


Premise: This autumn, the people of Ust-Usa watched helplessly as thousands of tons of oil began oozing into the vast watery network that flows from the desecrated oil fields of Usinsk into the Pechora, then 450 miles north through the tundra to the Barents Sea.

Hypothesis: A huge methane deposit has been located in the Barents Sea.


Premise: The official state opening on May 6 of the $14.82-billion project will go on as planned, and Eurotunnel said it is working to start up services soon after that deadline.

Hypothesis: The Eurotunnel cost 10 thousand million pounds.


Premise: The roads and paths, forests and pastures of an estimated 70 countries around the world have been made treacherous by landmines.

Hypothesis: Up to 70 countries are effected by landmines.


Premise: Wasn't it after the women's conference in Nairobi ten years ago that the world focused for the first time on the crisis of domestic violence?

Hypothesis: The World Conference on Women took place in Beijing.


Premise: Since the beginning of this year, pork, the most important meat in the Chinese diet, has jumped to 7.28 yuan (86 cents) a pound, up from 4.55 yuan (54 cents).

Hypothesis: The Chinese currency is called yuan.


Premise: The establishment of full Communist control in Hungary in the summer of 1948 and the blockade of the Western sector of Berlin confirmed Western suspicions and contributed to the formation of NATO.

Hypothesis: Communist control in Hungary ended in 1948.


Premise: On October 6, 1973, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Egypt and Syria opened a coordinated surprise attack against Israel.

Hypothesis: The Yom Kippur war was in 1973.


Premise: The time period in concern is from early 1944 to 1945, and the topic being the Kamikaze pilots, and the region of research was within Japan, mainly Kyushu.

Hypothesis: Japanese suicide pilots are called kamikaze pilots.


Premise: In Hungary the decisive moment, portending the end of the democratic prelude to Communist dictatorship, came in February 1947.

Hypothesis: Communist control in Hungary ended in 1947.


Premise: Los Angeles poet and fiction writer Charles Bukowski, who died of leukemia on March 9 at the age of 73, managed to create a life worthy of his face.

Hypothesis: Charles Bukowski died of pneumonia.


Premise: Saint Laurent struck out on his own in 1961, opening his own fashion house where he created haute couture for socialites and celebrities.

Hypothesis: Yves Saint Laurent is a fashion designer.


Premise: Washington was re-elected president in 1792, and the following year the most divisive crisis arising out of the personal and political conflicts within his cabinet occurred--over the issue of American neutrality during the war between England and France.

Hypothesis: George Washington was the first president of America.


Premise: Although a Roscommon man by birth, born in Rooskey in 1932, Albert "The Slasher" Reynolds will forever be a Longford man by association.

Hypothesis: Albert Reynolds was born in Co. Roscommon.


Premise: Dan Shaughnessy in the Boston Globe on why the defending NBA champion Houston Rockets don't get more respect: "There's year-round heat and humidity, an airport about 100 miles from downtown and the building with the most sports tradition is Elvin Hayes' car dealership."

Hypothesis: The Houston Rockets won the NBA Championships.


Premise: Lennon's introduction from Jurgen's book sums things up reasonably well: "Jurgen Vollmer was the first photographer to capture the beauty and the spirit of the Beatles".

Hypothesis: John Lennon belonged to the Beatles.


Premise: Mrs. Lane, who has been a Director since 1989, is Special Assistant to the Board of Trustees and to the President of Stanford University.

Hypothesis: Mrs. Lane is the president of Stanford University.


Premise: The people who gave Yeltsin a solid majority in his presidential run in 1991 now accord him a 19% approval rating -- his lowest ever -- according to a recent national poll.

Hypothesis: Yeltsin came to power in 1991.


Premise: Released on 11 February 1990, Mandela plunged wholeheartedly into his life's work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier.

Hypothesis: Nelson Mandela served 27 years of imprisonment.


Premise: The Bangladesh Government has banned the latest novel by feminist writer, Taslima Nasreen on the grounds that its contents might hurt the existing social system and religious sentiments of the people.

Hypothesis: Nasreen's novel was banned for religious reasons.


Premise: It is perhaps no surprise, then, that the chasm between east and west Germans is as wide as it was before the heady, history days of November, 1989, when they were no longer divided by cement and electrified wire.

Hypothesis: The reunification of East and West Germany took place in 1989.


Premise: The Venice Film Festival opened Thursday with a dispute over a celebrity judge threatening to steal the limelight from Oliver Stone, whose "Natural Born Killers" is favored to win the Golden Lion Award.

Hypothesis: The "Golden Lion" is awarded at the Venice Film Festival.


Premise: The Hitler Historical Museum is a non-biased, non-profit museum devoted to the study and preservation of the world history related to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist Party.

Hypothesis: Hitler belonged to the Nazi party.


Premise: Mystified by the sudden disappearance of Commander John Strangways, their agent in Jamaica, the British Secret Service sends for agent Bond.

Hypothesis: James Bond is an agent for the British Secret Service.


Premise: Over the long haul, Washington is waiting for death to come to Kim Il Sung -- the 82-year-old North Korean dictator, known to his countrymen as the Great Leader, who has been the country's unchallenged power since before the 1953 Korean War armistice.

Hypothesis: Kim Il Sung died at the age of 82.


Premise: For German fans, Schumacher is their country's first - and long-overdue - World Champion, following along 33 years after the aristocratic Count Wolfgang von Trips was killed of the wheel of his Ferrari in the Italian Gp just as he seemed poised to grasp the title crown.

Hypothesis: Michael Schumacher is from Germany.


Premise: Lyon acclaims itself to be the gastronomic capital of France.

Hypothesis: Lyon is the capital of France.


Premise: Mahayana Buddhism (sometimes called Northern Buddhism) is largely found in China, Japan, Korea, Tibet and Mongolia.

Hypothesis: Buddhism is practiced in Thailand.


Premise: During his time in office, Albert Reynolds, side by side with then English Prime Minister John Major, brokered the first real hope for peace in the North; something for which all the people on this Island should be eternally grateful to him.

Hypothesis: Albert Reynolds signed a peace agreement with John Major.


Premise: The hostage-takers -- who have identified themselves as members of the Khaled Bin Al-Walid Squadrons, part of the Islamic Army of Iraq -- had issued several deadlines for its demands to be met, only to shift them.

Hypothesis: The Khaled Bin Al-Walid Squadrons are part of the Islamic Army of Iraq.


Premise: AOL has more than 33 million paying customers.

Hypothesis: 33 million customers pay to use AOL.


Premise: Administration officials say President George W. Bush has narrowed his field of candidates for CIA director to at least two people, just two weeks after outgoing director George Tenet announced his departure.

Hypothesis: President Bush announced his departure.


Premise: Israel captured the Gaza Strip and West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.

Hypothesis: The Gaza Strip and West Bank were captured by Israel in the 1976 war.


Premise: Further surprises were revealed in the spacecraft's photographs of a hazy orange Titan -- the largest of Saturn's 31 moons, about the size of the planet Mercury.

Hypothesis: Titan is about the size of the planet Mars.


Premise: Fighters loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr shot down a U.S. helicopter Thursday in the holy city of Najaf.

Hypothesis: A U.S. helicopter flew loyalists of Moqtada al-Sadr.


Premise: Infertile women are vital for successful child-rearing despite being unable to produce children themselves.

Hypothesis: Infertile women are able to produce children.


Premise: A 30-year-old man has been killed in a shark attack at a surfing beach near Perth in West Australia where he was surfing with four other people.

Hypothesis: One man was killed and four wounded in a shark attack in West Australia.


Premise: The centre-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament, has warned that it will reject the Taoiseach, Berni Ahern, if he is nominated as the next president of the European Commission.

Hypothesis: The Taoiseach is the president of The European Commission.


Premise: Four French detainees who were held more than two years by U.S. authorities at Guantanamo Bay returned home Tuesday.

Hypothesis: The U.S. detained four frenchmen for almost three years at Guantanamo Bay.


Premise: The pair had originally planned to leave from the American hatch in Nasa spacesuits.

Hypothesis: The pair left from America.


Premise: The death last year of an 84-year-old man killed while swimming in an Australian canal was one of only four fatal shark attacks around the world in 2003.

Hypothesis: An 84-year-old man was killed by a shark in 2003.


Premise: Cool, humid weather Sunday helped slow the advance of a fire that caused the evacuation of hundreds of homes and businesses in Alaska's Interior.

Hypothesis: Cool, humid weather can slow the advance of fire.


Premise: Twenty-five British police officers are recovering after a day of skirmishes in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Hypothesis: Belfast is in Ireland.


Premise: A suicide car bomber detonated early Wednesday near the Green Zone in central Baghdad, killing 10 Iraqis -- seven civilians and three National Guard members.

Hypothesis: The Green Zone is in central Baghdad.


Premise: The fires also threatened the Mount Graham International Observatory, home of some of the world's most advanced telescopes.

Hypothesis: Some of the world's most advanced telescopes are housed at the Mount Graham International Observatory.


Premise: More than 200 North Koreans flew into South Korea on Wednesday, the second day of a secretive operation that has spirited refugees from the communist North from an unidentified Southeast Asian country.

Hypothesis: North Korean's communist refugees fled to an unidentified Southeast Asian country.


Premise: Vice President Dick Cheney's personal doctor was battling an addiction to prescription drugs four years ago.

Hypothesis: Dick Cheney was addicted to prescription drugs.


Premise: China will start scouring high schools for its potential first woman astronaut next year, following a suggestion from the country's leading women's group.

Hypothesis: China's first female astronaut will take off next year.


Premise: The centuries-old Pamplona fiesta in honor of St. Fermin draws thousands of fans from around the world for a week of frenzied late night drinking and early morning running with the bulls.

Hypothesis: The Pamplona fiesta has been celebrated for centuries.


Premise: Scientists have taken a big step toward developing an earlier, safer and simple test that could help prevent perhaps 175,000 premature births in the United States each year.

Hypothesis: There are about 175,000 premature births in the United States each year.


Premise: Wal-Mart Stores has asked a US federal appeals court to review a judge's order approving class-action status for a sex-discrimination lawsuit.

Hypothesis: Wal-Mart stores are filing a lawsuit against the US federal appeals court.


Premise: Five schoolchildren who were headed to a picnic in a bus were wounded in crossfire between Indian soldiers and suspected rebels who attacked an army convoy on a highway outside Srinagar.

Hypothesis: An army convoy was attacked by rebels on a highway outside of Srinagar.


Premise: U.S. oil prices approached $40 as they rose to a five-week peak on Wednesday.

Hypothesis: Oil prices decreased over the last five weeks.


Premise: Every year, 1.2 million people in America have a new or repeat heart attack.

Hypothesis: 1.2 million Americans die of heart attacks every year.


Premise: The biggest fires on Mount Graham, the lightning-sparked Nuttall and Gibson fires, had joined but were 55 percent contained Sunday, firefighters said.

Hypothesis: The Nuttall and Gibson fires were caused by lightning.


Premise: President Bush returned to the Mountain State to celebrate Independence Day, telling a spirited crowd yesterday that on its 228th birthday the nation is "moving forward with confidence and strength."

Hypothesis: President Bush does not celebrate Independence Day.


Premise: Mr. Conway, Iamgold's chief executive officer, said the vote would be close.

Hypothesis: Iamgold is Conway's chief executive officer.


Premise: Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of drug trafficking, murder, rape and armed robbery are executed by beheading, which is carried out in public with a sword.

Hypothesis: Murderers are beheaded in Saudi Arabia.


Premise: Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection characterized by violent coughing fits, gasps for air that resemble "whoop" sounds, and vomiting.

Hypothesis: Whooping cough is also called pertussis.


Premise: British and Iranian officials resumed discussions Thursday on the release of eight British navy personnel held in Iran earlier this week.

Hypothesis: Eight British navy personnel are being held in Iran.


Premise: Freixo also denied that Silva was the peacemaker, saying negotiations were concluded when Silva was sent in by Rio de Janeiro state Gov. Rosinha Matheus, who also is an Evangelical Christian.

Hypothesis: Rosinha Matheus is an Evangelical Christian.


Premise: The controversy-racked oil giant Shell has named a new head of finance in an effort to calm nervous shareholders.

Hypothesis: Shell is an oil giant.


Premise: Doctors Without Borders has 80 foreign workers and 1,400 local staff members working in 13 provinces in Afghanistan.

Hypothesis: There are 13 provinces in Afghanistan.


Premise: The SPD got just 21.5% of the vote in the European Parliament elections, while the conservative opposition parties polled 44.5%.

Hypothesis: The SPD got less votes than the opposition in the European election.


Premise: A crowd of Catholic hardliners attacked the officers after yesterday's parades by the Orange Order, the major Protestant brotherhood.

Hypothesis: The Orange Order is a major Protestant brotherhood.


Premise: The tests cover seven subject areas and are given annually.

Hypothesis: The tests are given once a year.


Hypothesis: The U.S. is 228 years old.


Premise: Chris de Burgh, the Irish songwriter responsible for The Lady in Red, a song that has accompanied an untold number of wedding first dances, yesterday paid almost £30,000 for the creature that exploded from the actor John Hurt in the science-fiction classic Alien.

Hypothesis: Chris de Burgh bought the creature that exploded from the actor John Hurt in the science-fiction classic Alien for nearly £30,000.


Hypothesis: One of whooping cough's symptoms is vomiting.


Premise: One person was also killed and four wounded when a mortar round hit a hospital.

Hypothesis: A hospital containing four wounded people killed one when a mortar hit.


Premise: However, witnesses said some of the black-clad gunmen who attacked a police station and government buildings in Baquba, 60 km (40 miles) northwest of Baghdad, proclaimed loyalty to Zarqawi and wore yellow headbands linking them to his group.

Hypothesis: Some of the gunmen showed loyalty to Zarqawi's group.


Premise: German Chancellor Schroeder has presided over three years of almost zero growth in the economy and an unemployment rate that has remained stubbornly above four million people.

Hypothesis: In the last three years the German economy has grown considerably.


Premise: A virus similar to that causing breast cancer in mice may play a role in causing breast cancer in women, suggesting that not only cancerogens are responsible for the disease.

Hypothesis: Breast cancer in mice is caused by a virus.


Premise: Tests on animals showed they could get through the stomach wall and the thin membrane surrounding the stomach called the peritoneum to repair the intestines, liver, pancreas, gall bladder and uterus.

Hypothesis: The thin membrane surrounding the stomach is called the peritoneum.


Premise: The strikingly realistic image was etched into the soft limestone roof a Nottinghamshire cave by a paleolithic artist around 13,000 years ago.

Hypothesis: The paleolithic era was around 13,000 years ago.


Premise: The Philippines has begun pulling its troops out of Iraq, a move seemingly being made to satisfy demands by kidnappers of a Filipino hostage.

Hypothesis: Filipino soldiers are leaving Iraq.


Premise: A former petty thief who converted and founded his own church, Silva is a devoted jailhouse preacher who claims to have ended 11 prison rebellions in recent years.

Hypothesis: Silva was once a murderer.


Premise: Television news crews in helicopters recorded the early morning car chase that ended in Compton shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday when half a dozen LAPD officers chased a black man who ran from a stolen Toyota Camry.

Hypothesis: Television news crews chased LAPD officers who ran from a stolen Toyota Camry.


Premise: Microsoft said later this summer it will upgrade its free Hotmail accounts from 2MB storage to 250MB.

Hypothesis: Later this summer, Microsoft will be charging $250 for its Hotmail accounts.


Premise: Mr. Conway, Iamgold's chief executive officer, said the vote would be close.

Hypothesis: Mr. Conway is Iamgold's chief executive officer.


Premise: An ambulance crew responding to an anonymous call found a 3-week-old baby girl in a rundown house Monday, two days after she was snatched from her mother at a Melbourne shopping mall.

Hypothesis: A baby girl bought an ambulance at a Melbourne shopping mall.


Premise: Most Americans are familiar with the Food Guide Pyramid-- but a lot of people don't understand how to use it.

Hypothesis: Most Americans have not heard of the Food Guide Pyramid.


Premise: The centuries-old Pamplona fiesta in honor of St. Fermin draws thousands of fans from around the world for a week of frenzied late night drinking and early morning running with the bulls.

Hypothesis: St. Fermin draws thousands of fans.


Premise: Since the last AIDS conference in Barcelona in 2002 generated optimism about the availability of new antiretroviral drugs, 6 million people have died of AIDS and 10 million people have become newly infected.

Hypothesis: 10 million people have died of AIDS since 2002.


Premise: Canadian wireless technology licensing company Wi-LAN has begun legal action against Cisco, alleging the networking giant's Linksys and Aironet products are making use of its intellectual property without permission.

Hypothesis: Wi-LAN sues Cisco.


Premise: Every year, 1.2 million people in America have a new or repeat heart attack.

Hypothesis: Every year, 1.2 million Americans have a heart attack.


Premise: The number of sexually transmitted infections 708,083 was 4 percent higher than in 2002, but Britain's Health Protection Agency said the pace of the increase appears to be slowing.

Hypothesis: In 2002 708,083 sexually transmitted infections were reported.


Premise: In further violence, two Iraqis suspected of trying to bomb a pipeline in the country's oil-rich north and a Kirkuk policeman were killed Wednesday.

Hypothesis: The country's oil-rich north and a Kirkuk policeman were killed Wednesday.


Premise: The spacecraft's photographs show a methane cloud "the size of Italy," several crisscrossing linear features, and a huge circular area that could be a crater the size of Western Europe.

Hypothesis: The spacecraft's photographs show a methane cloud the size of Western Europe.


Premise: The new arrivals followed a similar number that reached South Korea on Tuesday, the biggest single batch ever among the thousands that have fled famine and repression in their isolated homeland since the late 1990s.

Hypothesis: Thousands have fled South Korea.


Premise: Continuing its buying spree, IBM said Wednesday that it plans to acquire Alphablox, a Mountain View, Calif.-based analytics software company.

Hypothesis: IBM plans to buy Alphablox.


Premise: Yasir Arafat has agreed to appoint a longtime loyalist as interior minister to take charge of the country's security.

Hypothesis: Yasir Arafat nominated a loyalist as interior minister.


Premise: About 85 percent of Danes belong to the state Evangelical Lutheran Church, though just 5 percent attend church services regularly.

Hypothesis: 85 percent of Danes attend church services regularly.


Premise: The Arab news network says militants killed Army Specialist Keith Maupin of Batavia, Ohio, by shooting him.

Hypothesis: Keith Maupin was murdered.


Premise: Sunday's election results demonstrated just how far the pendulum of public opinion has swung away from faith in Koizumi's promise to bolster the Japanese economy and make the political system more transparent and responsive to the peoples' needs.

Hypothesis: Koizumi promised to bolster the Japanese economy.


Premise: Authorities spent about seven hours at the mosque and two houses, seizing numerous documents, a government official said.

Hypothesis: Two hours were spent at the seven mosques.


Premise: The Supreme Court rules that persons seized as potential terrorists must be allowed to challenge their imprisonment in American courts.

Hypothesis: Potential terrorists are allowed to a trial.


Premise: After giving nearly 5,000 people a second chance at life, doctors are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Britian's first heart transplant which was performed at Cambridgeshire's Papworth Hospital in 1979.

Hypothesis: Nearly 5,000 people have died of heart failure in Britian since 1979.


Premise: Abu Eisa al-Hindi was said to have been involved in a plot to attack Heathrow airport, details of which were allegedly discovered on the computer of Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, 25, an al-Qa'ida suspect recently arrested in Pakistan.

Hypothesis: Abu Eisa al-Hindi was recently arrested in Pakistan.


Premise: U.S. oil prices approached $40 as they rose to a five-week peak on Wednesday.

Hypothesis: U.S. oil prices increased.


Premise: Dela Cruz was snatched Wednesday.

Hypothesis: Dela Cruz was abducted Wednesday.


Premise: Friday's court ruling in The Hague, rejected by Israel, carries no real significance, other than a symbolic victory for the Palestinians.

Hypothesis: The Hague ruled in favor of the Palestinians on Friday.


Premise: Chris de Burgh, the Irish songwriter responsible for The Lady in Red, a song that has aa an untold number of wedding first dances, yesterday paid almost £30,000 for the creature that exploded from the actor John Hurt in the science-fiction classic Alien.

Hypothesis: An untold number of wedding first dances are accompanied by the creature that exploded from the actor John Hurt in the science-fiction classic Alien.


Premise: Sources at the foreign affairs department in Manila said on Monday that the militants had rejected suggestions of a ransom in exchange for de la Cruz's release.

Hypothesis: Militants agreed to receive a ransom in exchange for de la Cruz's release.


Premise: A 30-year-old man has been killed in a shark attack at a surfing beach near Perth in West Australia where he was surfing with four other people.

Hypothesis: 30 men have been killed by sharks in West Australia.


Premise: A local man was impaled five times in a frenzied dash through Pamplona in the most dramatic of bull runs so far this year.

Hypothesis: A Pamplona local was impaled five times.


Premise: Mr. Conway, Iamgold's chief executive officer, said the vote would be close.

Hypothesis: Mr. Conway said the vote would be close.


Premise: According to the American Diabetes Association, 17 million Americans are living with diabetes, 90 percent with Type Two Diabetes.

Hypothesis: 17 million Americans are living with Type Two Diabetes.


Hypothesis: The Japanese supported Koizumi in Sunday's elections.


Premise: Another diplomat confirmed the United States was pushing hard for an accord, adding two high-level meetings were scheduled at NATO's Brussels headquarters Wednesday to try to hammer out a deal.

Hypothesis: NATO's Brussels headquarters is trying to dissolve the deal that the United States was pushing for.


Premise: The hostage-takers -- who have identified themselves as members of the Khaled Bin Al-Walid Squadrons, part of the Islamic Army of Iraq -- had issued several deadlines for its demands to be met, only to shift them.

Hypothesis: Members of the Khaled Bin Al-Walid Squadrons took a hostage.


Premise: A Health Ministry official said 68 people were killed and 30 wounded in the blast shortly after 10 a.m. in Baquba, an often violent town 65 km north of Baghdad.

Hypothesis: Baghdad is north of Baquba.


Premise: De la Cruz's family said he had gone to Saudi Arabia a year ago to work as a driver after a long period of unemployment.

Hypothesis: De la Cruz was unemployed.


Premise: The 69-page report is also the first major product of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction.

Hypothesis: The 69-page report is the first major product of medical errors.


Premise: Most Americans are familiar with the Food Guide Pyramid-- but a lot of people don't understand how to use it and the government claims that the proof is that two out of three Americans are fat.

Hypothesis: Two out of three Americans are fat.


Premise: A suicide car bomber detonated early Wednesday near the Green Zone in central Baghdad, killing 10 Iraqis -- seven civilians and three National Guard members.

Hypothesis: Seven Iraqi civilians were killed in a suicide bombing on Wednesday.


Premise: Chris de Burgh, the Irish songwriter responsible for The Lady in Red, a song that has accompanied an untold number of wedding first dances, yesterday paid almost £30,000 for the creature that exploded from the actor John Hurt in the science-fiction classic Alien.

Hypothesis: Chris de Burgh wrote the song The Lady in Red.


Premise: Continuing its buying spree, IBM said Wednesday that it plans to acquire Alphablox, a Mountain View, Calif.-based analytics software company.

Hypothesis: IBM is based in Mountain View, California.


Premise: The IBM Software group has acquired 16 companies since 2001, starting with the purchase of Informix.

Hypothesis: IBM bought 16 companies since 2001.


Premise: Chirac also called on rich nations to raise donations to the 2 1/2-year-old U.N. Global Fund -- aimed primarily at fighting AIDS -- by $3 billion per year.

Hypothesis: The U.N. Global Fund uses most of its funds for fighting AIDS.


Hypothesis: Sources at the de la Cruz foreign affairs department refused to release Manila in exchange for a ransom.


Premise: Egypt, which has pressed Arafat to surrender some powers and overhaul the security forces, welcomed Qureia's withdrawal of his resignation.

Hypothesis: Qureia's resignation was welcomed by Egypt.


Premise: Japan's voter turnout was just over 56 percent for the Upper House elections.

Hypothesis: Less than half of the eligible Japanese voters participated in the vote.


Premise: The spacecraft's photographs show a methane cloud "the size of Italy," several crisscrossing linear features, and a huge circular area that could be a crater the size of Western Europe.

Hypothesis: The spacecraft's photographs show a crater "the size of Italy".


Hypothesis: De la Cruz went to Saudi Arabia a year ago.


Premise: Further surprises were revealed in the spacecraft's photographs of a hazy orange Titan -- the largest of Saturn's 31 moons, about the size of the planet Mercury.

Hypothesis: Titan is the largest of Saturn's 31 moons.


Premise: North Korean refugees had been gathering in southern Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, after trickling over the border from China for months.

Hypothesis: Ho Chi Minh City is now called Saigon.


Premise: Political leaders pledged that construction of the so-called Freedom Tower -- which will rise 1,776 feet into the air and be the world's tallest building -- will be finished on schedule by the end of 2008.

Hypothesis: The Freedom Tower will be 1,776 meters tall.


Premise: Since the last AIDS conference in Barcelona in 2002 generated optimism about the availability of new antiretroviral drugs, 6 million people have died of AIDS and 10 million people have become newly infected.

Hypothesis: 6 million people have died of AIDS since 2002.


Premise: A 30-year-old man has been killed in a shark attack at a surfing beach near Perth in West Australia where he was surfing with four other people.

Hypothesis: A 30-year-old man was killed in a shark attack while surfing.


Premise: Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection characterized by violent coughing fits, gasps for air that resemble "whoop" sounds, and vomiting.

Hypothesis: Pertussis is not very contagious.


Premise: Iraqi militants have repeatedly used terrorist attacks to try to force governments to withdraw from the U.S.-led occupation force.

Hypothesis: Iraqi militants were forced to withdraw from the U.S.-led occupation force.


Premise: Napster, which started as an unauthorized song-swapping Web site, has transformed into a legal service offering music downloads for a monthly fee.

Hypothesis: Napster illegally offers music downloads.


Premise: Four Venezuelan firefighters who were traveling to a training course in Texas were killed when their sport utility vehicle drifted onto the shoulder of a highway and struck a parked truck.

Hypothesis: Four firefighters were killed while saving a man stuck in a burning building.


Premise: The accord failed to resolve the controversy over Arafat's appointment of his unpopular cousin Moussa Arafat as chief of security in Gaza.

Hypothesis: Moussa Arafat is Yasser Arafat's most popular cousin.


Premise: One of two men "released" early on Saturday Mohammed Dawoud, 19, of Willesden, north-west London will appear before Horseferry Road magistrates' court today charged with possession of forged identity documents, police said.

Hypothesis: Willesden will be released early on Saturday.


Premise: The authentication was arranged by the proprietor of a small Moscow gallery, Borislav Shervinsky, we have established.

Hypothesis: Borislav Shervinsky is the proprietor of a small Moscow gallery.


Premise: Senior citizens played an important role in the dramatic spread of human civilisation some 30,000 years ago

Hypothesis: The dramatic spread of human civilisation some 30,000 years ago played an important role in senior citizens' lives.


Premise: Eight of the 51 Philippine humanitarian troops in Iraq have already left the country, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert said early Wednesday.

Hypothesis: Delia Albert is the Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary.


Premise: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell replied that the people of Darfur in the remote west of Sudan did not have much time before disease and starvation causes widespread death.

Hypothesis: Darfur is located to the west of Sudan.


Premise: The centre-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament, has warned that it will reject the Taoiseach, Berni Ahern, if he is nominated as the next president of the European Commission.

Hypothesis: Berni Ahern is the Taoiseach.


Premise: Ron Gainsford, chief executive of the TSI, said: "It is a major concern to us that parents could be unwittingly exposing their children to the risk of sun damage, thinking they are better protected than they actually are.

Hypothesis: Ron Gainsford is the chief executive of the TSI.


Premise: Chirac also called on rich nations to raise donations to the 2 1/2-year-old U.N. Global Fund -- aimed primarily at fighting AIDS -- by $3 billion per year.

Hypothesis: Chirac believes that rich nations should donate more to the fight against AIDS.


Premise: The ICC, the first permanent global criminal tribunal, was set up in July 2002 to try individuals accused of crimes against humanity -- genocide, war crimes and other human rights abuses.

Hypothesis: The ICC is the first permanent global criminal tribunal.


Premise: Iraq has entered its first full day under the leadership of a newly sovereign interim government, beginning a transformation that its prime minister calls "a major task" likely to take many years.

Hypothesis: Iraq's prime minister believes that the transformation of their government will likely take several years.


Premise: Most Americans are familiar with the Food Guide Pyramid-- but a lot of people don't understand how to use it.

Hypothesis: Americans know how to use the Food Guide Pyramid.


Premise: Further surprises were revealed in the spacecraft's photographs of a hazy orange Titan -- the largest of Saturn's 31 moons, about the size of the planet Mercury.

Hypothesis: Saturn has 31 moons.


Premise: All but 11 of the 107 patients and all of the employees had been notified by late yesterday to come to the hospital for an evaluation and antibiotics.

Hypothesis: 11 patients out of the 107 were invited to the hospital for a check-up and antibiotics.


Premise: The U.S. ambassador to Manila Francis Ricciardone threw his support behind Arroyo in an interview with local television on Monday.

Hypothesis: Arroyo is the U.S. ambassador to Manila.


Premise: About 85 percent of Danes belong to the state Evangelical Lutheran Church, though just 5 percent attend church services regularly.

Hypothesis: Only about 5 percent of Danes belong to the state Evangelical Lutheran Church.


Premise: The suicide bombing came as the Iraqi interim government marked its first month in power since the United States handed over sovereignty on June 28 following the coalition's March 2003 invasion.

Hypothesis: The United States handed over sovereignty to the Iraqi interim government in March 2003.


Premise: Tanning salons are increasingly popular - their use tripled from 1986 to 1996.

Hypothesis: In the 10 years between 1986 and 1996, the use of tanning salons tripled.


Premise: Jessica Litman, a law professor at Michigan's Wayne State University, has specialized in copyright law and Internet law for more than 20 years; she is also the author of Digital Copyright: Protecting Intellectual Property on the Internet

Hypothesis: Michigan's Wayne State University employs Jessica Litman.


Premise: In all, military police have launched 93 investigations into allegations of mistreatment by UK soldiers.

Hypothesis: UK military police have launched 93 investigations.


Premise: Four Venezuelan firefighters who were traveling to a training course in Texas were killed when their sport utility vehicle drifted onto the shoulder of a highway and struck a parked truck.

Hypothesis: Four firefighters were killed in Venezuela.


Premise: The thick atmosphere of Titan makes it difficult for even the largest telescopes on Earth to see anything clearly.

Hypothesis: Telescopes on Earth cannot see Titan clearly.


Hypothesis: Four firefighters were killed in a car accident.


Premise: A longtime associate of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden surrendered to Saudi Arabian officials.

Hypothesis: Osama bin Laden is the leader of al Qaeda.


Premise: On the 35th anniversary of the first lunar landing, NASA struggled with money problems as it aimed to return to human space flight after the Columbia disaster and ultimately put people back on the moon.

Hypothesis: NASA has economic problems.


Premise: Tests on animals showed they could get through the stomach wall and the thin membrane surrounding the stomach called the peritoneum to repair the intestines, liver, pancreas, gall bladder and uterus.

Hypothesis: The stomach wall is called the peritoneum.


Premise: Napster, which started as an unauthorized song-swapping Web site, has transformed into a legal service offering music downloads for a monthly fee.

Hypothesis: Napster began as an illegal Web site.


Premise: The organizers of the 15th International AIDS Conference, scheduled for next month in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday responded to press reports that a prominent hotel in Bangkok discriminated against HIV-positive visitors attending a different conference this month.

Hypothesis: A famous hotel in Bangkok is accused of discrimination against HIV-positive customers


Hypothesis: Francis Ricciardone is the U.S. ambassador to Manila.


Premise: Every year 40,000 babies are born with disorders related to prenatal drinking.

Hypothesis: Prenatal drinking can be connected to disorders in babies.


Premise: A former petty thief who converted and founded his own church, Silva is a devoted jailhouse preacher who claims to have ended 11 prison rebellions in recent years.

Hypothesis: Silva used to be a petty thief.


Premise: One of Michigan's largest newspaper chains agreed to be sold to the Journal Register Co. of Trenton, N.J., on Tuesday for $415 million in an auction.

Hypothesis: The Journal Register Co. of Trenton, N.J. is Michigan's largest newspaper chain.


Premise: The new arrivals followed a similar number that reached South Korea on Tuesday, the biggest single batch ever among the thousands that have fled famine and repression in their isolated homeland since the late 1990s.

Hypothesis: Thousands have fled South Korea's famine and repression since the late 1990's.


Premise: Fighters loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr shot down a U.S. helicopter Thursday in the holy city of Najaf.

Hypothesis: Fighters loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr shot down Najaf.


Premise: Continuing its buying spree, IBM said Wednesday that it plans to acquire Alphablox, a Mountain View, Calif.-based analytics software company.

Hypothesis: Alphablox is based in California.


Premise: LOSAIL, Qatar (AFP) - Torrential rain caused the season-opening Qatar MotoGP to be cancelled on Sunday, leaving officials and teams in a frenzy before deciding to race on Monday instead at this floodlit desert venue. Monsoon-like conditions, accompanied by swirling winds, arrived just moments before Australia's Casey Stoner, on pole position, was due to lead defending world champion Valentino Rossi and the other riders away on the warm-up lap. "It's just unlucky with the weather," said Australian Ducati rider Stoner, the 2007 world champion, who was bidding for a third successive win here.

Hypothesis: Valentino Rossi won the season-opening Qatar MotoGP.


Premise: Euro MPs have voted overwhelmingly to cut the cost of texting and using the internet on mobiles abroad. The cap for a "roaming" text will fall to 11 euro cents (10p; 14 US cents), from about 29 cents on average today. The EU-wide caps, excluding VAT, will take effect in July. They cover text messages and data roaming services, such as checking e-mails while abroad. The current price cap of 46 euro cents per minute for an outgoing voice call will also fall to 43 cents in July.

Hypothesis: A roaming text cost 46 euro cents.


Premise: However Mr Johnson said it was likely there would still be more cases and there was the possibility of a second wave in the autumn or winter. The advice was followed by news that the number of confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK has risen to 18. Health officials are trying to trace those on the same flight as a Scottish man diagnosed with swine flu on Sunday. The man, from Ayrshire - Scotland's fourth confirmed case - flew from Birmingham International to Glasgow Airport on Thursday. He is thought to have picked up the virus while in Texas, but the authorities said no other flights were affected.

Hypothesis: Mr. Johnson is a health official.


Premise: A Spanish man who has admitted killing a Welsh couple, has expressed remorse for his actions and apologised to their son in his murder trial. Brian and Tina Johnson were bludgeoned to death with a hammer on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands in July 2006. Juan Carmelo Santana told the jury at Las Palmas criminal court that he blamed the drink and drugs he had taken for the attacks. The jury is expected to begin its deliberations later.

Hypothesis: Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were killed by Santana.


Premise: There is a rational basis to distinguish between people driving cars and semi trucks, Jambois said. "All I would say is I think he has an uphill battle." The lawsuit says the truckers' Fifth and Fourteenth amendment rights are being violated because there is no way for them to apply for an occupational license. Mutschler said the state is taking away the truckers' right to drive a truck for a living. He said he will argue that while driving is a privilege, once a person has a license for work, it becomes a right.

Hypothesis: Fifth Amendment right is about driving license.


Premise: Rain is pelting down on Doña Porcela's treatment room in Puerto Cabezas, the main town on Nicaragua's Northern Caribbean coast. The room is barren except for a few plastic chairs, a wooden table and some old plastic bottles balanced precariously on timber beams. Doña Porcela is a respected traditional healer here and the bottles are filled with her secret medicinal potions. Her patient today is a teenage girl asleep on a piece of cardboard, serving as a mattress on the dirt floor.

Hypothesis: Doña Porcela is a healer.


Premise: Global technology giant IBM is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems in a deal that would expand its server market share, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. IBM may pay as much as US$6.5 billion in cash for Sun, the newspaper reported on its Web site, without naming its sources. That amount of money would be nearly double Sun's closing share price on Tuesday of $4.97 per share. The report cautioned that while the two companies are holding discussions, a transaction may not occur.

Hypothesis: The price of Sun Microsystems is $4.97.


Premise: DEFENDER Zdenek Grygera scored on a header in added time to earn 10-man Juventus a 1-1 draw with Inter Milan on Saturday, although it may have not been enough to prevent Inter from clinching its fourth successive Serie A title. Teenager Mario Balotelli scored in the 64th minute for Inter and Juventus midfielder Tiago Mendes was shown a red card in the 76th. "To go down a goal, lose a man, and then be able to draw, satisfies me," Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri said. Inter remained 10 points ahead of Juventus with six rounds remaining.

Hypothesis: Claudio Ranieri is the Juventus' coach.


Premise: India's economy has grown by more than 8 per cent annually since 2003 and hit $4 trillion (based on purchasing power parity) by the end of last year - more than double that of the whole of Africa. The country now has the sort of budget, foreign exchange reserves, transport infrastructure, human resources and stable political environment that are the envy of most sub-Saharan countries. Yet its child malnourishment levels are worse than Ethiopia's and on a par with those of Eritrea and Burkina Faso.

Hypothesis: India, Eritrea and Burkina Faso have the same rate of child malnourishment.


Premise: A teenager who bashed a tourist to death with a baseball bat could be out of jail by his mid-20s. Jahche Broughton, who was just 14 when he murdered Karen Aim in Taupo, will spend a minimum non-parole period of 12 and a half years in prison. It seemed almost incomprehensible, a boy of just 15 standing in the dock after pleading guilty to murdering one woman and 12 days earlier smashing another to within inches of her life with a rock.

Hypothesis: Jahche Broughton was a baseball player.


Premise: A Soyuz capsule carrying a Russian cosmonaut, an American astronaut and U.S. billionaire tourist Charles Simonyi has docked at the international space station. Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka manually guided the capsule to a stop ahead of schedule Saturday two days after blasting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crews of the capsule and the station will spend around three hours checking seals before opening the air locks and meeting up face-to-face.

Hypothesis: Charles Simonyi is a Russian cosmonaut.


Premise: WASHINGTON - Russell Dunham, a World War II Army veteran who received the Medal of Honor, the military's highest decoration for valor, after he assaulted three German machine gun emplacements, killed nine German soldiers, and took two prisoners on a snowy morning in 1945, died Monday at his home in Godfrey, Ill., of congestive heart failure. He was 89. On Jan. 8, 1945, Technical Sergeant Dunham's company, part of the Third Infantry Division, was facing a formidable German force at the small town of Kayserberg, France, near the German border. The men were issued white mattress covers as camouflage in the deep snow.

Hypothesis: Russell Dunham was killed by nine German soldiers.


Premise: HONOLULU, Hawaii (CNN) — Battered by the current economic recession, Hawaii's economy could get a strong boost from two key sporting events. The National Football League's Pro Bowl Game will return to Honolulu in 2011 — an event that is expected to bring millions of dollars in revenue. Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann is also hoping to lure the 31st Summer Olympic Games — but not to his city. He's actively supporting Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Games.

Hypothesis: Mufi Hannemann is the coach of The National Football League.


Premise: Three major bombings in less than a week will be causing some anxiety among political leaders in Baghdad and Washington. Last Thursday 10 people were killed by a car bomb at a crowded cattle market in Babel province, south of Baghdad. On Sunday more than 30 died when a suicide bomber riding a motorbike blew himself up at a police academy in the capital. Tuesday's bombing in Abu Ghraib also killed and wounded a large number of people - including journalists and local officials.

Hypothesis: In less than a week there were 3 major bombings in Iraq, killing more than 40 people.


Premise: A spokesperson for Britain's The Islamic Cultural Centre & The London Central Mosque has commented on the episode, telling U.K. newspaper the Daily Star, "I hope Muslims take no notice of the show." But Groening has come out in defense of the plot, saying, "Cartoons deal in stereotypes. We try to be sensitive." It is not the first time the show has been mired in controversy, with Simpsons bosses recently being criticized for a storyline which implied America's Republican party was involved in a vote-rigging scandal at the 2008 presidential election.

Hypothesis: Groening is the creator of "The Simpsons".


Premise: Looking drawn and moving stiffly after three days in the hospital this week, Cardinal Edward M. Egan returned to the pulpit of St. Patrick's Cathedral on Thursday to participate in Holy Week services for the last time as archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. A little more than a week before his retirement, Cardinal Egan, 77, was stricken with severe stomach pains on Saturday night and driven to St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan in Greenwich Village. He was released on Tuesday after treatment for a gastrointestinal virus, with an unspecified appointment to come back for pacemaker implantation surgery, and with instructions from doctors to rest.

Hypothesis: Edward M. Egan is the New York Catholic Archbishop.


Premise: Although it won't discuss it, the Chinese government frequently blocks foreign Web sites that it deems to have objectionable content. Access to YouTube was also blocked in 2007, and 2008 during high-profile government meetings and following last year's unrest in Tibet. YouTube has been blocked at least twice in the last month, according to Herdict Web, a censorship tracking system run by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. The first block came on March 4, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising on March 10. The current block began on March 23.

Hypothesis: The ban is not the first ban for YouTube in China.


Premise: Ken Lewis has now become the lightning rod of controversy, and that is highly distracting, said Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, who believes Mr. Lewis should resign. "Even if everything he did was appropriate, it has hampered his legitimacy to lead." It was not long ago that Mr. Lewis was celebrated for his vision. His daring takeover of Merrill Lynch was the latest in a series of high-profile acquisitions that helped transform Bank of America into a national powerhouse. His conquests included the Countrywide Financial Group, the giant mortgage lender which, for many, came to symbolize the excesses of the subprime era. In December, the American Banker, the daily chronicle of the banking industry, named him 2008 Banker of the Year.

Hypothesis: Ken Lewis studied at the Yale School of Management.


Premise: THE Black Saturday bushfires royal commission, which sits for the first time today, will initially focus on the lack of warnings to communities of approaching firestorms and the Brumby Government's "stay or go" policy. But the commission, which will have only four months to produce an interim report, has already come under criticism for refusing permission for scores of survivors and the families of victims to appear before it. Individuals applying for leave to appear at the hearings have been refused permission, and told instead to lodge written submissions to the inquiry.

Hypothesis: Only 2 people were killed during the Black Saturday bushfires.


Premise: Ian Tomlinson, 47, died last Wednesday after encountering riot police near the Bank of England as he returned home from his work as a newsagent. The footage, released yesterday by The Guardian, reveals a docile-looking Mr Tomlinson walking with his back to police officers at about 7.20pm. One Metropolitan Police officer appears to lunge at him with a baton from behind and he falls to the ground. A bystander had to help him to his feet. Mr Tomlinson is understood to have then walked on to Cornhill where he collapsed. A New York fund manager visiting London shot the footage.

Hypothesis: Ian Tomlinson was a newspaper vendor.


Premise: I was nearly charged with petty theft for pilfering coffee at the illustrious Hippodrome Building. But lest I be judged too quickly, I must convey the sublimity of the fourth floor's coffee machine. Harry Houdini performed at the Hippodrome, at 1120 Avenue of the Americas near 44th Street. Many of the best and most famous performers of the time appeared there. It was one of the biggest and most successful theaters of its time, capable of accommodating 5,200 people.

Hypothesis: Harry Houdini was a magician.


Premise: The Grapes of Wrath, published exactly 70 years ago, can be seen as a prophetic novel, rooted in the tragedies of the Great Depression, but speaking directly to the harsh realities of 2009, writes Steinbeck scholar Robert DeMott. Steinbeck's epic novel, which traces harrowing exodus of Tom Joad and his family from blighted Oklahoma (where they are evicted from their farm), across the rugged American south-west via Highway 66, and on to what they mistakenly hope will be a more promising future in California, is considered by many readers to be the quintessential Depression-era story, and an ironic reversal of the rags-to-riches tale favoured by many optimistic Americans.

Hypothesis: The Grapes of Wrath was written by Steinbeck.


Premise: When a mosquito drinks the blood an infected person, the insect also swallows the malaria parasite, which then must incubate and multiply before migrating into the insect's saliva. The process can take weeks. And because mosquitoes are small-bodied and cold-blooded, outside temperatures make a big difference in how long it takes before they can transmit the disease. If it happens too slowly, the insects die before they can infect anyone. In general, the malaria parasite does better at warmer temperatures, which is why the disease occurs most often in tropical environments. But with mathematical models, Thomas has found that, even when conditions are warm, highly fluctuating temperatures over the course of a day slow down the rate of parasite incubation and larval development in the mosquito.

Hypothesis: Warm weather facilitates the spreading of malaria.


Premise: At home in New Hampshire, V. Gene Robinson is by his own description "just the bishop." As the head of an Episcopal diocese of 16,000, he spends his days counseling priests and their families, visiting parishes, performing baptisms, attending confirmations and coordinating such projects as overseas missions and a campaign against the death penalty. What he does is important, he says, but not "anything particularly special." But when he leaves the diocese, Robinson becomes what he calls "this bigger-than-life thing." His mere appearance inspires misty eyes and standing ovations from some. To others, he is a pariah whose very identity makes him too tainted to share a pew or theological discussion. One person looks at him and sees the future of the church; another, its demise.

Hypothesis: Nearly six years ago, Robinson became the first openly gay Episcopal bishop.


Premise: At least 14 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in southern Sri Lanka, police say. The telecoms minister was among about 35 people injured in the blast at the town of Akuressa, 160km (100 miles) south of the capital, Colombo. Government officials were attending a function at a mosque to celebrate an Islamic holiday at the time. The defence ministry said the blast was carried out by Tamil Tiger rebels but no-one has yet admitted responsibility. The Sri Lankan government has strongly condemned the attack. It urged people to remain calm and not to be provoked.

Hypothesis: 49 people were hit by a suicide bomber in Akuressa.


Premise: A U.S. judge ordered el Gharani released in January, dismissing as unreliable the military's allegations that he was part of al-Qaida and had worked for the Taliban in Afghanistan. He is held in a section of Guantanamo where prisoners are permitted more privileges while he awaits release. El Gharani was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 at a mosque by local police and turned over to U.S. forces in 2002. He was one of the first Guantanamo Bay detainees and one of the youngest. The U.S. holds about 240 men at the U.S. base in Cuba, most on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Hypothesis: About 240 people are detained in Guantanamo.


Premise: The word most often associated with West Papua is remote. An area of thick jungle and mountains, roughly the size of Spain, Papua is the eastern-most outpost of the Indonesian archipelago, some 3,200km (2,000 miles) from the government in Jakarta. Culturally it feels even further. Papua became part of Indonesia in 1969 after a controversial and very limited vote. Ever since there have been calls from some Papuans for independence and for decades a low-level armed resistance has been rumbling on, largely unnoticed by the outside.

Hypothesis: In 1969 Papua became part of Indonesia.


Premise: The BBC has seen documents alleging that a former rebel leader indicted for war crimes is playing a leading role in a mission involving the UN in DR Congo. The documents appear to prove that Gen Bosco Ntaganda is taking an active part in the mission's chain of command, a BBC correspondent in the country says. The UN-Congolese force is fighting Hutu rebels in the eastern DR Congo. The force says Congolese authorities have given assurances that Gen Ntaganda was not involved in joint operations.

Hypothesis: Bosco Ntaganda was a rebel leader.


Premise: Bout - who is generally believed to be a model for the arms dealer portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 movie 'Lord of War' - has repeatedly denied any involvement in illicit activities. At a hearing earlier this month, he angrily accused the United States of framing him and pressuring Thailand to extradite him. He has long been linked to some of the world's most notorious conflicts, allegedly supplying arms to former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi.

Hypothesis: Gaddafi is the Liberian dictator.


Premise: A man has hijacked a passenger plane in the Jamaican resort of Montego Bay, and is still holding five crew members hostage, reports say. More than 150 passengers were on board when the man forced his way on board the Canada-bound charter plane but all have now been released. The man breached security and boarded as the plane was about to take off at around 2230 local time (0330 GMT). Negotiations for the release of the hostages are said to be taking place.

Hypothesis: A plane crashed in the Jamaican resort of Montego Bay.


Premise: When it comes to the recession, tactful New Yorkers may refrain from complaining too loudly about their misfortunes, knowing that the chances are, there is someone else out there who has it worse. But try explaining to a 6-year-old, no matter how worldly and well mannered, that budget cuts may prevent him from spending quality time with a penguin. The Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the city's zoos and the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, is among the many organizations in the city facing steep budget cuts.

Hypothesis: The New York Aquarium is located in Coney Island.


Premise: The Czech Republic has allowed at least 94 prisoners over the past decade to be surgically castrated. It is the only country in Europe that uses the procedure for sex offenders. Czech psychiatrists supervising the treatment - a one-hour operation that involves removal of the tissue that produces testosterone - insist that it is the most foolproof way to tame sexual urges in dangerous predators suffering from extreme sexual disorders. Surgical castration has been a means of social control for centuries. In ancient China, eunuchs were trusted to serve the imperial family inside the palace grounds; in Italy several centuries ago, youthful male choir members were castrated to preserve their high singing voices.

Hypothesis: In China sex offenders have to be treated with surgical castration.


Premise: North Adams - A seven-minute film written and directed by a MCLA freshman will make its debut next week at the Boston International Film Festival, which features a line-up of independent films starring the likes of Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett and Ethan Hawke. "Initially when I shot the film, it was not my intention to enter it in any festivals, so I'm very excited and honored," Cody Romano, 18, of Cambridge, said Friday. "The film was made because of my personal interest in the poetry of Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet, and it was a tribute to his work. I wasn't sure anyone else would like it. My concern was that it would only appeal to literary people and people who were fans of the poetry, but I'm happy that it apparently appeals to a broader audience as well."

Hypothesis: Pablo Neruda came from Chile.


Premise: Speaking after he discovered that he would not face criminal charges, Mr Green disclosed that the officers who arrested him last November warned him that he could be given the longest possible sentence. "They said, 'Do you realise that this offence could lead to life imprisonment?'," Mr Green told BBC Newsnight. I just thought this was absurd. "I assume it's because it's a common law offence therefore because there is no law on the statute book which I was alleged to have broken, then presumably there is no set sentence for it."

Hypothesis: Mr. Green is the shadow immigration minister of the UK.


Premise: In San Sebastián, in the Basque country, dozens of supporters celebrated De Juana's release. He has never expressed any remorse. In a letter written after one Eta killing, he said of the victims: "Their tears are our smiles, and in the end we will roar with laughter." He now faces a bill for €8m in compensation for his victims, and an investigation into his assets. The release came 40 years to the day after Eta carried out its first deadly attack, killing a civil guard officer. The organisation, which is fighting for an independent Basque country in north-west Spain and south-west France, has killed more than 800 people since 1968.

Hypothesis: ETA started their activities in the 60s.


Premise: The U.S. State Department said Thursday that the United States is working to dissuade North Korea from going ahead with its plan to launch a satellite next month. U.S. officials say the launch is a disguised long-range missile test and would be destabilizing. State Department officials give no credence to the notion that the launch would be for scientific purposes and they say the United States is working diplomatically to try to prevent a North Korean action that they say would be provocative, destabilizing and unhelpful.

Hypothesis: The U.S. fears that the North Korean satellite is a ruse to hide the testing of a missile.


Premise: Governments around the world have been hurrying to contain the spread of a new swine flu virus after outbreaks were reported in Mexico, the US and Canada. At least 100 people are now suspected to have died of the disease in Mexico. The UN has warned the virus has the potential to become a pandemic, but said the world was better prepared than ever to deal with the threat. Stocks of anti-viral medicines are being readied and travellers are being screened at some airports for symptoms.

Hypothesis: At least 100 people are thought to have died of swine flu in Mexico.


Premise: The hurricane caused severe destruction across the entire Mississippi coast and into Alabama, as far as 100 miles (160 km) from the storm's center. Katrina was the eleventh tropical storm, fifth hurricane, third major hurricane, and second Category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic season. It formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005, and crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there, before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico and becoming one of the strongest hurricanes on record while at sea.

Hypothesis: Hurricane Katrina formed in August 2005 in the Gulf of Mexico.


Premise: International adoption can actually exacerbate the problem it hopes to solve, said Dominic Nutt, Save the Children's UK spokesman. "The very existence of orphanages encourages poor parents to abandon children in the hope that they will have a better life." While no one accuses Madonna of doing anything illegal in adopting the 4-year-old girl, reportedly named Mercy, there are questions nonetheless about how Madonna is able to navigate Malawi's 18-to-24 month vetting period in just a matter of days or weeks. But the larger issue, child-rights advocates say, is whether international adoptions are in the best interests of the child.

Hypothesis: Madonna is 50 years old.


Premise: North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament has re-elected Kim Jong-il as chairman of the National Defence Commission, the country's most powerful position. Mr Kim's re-election comes days after a rocket launch that was lauded at home but criticised at the UN. Analysts say the move will help cement Mr Kim's position, after rumours he lost some of his grip on power after suffering a stroke in August. Observers have expressed concern about the apparent lack of a succession plan.

Hypothesis: Kim Jong-il is the chairman of the UN.