Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(Billboard)The key to rock's longevity is it never defines itself into irrelevance. So while there were some loud, dirty guitars at the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland on Saturday night, there was as much recognition for rock's antecedents in soul and blues, speaking less to a particular taxonomy than a spirit that's beyond words.

It's easy to talk of such spirit when Paul McCartney is there to honor Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono is on hand as well. Speaking briefly backstage, Ono expressed feeling that it was wonderful for Starr to be honored, "just sad John and George aren't here," referring to her late husband John Lennon and Beatles guitarist and fellow songwriter George Harrison.

Starr was certainly happy to be there — after a long wait, he's the final Beatle to be inducted as a solo act.

"I've finally been invited, and I love it," said the 74-year-old drummer. "I got lucky, and it was actually in Cleveland," he said to enormous applause.

Fifty-one years earlier, Starr had been in town to play the very same Hall; he admitted backstage that he didn't remember the cops stopping the show during "All My Loving" and making the Beatles return to the dressing room for ten minutes until the fans could be calmed. Starr said in a backstage interview that he couldn't recall the incident specifically, but admitted that there had been a lot of shows in between.

"I'll remember this one," he promised.

Others receiving Rock Hall honors included Paul Butterfield Blues Band, early soul act The 5 Royales, singer Bill Withers, punk rockers Green Day, Lou Reed, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

It was a night for the young to honor the old and perhaps prepare for a later visit. John Mayer hailed his longtime idol, the late Vaughan, in a heartfelt speech. John Legend came out to honor Bill Withers with a performance of "Use Me" backed by Stevie Wonder, who inducted Withers. The two then shared "Lean on Me," until Legend went and pulled Withers to the front of the stage to join them.

Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bill Withers, Seymour Stein hit Rock Hall's weekend festivities

The 76-year old soul legend hasn't performed live in many years but had hinted in the months leading up to the induction ceremonies that he might sing once more. Withers sounded great, though he may have an even brighter future in stand-up.

"This has got to be the biggest AA meeting [in the] Western hemisphere," said Withers, alluding to an earlier moment in the show when Jimmie Vaughan confessed, "I taught my brother guitar, and he taught me how to get sober."

He called being inducted by Wonder, "A lion holding the door for a kitty cat."

The moment of relative levity was welcome after moving tributes paid to the late Lou Reed by Patti Smith and Reed's widow, music artist Laurie Anderson, who shared the three rules for life that they came up with: "One: don't be afraid of anyone; Two: get a really good b------t detector and learn how to use it; Three: be really, really tender."

Smith had to push back tears on at least three occasions. She recalled a night when they wound up in the same hotel and Reed invited her up. She found him in the tub dressed in black and she sat on the toilet and talked with him.

Green Day was inducted by Fall Out Boy, who referenced the length of some of the speeches. Cracked Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump: "I feel like I'm in a line at the DMV." As one of the youngest acts, it's not surprising they gave one of the two most exciting performances of the evening.

Rock Hall induction ceremony: Lou Reed 'would be amused,' says sister

The other belonged to Tom Morello, Doyle Bramhall II and Zac Brown with harmonica player Jason Ricci performing "Born in Chicago" in tribute to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Not only did Ricci slay, but Morello played a nasty scabrous solo that raised the hairs on your arm, it was so alive.

Miley Cyrus inducted Joan Jett in her own inimitable way, recalling a time she walked in on Jett smoking pot and being so turned on by her strength, wisdom and soul that the young pop star wanted to have sex with the legendary rocker.

Jett joined the Blackhearts and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl for a mini-set that include such classics as "Bad Reputation," the Runaways' "Cherry Bomb" and "Crimson and Clover," the Tommy James & the Shondelles cover that Jett took to No. 1.

It was that kind of a night, and it closed with a rousing version of the Beatles' "I Want to Be Your Man," where just about everybody who could make it out on stage did, including a near-end guitar scrum/lead-off between Gary Clark Jr., Morello, Zac Brown and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner.

©2015 Billboard. All Rights Reserved.

Response: Paul McCartney honors Ringo Starr at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Green Day, Lou Reed, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts also honored.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- A powerful storm system that ripped through the Louisville, Kentucky, area left thousands of people without power and forced the closing of the internationally famous Churchill Downs racetrack on Thursday.

The National Weather Service said damage from the Wednesday night system, which also struck the University of Louisville campus, likely resulted from tornadoes. However, Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Sharp said that cannot be confirmed until a storm survey is completed later Thursday.

A storm survey confirmed that an F-1 tornado touched down in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, east of Louisville, according to the National Weather Service.  The tornado uprooted trees and blew debris across short distances, but no injuries or fatalities occurred, according to the survey.

A separate survey was still on-going in the Churchill Downs area, said the Weather Service.

The storms also spawned flash floods that left two motorists stranded in their cars amid the rising waters, according to CNN-affiliate WAVE.  They were rescued by firefighters, the Louisville television station reported.

About 8,500 customers lost electricity, according to Louisville-Jefferson County emergency officials.

In a statement early Thursday, Churchill Downs announced that the horse track would be closed all day for racing and training because of damage left behind by the storm. However, the track's training facility, Trackside Louisville, was not damaged and will remain open, the statement read.

Churchill Downs also said it had contacted the Red Cross about finding temporary shelter for 100 stable-area workers whose living quarters "were damaged or compromised by the strong winds."

Churchill Downs is home to the Kentucky Derby.

"Nine barns suffered significant damage as a result of the storm, which reportedly produced tornadoes in the metro Louisville area," the statement read.

Churchill Downs spokesman Darren Rogers said no one was injured, including any of the 1,400 horses stabled at the facility.

However, track officials early Thursday were preparing to relocate as many as 150 horses. Rogers said the horses may need to be moved because of the possibility that the storm had left nails on the ground, which could injure the animals.

Buddy Rogers, a spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management said his agency had not received reports of injuries at the racetrack or elsewhere.

CNN's Ben Smith contributed to this report.

Response: Churchill Downs racetrack is closed because of storm damage. Barns are damaged at the famous horse track and stable workers have been relocated. The National Weather Service says the area was likely hit by  tornadoes.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:Katherine Dvorak is a writer for the Daily Collegian, the leading news source for Pennsylvania State University. This article was brought to CNN.com by UWIRE, the leading provider of student-generated content. UWIRE aims to identify and promote the brightest young content creators and deliver their work to a larger audience via professional media partners such as CNN.com. Visit UWIRE.com to learn more.

(UWIRE) -- A Web site developed this year that allows students to share old exams online is causing debate among professors about its ethical implications.

PostYourTest.com creator Demir Oral says the site is a tool for education, not for cheating.

PostYourTest.com is an educational tool that lets students anonymously upload materials and tests from their previous and current classes, said Demir Oral, creator of the site.

However, there are teachers who do not want their tests to be posted for every student to see.

"I would not be happy if a student who had taken a class of mine had taken an exam and posted it online," Sarah Hall, graduate professor of psychology at Penn State University, said. "I know that some teachers reuse past exams and it would be hard to have to write a new test for every class."

However, Mary Bojan, professor of chemistry at PSU, said she wouldn't mind if students posted her tests online.

"For my classes I always write new exams every time, and I wouldn't object because I have some old exams up online that I've posted myself," Bojan said.

Currently, there are no tests online for Penn State University, because the site was developed on the West Coast, Oral said.

"Primarily the main audience is San Diego, but that's because I've only advertised around there," Oral said.

He said he is looking into expanding the site more to include universities and colleges across the country.

"Also, although I am still focused on the United States, in the future I would like to go global," Oral said. "I think it would be really effective worldwide."

While studying for an exam in the HUB-Robeson Center, Christal Cozier (senior-nutrition) said she would consider using the site.

"I think looking at an old exam helps -- it at least gives the student an idea of how the teacher poses questions," Cozier said.

While she said she wouldn't go through the trouble of posting a test herself, Cozier said she didn't think students posting old tests online would be a problem.

"Most teachers give out practice exams and old exams anyway," she said. "The only time I would think it would be a problem is if the teacher uses exams more than once."

In response to criticism of the site from professors, Oral said he wants people to know the site is a tool for education and not a tool for cheating.

He added teachers can ban their exams from the site if they don't want students sharing them online.

"The first professor that banned his exams said he wanted to ban them because he was copyrighting them and publishing them in a book, and that made total sense to me," Oral said.

Even with the option to ban tests, Tara Chismar said professors may not know the site exists and may not know to ban their exams from it.

She said the site might be OK only if students get permission from their teachers to post exams online.

Bojan said the biggest problem she saw with students posting material online would be putting up tests the teachers wanted handed back in.

"Common sense needs to come into play with something like this because there's a student responsibility side to it," she said. "Having access to an exam you're not supposed to is cheating."

Students shouldn't have to rely on old tests online to prepare for an exam from a new teacher, Hall said.

"There are likely a lot of professors who would be happy to give students more of a sense of what the exam is going to be like -- maybe giving them sample questions," she said.

Bojan warned students should use materials posted online wisely because looking at an exam may not always be the best way to study.

"One problem is old tests may not be the most effective study tool," she said. "By just going off of old exams students aren't learning how to actually do the problems."

Response: PostYourTest.com was developed this year, has mostly California tests. Site is causing debate among professors about its ethical implications. Teachers can ban exams from the site if they don't want students sharing. Looking at an exam may not always be the best way to study, professor warns.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- Bringing a growing health concern to Congress, scientists squared off Thursday over whether cell phones contribute to brain cancer.

Rep. Denis Kucinich of Ohio holds a model of a 5-year-old child's brain absorbing cell phone radiation.

Studies have indicated that long-term cell phone use may be associated with brain cancer, according to Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and Dr. David Carpenter, director of Institute for Health and the Environment at University of Albany. They both testified in front of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.

"I cannot tell this committee that cell phones are definitely dangerous. But, I certainly cannot tell you that they are safe," Herberman said.

Herberman and Carpenter cited the results from a study recently presented by Dr. Lennart Hardell of Örebro University in Sweden.

The results indicated that people who use cell phones have double the chance of developing malignant brain tumors and acoustic neuromas, which are tumors on the hearing nerve. The study also said people under age 20 were more than five times as likely to develop brain cancer.

But Dr. Robert Hoover, director or Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program at the National Cancer Institute, said the study has not yet appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, so has not come under sufficient scrutiny. The evidence for the connection between cell phones and cancer is inconclusive and more research is needed, he said.

"Larger studies are needed to sort out chance and bias," Hoover testified.

Interphone, a series of multinational studies on the risk of cancer from cell phones, has not found an increase in tumors associated with the first 10 years of mobile phone use, he said.

Some findings show an increased risk of tumors diagnosed on the side of the head that the cell phone is pressed against, but this pattern has not been seen consistently, Hoover said.

CTIA, the International Association for Wireless Telecommunications, declined the invitation to testify, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic presidential candidate from Ohio, who led the hearing, said.

Steve Largent, CEO of CTIA, issued a statement Wednesday saying the industry has supported scientific research on these issues and supports the Federal Communications Commision's safety guidelines.

"The available scientific evidence and expert reviews from leading global health organizations such as the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, United States Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization reflect a consensus based on published scientific research showing that there is no reason for concern," Largent's statement said.

The overall evidence for the cancer-phone link has not been statistically significant at a 95 percent confidence level, a standard in science, Carpenter said. But he also noted that U.S.-funded research is very scarce.

"Are we at the same place we were with smoking and lung cancer 30 years ago?" he asked.

Carpenter and Herberman testified that the risk of brain cancer for children is far greater than for adults. Herberman demonstrated a model showing that the radiation from cell phones would penetrate far deeper into a 5-year-old's brain than an adult's.  See models from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh »

But the incidence of brain cancer in children has not increased significantly from the late 1980s to 2005, Hoover said.

The Federal Communications Commission limits cell phone radio frequency energy emissions, called the specific absorption rate (SAR), at 1.6 watts per kilogram, as measured over one gram of tissue.

The standard was developed in 1997 in consultation with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a professional association open to everyone, including manufacturers and health specialists.

But the SAR standard reflects a biological response to cell phone radio frequency energy heating tissue, Kucinich said.

Many experiments show that radio frequency energy does cause "biological effects" without heating tissue, although not all of those effects are harmful, Carpenter said. Hoover agreed that there could be such effects related to cancer risk, but they have not been properly vetted in a laboratory.

The FCC itself does not have the expertise to evaluate whether this standard is appropriate protection for possible heath risks, Julius Knapp, director of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, testified.

The hearing took place just a week after the Cleveland Clinic reported a study showing that keeping a cell phone on talk mode in a pocket can decrease sperm quality.

Herberman had issued a warning to physicians, scientists, and staff at the University of Pittsburgh in July advising them to limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer. The Israeli Health Ministry endorsed this recommendation within a week, he said.

Ellen Marks of Lafayette, California, whose husband found out he had a brain tumor on his right frontal lobe in May, attended the hearing.

The tumor is on the same side of his head where he held his cell phone, which he used about 30 hours per month. She believes the tumor is the result of cell phone use.

"I often threatened to throw it in the garbage, and how I wish I had," she said. "This horror could have been avoided with a simple warning."

Response: Studies conflict; do not consistently show cell phones cause cancer, expert says. Expert says he cannot say they are definitely dangerous or definitely safe. Children are at higher risk for cancer-causing radiation from phone, scientist says. Woman at House panel hearing says her husband's brain cancer from cell phone.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The state of Georgia, stricken by months of drought, confirmed Friday that it will sue the Army Corps of Engineers.

A view of the East Point Reservoir in Lithia Springs, Georgia, in 2006 ...

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue had said  Wednesday the state would seek an injunction forcing the Corps to stem the flow of water from Lake Lanier, Atlanta's primary water source.

The Corps administers the lake, which supplies most of the water to Georgia's capital and feeds the Chattahoochee River, which winds through three states.

Rainfall in the area is about 15 inches below normal for the year.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said, "This is dire, severe, extreme drought."

In the city of Atlanta and surrounding counties, outdoor watering is banned except for a few commercial uses. The state is looking into which businesses would be forced to cut back water use if the drought worsens.

The Army Corps of Engineers says there is about a three-month supply of water left in Lake Lanier, which is 15 feet below its capacity. The corps -- under an agreement reached in the 1980s with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state and downstream users -- releases 5,000 feet of water per second from the dam between the man-made lake and the river.

The figure was based on a Florida hydroelectric power plant's needs, as well as concern for endangered species in the river, including mussels and sturgeon.

But officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials told CNN that no one knows exactly what flow is needed to keep the mussels or the sturgeon alive.

Perdue calls the current water flow policy a "nonsensical action."

"We shouldn't have to fight this out in court," Franklin said Thursday. "We don't want to hurt [the cities and businesses] downstream but we'd like to see some middle ground and hope people would join with us." Watch Franklin describe how bad the problem might become »

But even if an agreement is reached soon, the mayor said her city, which has doubled in population since 1980, needs to do a better job of conserving water.

Franklin also admitted that the Atlanta area did little to add to storage facilities during years of recent explosive growth, but says the city has now purchased a stone quarry to be developed into a new reservoir.

Atlanta is spending $4 billion to fix the city's water infrastructure. According to Franklin, 14 percent of the city's pipes, many of which date back to the 1890s, leak. Though the mayor says the percentage of leaky pipes has dropped each of the last six years.

But the remaining repairs will take four to five years and won't address the current crisis. Atlanta may soon have to resort to drastic action like some other Southeastern towns have already taken.

In Siler City, North Carolina, residents and businesses have been ordered to cut water use by 50 percent or face penalties. Many restaurants and schools are serving meals on paper plates so they don't have to wash dishes. Two poultry plants have cut production by one day a week to curtail water use and are also trucking water in for other uses.

The town of Orme, Tennessee, also trucks in water, three times a week -- for everybody.

"We are high and dry," Mayor Tony Ream said.

Meanwhile, Franklin has enacted her own personal measures.

"I've cut the time in the shower," she said. "I don't wait for the water to get hot. I kinda shiver for a few minutes.

"I put a bucket in it and I use that collected water to water the two flowers I would like to save." E-mail to a friend

Rusty Dornin contributed to this report.

Response: Corp: Lake Lanier has about three months of water for metro Atlanta. Georgia governor wants limit on water released from the lake. Atlanta mayor calls for conservation, says city is working to lessen water use.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- Given that Moscow has been home to the likes of Tchaikovsky, Dostoyevsky, Rachmaninoff and Pushkin, it's no surprise that the city offers a wealth of cultural events. But Muscovites are also prepared to brave their bitter winters to enjoy traditional outdoor celebrations.

Pancakes, known as blini, are the stars of the Maslenitsa Festival.

Maslenitsa Festival/Blini Week (February/March) This traditional festival, with its roots in pagan Spring celebrations, all but disappeared between 1917 and 2002, but it's now one of the city's best-loved celebrations. It precedes Lent and Russian pancakes, known as blini, feature prominently in the week-long festivities.

Round, golden blini are said to symbolize the Spring sun and are eaten in huge quantities all week, topped with anything from jam to caviar.

The festival usually includes an attempt to break a blini-related world record; in 2004 the festival set the record for the tallest pile of pancakes ever made and at the 2008 festival bakers created a map of the world out of, you guessed it, blini.

Other festival shenanigans include traditional Slavic games, troika (sled) rides, folk dancing, and a final-day masquerade and parade made up of musicians, jesters, stiltwalkers, acrobats, and carnival entertainers. The traditional "Maslenitsa brawl," an apparently good-natured group fist-fight, is probably best avoided.

See Natalia Vodianova's Moscow. »

Golden Mask Festival (March/April) Each year Russia's finest opera, dance, theater and musical productions compete to win a coveted Golden Mask award at Moscow's Golden Mask Festival.

Held over three weeks at venues around the city, the festival is a fantastic opportunity to experience the best in contemporary culture from all over Russia, conveniently gathered together in one city.

What do you think are Moscow's seasonal highlights? Let us know below.

Victory Day (9 May) Victory Day is a national holiday in Russia to commemorate Germany's surrender to the Soviet Union in World War II -- still known in Russia as the "Great Patriotic War."

In Moscow, the day is marked by an impressive military parade in Red Square and remembrance events in Victory Park to honor Russia's fallen soldiers. There are firework displays in the evening.

Part somber remembrance, part celebration, Victory Day is a dramatic reminder of what many Russians still regard as the Soviet Union's proudest hour, and of the millions of Russians killed in the war.

December Nights (December) Just as Moscow's December chill is turning nights on the town into an endurance contest, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts comes to the rescue with a series of outstanding evenings of classical music.

Conceived by renowned Russian pianist Svyatoslav Richter and held annually since 1981, December Night's program of Russian and international musical talent is one of the year's cultural highlights. As well as world-class classical concerts, the festival also features exhibitions of artworks related to that year's musical theme.

Winter Festival (late December/early January) Given the ferocity of Moscow's winter, if you're planning to join in with the Winter Festival fun in Izmailovo Park you'd do well to warm up with a shot or two of vodka before you venture outside.

In the park you'll find traditional folk music, dancing, and troika rides, while elsewhere in the city you can see glittering ice sculptures being built in Red Square and hundreds of snowmen lining Arbat Street.

While some hardy Muscovites use the festival as an opportunity to join the "Walrus Club," it isn't recommended -- membership involves swimming in ice holes carved in the freezing Moscow River.

Response: Moscow hosts a wealth of cultural events as well as traditional outdoor festivities. Round, golden blini (pancakes) are the real stars of the Maslenitsa Festival. The Golden Mask Festival has the best in Russian contemporary culture. December's Winter Festival features sleigh rides, snowmen and ice sculptures.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- Congress is attempting to eviscerate women's health care. Like many women across America, I am outraged.

Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on legislation proposed by Sen. Roy Blunt that would allow employers to deny coverage for health care services that are considered morally objectionable.

On February 16, Republicans in the House of Representatives held a hearing designed to undermine President Barack Obama's decision to guarantee women free access to contraception health care regardless of their workplace.

Fair enough. We all have the right to disagree and fight for our beliefs. But by definition, a hearing is an inquiry into many sides of an issue with testimony from various points of views. But mark this: The Republicans did not have a single woman to testify in support of the contraception mandate. That is not a hearing; that is a sham.

Mitt Romney, a front-runner in the Republican primaries, has expressed support for life at conception legislation that could outlaw common forms of contraception, which would adversely affect many women. Romney has also vowed to end family planning funding that America's most financially disadvantaged women rely on for cancer screening, contraception and other basic reproductive health care needs.

Voters, including Catholics, overwhelmingly support health care coverage for contraception. The truth is women use contraception not only as a way to prevent unintended pregnancies, but also to improve their health and the health of their families. Increased access to contraception is directly linked to declines in maternal and infant mortality. It can also protect women against debilitating symptoms of endometriosis and reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.

But contraception isn't just a basic health care issue for women, it's also an economic issue. Today, many women pay $15 to $50 a month for contraception, even with insurance. That's as much as $600 a year, money that many American families are struggling to find.

In a recent interview on MSNBC, Foster Friess, a prominent supporter of Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, said, "On this contraceptive thing, my gosh. ... You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly." Does this man have no wife, daughter or sister? I pray that his comment, which might conceivably be pawned off as a joke if it were not so dangerous, does not represent the perspective of the people in government who have the power to determine women's health choices. But judging by some of the proposed legislation floating around, Friess is hardly alone in his view.

I respectfully ask members of Congress to not be blinded by the desires of a small but vocal anti-contraception community that could put the physical and financial health of millions of American women and families on the line.

Thankfully, President Obama has stood firmly behind women's health care issues by supporting coverage for contraception and reaffirming commitment to organizations like Planned Parenthood.

Anyone seeking office would be wise to take heed that women are watching and we will not tolerate political rhetoric that threatens our health, safety and well-being.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Felicity Huffman.

Response: Felicity Huffman: Congress is trying to eviscerate women's health care. Poll: Voters, including Catholics, support free access to contraception coverage. Huffman: Contraception isn't just a basic health care issue; it's also an economic issue. She says politicians should be mindful that women will not tolerate threats to their health.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:Atlanta (CNN) -- Defendants with limited English-language skills have a constitutional right to court interpreters in criminal trials, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled Monday.

The ruling came in a case involving a Mandarin Chinese speaker who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on two counts of cruelty to a child. Annie Ling, who had limited English language skills, did not understand that she had the option to plead guilty instead of going to trial and possibly facing a longer sentence, said the American Civil Liberties Union, one of two groups that filed a friend-of-the-court brief stating that denying a defendant an interpreter violates the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws.

"The court acknowledged that we don't have two systems of justice in this country -- one for English speakers and another for everyone else," said Azadeh Shahshahani, director of the National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project at the ACLU of Georgia. "The constitutional guarantee of due process applies to everyone in this country, not just fluent English speakers."

Ling was arrested and charged with two counts of cruelty to a child. Her children were removed from the home and placed in foster care, according to court documents. After a 2008 trial, Ling was convicted of one count of cruelty to a child, and sentenced to 15 years, with 10 to serve in prison. The conviction was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.

The court agreed with the brief, in which the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center joined with the ACLU, that the Sixth Amendment and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment guarantee the defendant the right to an interpreter.

The Georgia Supreme Court also instructed all Georgia state courts to practice "vigilance in protecting the rights of non-English-speakers."

Response: Defendant says she did not understand her options. The ACLU says the case violated the Constitution. The woman was sentenced to 10 years in the 2008 case.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- The top cop in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, escaped a "sneak attack" by gunmen early Thursday while on patrol in the city, the Juarez mayor told reporters.

Lt. Col. Julian Leyzaola was not injured in the attack. One of the gunmen was injured by return fire from police.

The gunmen were carrying out extortion on a local business when Leyzaola's patrol coincidentally came across the incident, according to Juarez Mayor Hector "Teto" Murguia.

"If the criminals resist giving up ... well then there will be incidents of confrontation. Until what point? As long as necessary," Leyzaola said in an interview earlier this month with CNN in Juarez.

On the job for barely three months, the new police chief of Ciudad Juarez -- the globally recognized hot spot in Mexico's drug wars -- predicted bold changes in his new border home and said confidentially during the interview: "The police will regain the city."

"The municipal police is still standing ... and will continue fighting," Murguia said after the attack. "The municipal police, particularly the lieutenant colonel, confirm that they will clean up this historic city," Murguia said.

Response: Lt. Col. Julian Leyzaola happened upon extortion in progress, mayor says. Leyzaola was on patrol as part of his new role in Ciudad Juarez. Juarez is hot spot of Mexican drug violence.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- If Matt Kuchar is feeling any ill effects of his Masters mishap it didn't show in the opening round of the RBC Heritage in South Carolina on Thursday.

The world No. 6, who tied for fifth following a disappointing two-over par final round of 74 at Augusta National last Sunday, bounced back at the Harbour Town Golf Links firing a flawless five-under par round of 66.

Starting at the 10th, Kuchar fired two birdies on his opening nine before claiming three more coming home to leave the 35-year-old tied for the lead with Scott Langley and William McGirt. Harris English is fourth on three under after opening with a round of 68.

Newly-crowned Masters champion Bubba Watson is sitting out this tournament but his closest rival for the Green Jacket and final round playing partner, Jordan Spieth was back out on course Thursday.

The 20-year-old started in assured fashion posting a 69 after being paired with another Watson -- U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom.

The veteran shot a four-over 75 while casting an eye prospective team members for this September's match at Gleneagles, Scotland.

Spieth's two-under par total leaves him in a 15-way tie for fifth which includes compatriot Bo Van Pelt and Australia's Robert Allenby.

Luke Donald is one of 16 players tied at one-under par with defending champion Graeme McDowell a shot further back after an even-par round of 71.

Westwood heads multi-cultural Malaysia leaderboard

Lee Westwood put another major disappointment behind him posting an opening round 65 at the Malaysian Open on Thursday.

The Englishman, who finished seventh at Augusta last weekend, fired a seven-under par round to finish top after day one at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

Westwood heads a truly international leaderboard with Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts his closest chaser currently on six under.

Immediately below him are Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey and Ricardo Santos from Portugal who both shot five-under rounds of 67 on Thursday.

Four players -- Jbe Kruger from South Africa, France's Julien Quesne, Masahiro Kawamura from Japan and Scot Scott Jamieson -- are tied for fifth on four under with a further nine players sitting at three-under par.

Read more: How many more majors can Bubba win?

Response: Matt Kuchar joint leader after opening round of RBC Heritage. Masters runner-up Jordan Spieth three shots off lead on two-under par. Lee Westwood leads Malaysian Open by one stroke after day one in Kuala Lumpur.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- People living in the Falkland Islands are voting in a referendum on their political status on Sunday and Monday at a time of heightened tensions between Argentina and Britain over their sovereignty.

The two countries went to war over the territory, known to the Argentinians as Las Malvinas, in 1982 after the then-military government in Argentina landed troops on the islands.

According to the Falklands legislative assembly, the vote is intended to affirm islanders' desire to remain a self-governing territory of the United Kingdom and to reject claims of ownership by Argentina.

The question put to voters is: "Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?"

The two-day referendum is supported by the British government.

But the Argentinian Embassy in London said in a statement Friday that the referendum had no legitimacy, characterizing it as "a further attempt by the British to manipulate the question of the Malvinas Islands."

Because the area around the Falklands is the subject of a sovereignty dispute, it argues, "the United Kingdom has no right to alter the legal status of these territories, not even under the guise of a hypothetical 'referendum.' "

Argentina's president condemns 'colonial rule'

In January, Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner wrote an open letter, published in the UK press, in which she called on Britain to hand back the islands and accused it of blatant colonialism.

"The Argentines on the Islands were expelled by the Royal Navy and the United Kingdom subsequently began a population implantation process similar to that applied to other territories under colonial rule," she wrote.

"Since then, Britain, the colonial power, has refused to return the territories to the Argentine Republic, thus preventing it from restoring its territorial integrity."

She cited a 1965 U.N. resolution inviting the two countries to negotiate a solution to the sovereignty dispute and has called on the British to abide by the resolution.

The British government rejected Fernandez's call for negotiations, saying the Falkland Island residents have chosen to be British and "have a right to self-determination as enshrined in the U.N. Charter."

The January statement added: "There are three parties to this debate, not just two as Argentina likes to pretend. The islanders can't just be written out of history.

"As such, there can be no negotiations on the sovereignty of the Falklands Islands unless and until such time as the islanders so wish."

The British government accuses Buenos Aires of trying to "coerce" the Falkland Island residents into becoming part of Argentina through intimidation of those involved in fishing and oil exploration, and efforts to isolate the remote islands even further by limiting access by sea.

Long desired for its natural resources

Located in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 480 kilometers (298 miles) east of the tip of South America, the Falklands have long been coveted as a strategic shipping stopover and potential wellspring of natural resources, including lucrative fisheries and a growing oil drilling industry.

The islands, which raise their own taxes but rely on the United Kingdom for defense and foreign policy, are one of 14 British Overseas Territories and have been under British rule since 1833.

More than 2,500 people from more than 60 nations live and work there, according to the islands' government website, as well as forces stationed at the British military's Mount Pleasant Complex. Many Falkland Island residents are of British origin.

War broke out over the territory in 1982, when the then-Argentinian military government landed troops on the islands. Argentina put its death toll from the conflict at around 645. Britain's civil and military losses amounted to 255.

On its official website, the Falklands government rejects as false the Argentinian government claim that a civilian population was expelled by Britain in 1833 and argues for the inhabitants' right to choose their path.

"The people expelled were an illegal Argentine military garrison, who had arrived three months earlier," it says. "The civilian population in the Islands, who had sought permission from Britain to live there, were invited to stay. All but two of them, with their partners, did so.

"We are not an implanted population. Our community has been formed through voluntary immigration and settlement over the course of nearly two hundred years. ... We are no more an implanted population than are the various populations of South America whose ancestors arrived as immigrants from Europe -- we arrived here as part of the same process and pattern of migration."

The islands are economically self-sufficient, the government says, except for the cost of defense needed as a result of "the claim made by an aggressive neighbour."

"The Falkland Islanders are a peaceful, hard-working and resilient people. Our society is thriving and forward-looking. All we ask is to be left in peace to choose our own future, and responsibly develop our home for our children and generations to come," the government says.

UK newspaper hits back over Argentinian claim to Falklands

Response: Falkland Island residents are voting on whether to remain a British Overseas Territory. Argentina, which knows the islands as Las Malvinas, disputes British sovereignty. The UK government says the islanders have a right to self-determination. Britain and Argentina went to war over the South Atlantic territory in 1982.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- Country music artist John Rich had such a great time in Las Vegas that he was not fit to fly home to Nashville on Sunday, according to Southwest Airlines.

Rich, 37, was escorted off a Southwest flight before it took off from Las Vegas Sunday night, airline spokeswoman Christi McNeill said Monday.

"Our crew assessed the situation and determined that the passenger was not fit for travel," McNeill said.

It was not clear what led to Rich's getting booted from the plane, but the singer's spokeswoman Tree Paine denied online reports that he was involved in a fight with another passenger.

"Did John Rich have a great time with his fans in Vegas? Yes. Was there an altercation? Absolutely not," a statement said.

Southwest gave Rich -- of the band Big & Rich -- and a fellow traveler a refund and they found alternative travel arrangements to Nashville, the airline spokeswoman said.

"Our employees are responsible for the safety and comfort of everyone on board a flight," McNeill said. "If we can mitigate an uncomfortable situation prior to departure, it is our preference to do so, and that is what happened in this scenario."

CNN's Denise Quan contributed to this report.

Response: John Rich is escorted off Southwest flight at Las Vegas airport. Crew says Big & Rich singer "was not fit for travel," airline spokeswoman says. Singer's spokeswoman: "Did John Rich have a great time with his fans in Vegas? Yes. ". Rich spokeswoman denies there was a fight with another passenger.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(Mashable) -- Charlie Sheen may or may not be "winning," in life, but he has won a rare honor: the "Fastest Time to Reach 1 Million Followers" Guinness World Record.

Guinness community manager Dan Barrett says the agency "just researched and approved" the record this morning. According to Barrett, Sheen reached that milestone in 25 hours and 17 minutes.

As of this writing, Sheen's Twitter account, @CharlieSheen, has more than 1.3 million followers.

Guinness did not have a previous record for that category, Barrett says. Sheen also set a Guinness record for "Highest Paid TV Actor Per Episode -- Current" at $1.25 million.

Sheen joined Twitter March 1. In a matter of minutes, Sheen acquired more than 60,000 followers and a Klout score of 57 -- without even tweeting. According to a report in Advertising Age, Sheen was able to get his account verified so quickly because Internet startup Ad.ly brokered his account with Twitter.

Sheen, of course, has been all over the news since he publicly disparaged Chuck Lorre, producer of Sheen's successful sitcom "Two and a Half Men" in a bizarre interview with Alex Jones of InfoWars last month.

Since then, Sheen has been interviewed by various other high-profile outlets making equally odd statements. The public meltdown has made Sheen a continual trending topic on Twitter and the subject of several YouTube parodies.

For Guinness, this is the second high-profile application of the brand's records system to social media. Last month, the Nabisco cookie brand Oreo and rapper Lil Wayne squared off for the record for the most Facebook likes. Lil Wayne won that contest handily.

© 2013 MASHABLE.com. All rights reserved.

Response: Sheen reached Twitter milestone in 25 hours and 17 minutes. As of this writing, Sheen's Twitter account, has more than 1.3 million followers. This is the second high-profile application of the brand's records system to social media.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:New York (CNN) -- Those following the news of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may be surprised at how much is still unknown about the extent and movement of the oil, in particular below the sea surface, as engineers and scientists attempt to stanch the flow.

More than five weeks after the oil rig disaster, and even with today's sophisticated technology, tracking and measuring the spill remains a huge challenge. Understanding fundamental difficulties with measuring in deep water helps explain why.

Because oil is lighter than water, it tends to rise to the surface and form slicks that can be very damaging to the natural ecosystem, and ultimately the regional economy, as we are seeing now. Spraying chemical dispersants on the slick, as BP has, is one way to remove oil from the surface. The dispersants break the slick into small droplets, which are transferred down into the water column by waves and turbulence.

BP has also injected dispersants into the oil plumes rising from the oil rig's broken plumbing on the seabed to try to prevent oil slicks from forming on the surface at all. This appears to have been at least partly successful in reducing the size of the surface slicks.

The oil that does not reach the surface is dispersed through the water column by ocean currents. Instruments lowered from a research ship in the gulf have detected large oil plumes near the leak, more than 3,000 feet down. This is therefore the first spill where large plumes of oil have been observed spreading below the sea surface.

While we have some understanding of how much oil is sitting at the surface and where it is heading, we have virtually no idea how much oil and dispersants are drifting below the surface of the gulf, nor do we know where these pollutants are going.

It is notoriously difficult to take measurements at that depth. We can remotely survey large areas of the sea surface with planes and satellites but surveying the ocean's interior is vastly more difficult. Water blocks electromagnetic waves, such as light and radar, preventing us from imaging the deep.

To map underwater concentrations of oil and dispersants, instruments need to be lowered into the plumes to take measurements and samples that are later analyzed in a lab. Close to the source, where oil-droplet concentrations are high, it may be possible to map the plumes using sound waves, but dissolved chemicals, such as dispersants, cannot be detected with such acoustic methods at all. In other words, we can "see" what is at the surface, but to find out what is going on beneath the waves, we need to put our "feelers" out.

Decades of research on natural plumes, such as those rising from deep-water, hydrothermal hot springs on midocean ridges, and man-made plumes, such as sewage outfalls, have taught us that mapping subsurface plumes is time-consuming and costly. To put this into perspective, consider how hard it would be to map the ash cloud from the erupting volcano in Iceland if, instead of satellites, we were forced to use weather balloons.

Near the source of the oil plumes in the gulf, the sampling problem is particularly severe because "young" plumes tend to be extremely patchy (the oil distribution is very uneven). Varying ocean currents, such as tides and eddies, move the plume patches around continuously and randomly, and cause the plumes to spread. This makes sampling both easier, because the plumes become less patchy and therefore harder to miss; and more difficult, because the plumes become more dilute and therefore harder to detect.

With each passing day the problem gets worse as the oil spill's boundaries grow.

In recent days, scientists began mapping the subsurface oil plumes by ship and using unmanned underwater robots (floats and gliders). Unfortunately, these plume surveys are unlikely to produce a reliable estimate of the amount of oil dispersing through the gulf, especially since much of the oil may already be too dilute to detect.

To determine the extent of the oil spill, we will need to combine measurements with computer modeling. But even a perfect model cannot make valid predictions if the data are wrong. Therefore, it is crucial that the amount of oil leaking into the gulf be estimated accurately. I am hopeful that the recently formed "Flow Rate Technical Group," a multi-agency team that includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will be able to carry out this task with minimal outside interference.

It is equally important, however, to continue to collect data on the circulation in the gulf over the full water depth to validate and improve the realism of models for this spill.

And monitoring the circulation should continue even after the oil leak has been stopped, until the oil has dispersed sufficiently so as not to pose any further biological risk. In this way, we will have a better idea of the full environmental impact of this incident.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Andreas Thurnherr.

Response: Andreas Thurnherr says it may surprise that much still unknown about spill's flow in deep sea. Surface oil can be measured, he says, but vagaries of dispersal at depths thwart technology. Thurnherr: Data collection must continue when spill is done to gauge environmental impact.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- The list of people missing in tornado-ravaged Joplin, Missouri, shrunk to eight on Wednesday, as officials told CNN that the bodies of two people previously on the list had been identified.

Stanley Kirk and Maria Alvares Torres died in the storm, and their next-of-kin were notified, said Seth Bundy with the Department of Public Safety.

News reports suggested that two other people listed as "unaccounted for" may have been declared dead as well.  Bundy said declarations are not made official until family members are informed.

Authorities also announced that a woman who was not listed as missing has died as a result of the severe weather that struck May 22, Bundy said.

Over the weekend, Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr told CNN the death toll stood at 142.  Not all the names had been released.  It was not immediately clear whether the deaths announced Wednesday were included in the toll.

The May 22 tornado flattened buildings, destroyed neighborhoods and killed more people than any other U.S. tornado since modern record-keeping began in 1950.

"It's indescribable ... just devastating to see all the destruction of my school, my home," said Joplin High School sophomore Chanci McGowen, CNN affiliate KODE reported. "My whole neighborhood is gone, but everyone's OK."

The station broadcast images of a memorial service at the school, where a sign out front just had the letters "op" from "Joplin."  Someone used what looked to be duct tape to add letters, creating the word "Hope."

-CNN's Dana Ford contributed to this report.

Response: The official missing list drops to 8. More deceased victims have been identified. At a memorial service, a sign reads "Hope".


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- An unusual movie promotion stunt threatened to turn deadly Tuesday when a World War II-era biplane flipped over while landing near the nation's capital.

Nobody was hurt, though one of the main runways at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was closed for roughly an hour after the crash, an airport spokeswoman said. The plane was righted by a crane.

The 1943 Stearman, a popular training aircraft during the war, was one of nine flying to Reagan National from Virginia's Manassas Regional Airport to help promote the movie "Legends of Flight," a film meant to provide a window into "a century of aviation trial and error," according to its Web site.

The two-seat, open-cockpit plane "took a back-end bounce," as it landed, movie executive producer Doug Freeman told CNN. "The pilot and passenger got out unhurt" and later relaxed over a cup of coffee.

The pilot was identified as Michael Truschel of Nokesville, Virginia -- located near Manassas. The accident occurred at the end of a roughly 20-minute flight under clear skies and light winds.

"It looked like (Michael) was up on the main gear, and then the nose went down and the tail went up," said pilot Dave Brown, who was directly behind Truschel's aircraft.

"I sidestepped (Truschel) and landed right behind him," Brown told CNN.

Air traffic controllers directed the other planes to land on another runway.

Brown told CNN that "by the time it happened, (Truschel) was going really slowly, so when it flipped over on its nose it just went on over on its top wing." The main body of the overturned plane remained high enough off the ground for Truschel and his passenger to release their harnesses and then climb out.

"It shows how rigid Boeing made the plane," Brown noted. "They were built as trainers for cadets who flipped them like this quite often."

Brown said there was damage to the tail, a wing and the prop of Truschel's plane.

Response: WWII-era biplane flips while landing at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C.. The flight was part of a promotion for the movie "Legends of Flight". The plane was a 1943 Stearman, a popular training aircraft during the war. Nobody was injured in the crash.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:New York (CNN) -- A 19th-century artwork by French artist Edgar Degas will be handed back to the French government Friday -- nearly four decades after it was stolen.

The painting, "Blanchisseuses souffrant des dent" ("Laundry Women with Toothache,") was taken in 1973 from the Malraux Museum in Le Havre, in Normandy, France, the U.S. District Attorney in Eastern New York said.

It had been on loan from the French government, which considers the painting a national treasure.

The piece did not resurface until October this year when it appeared in a catalog from the auction house Sotheby's, it said.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the French government will take part in a repatriation ceremony at 1 p.m. at the French ambassador's residence in Washington D.C. to return the painting.

U.S. customs officials, working with authorities from INTERPOL, said the painting was consigned to French art collector Ronald Grelsamer.

Grelsamer said his father gave him the painting as a gift, but was unaware that it was stolen, the statement said.

Sotheby's said they had nothing indicating that the painting was stolen, saying it did not appear in any of its lost art databases, said company spokeswoman Diana Phillips.

The auction house had a longstanding relationship with Grelsamer without incident, she added.

"Sotheby's is happy to have been able to be involved in this discovery, and we are pleased that this painting will be returned to the government of France," Phillips said.

The U.S. District Attorney office says that Greslamer intends to seek compensation for the painting.

"The return of this masterpiece to the French government reflects our commitment to ensure the return of stolen artwork and cultural patrimony," it said in a written statement.

The 6.25-inch-by-8.5-inch piece -- painted between 1870 and 1872 -- has an estimated value of $350,000 to $450,000, the statement said, quoting the company catalogue.

The painting reflects a break from the academic focus of Degas' early years when he dedicated himself to the "search for the essence of modern life," said Sotheby's spokeswoman Lauren Gioai.

"The 1870s gave rise to some of Degas most celebrated works," she said.

Response: 19th-century painting will be returned to France almost four decades after it was stolen. "Blanchisseuses souffrant des dent" was taken in 1973 from the Malraux Museum. The painting did not resurface until October when it surfaced on Sotheby's catalog.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- The Davis Cup is the just about the only major honor in tennis to elude Roger Federer and the Swiss maestro took another big step to righting that omission Sunday as he led his country into November's final against France.

Federer secured the winning point in his singles match against Fabio Fognini to give Switzerland an unbeatable 3-1 lead over Italy in Geneva.

The 17-time grand slam winner was never seriously troubled by Fognini, winning 6-2 6-3 7-6 in front of 18,000 fans in the Palexpo Arena.

A run of four straight games saw him take the opening set and a single break in the second was enough to forge further ahead.

Fognini had four break point chances in the third set but could not take advantage and Federer moved clear in the closing tiebreak.

The 33-year-old will be playing in his first Davis Cup final and paid tribute to the fervent supporters who willed him on to victory.

"Its nice sharing your emotions with your fans and team mates," he told the official Davis Cup website.

Swiss captain Severin Luthi also reflected on their triumph. "For the whole of Switzerland it's great we're in the finals now. We couldn't be happier," he said.

"Roger didn't have that much time to get used to the court and conditions and there is a lot of pressure involved. For me he played again fantastic tennis."

Federer and Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka won their opening singles rubbers Friday but the Italians hit back the following day as Fognini and Simone Bolleli took the doubles to give themselves a glimmer of hope heading into the reverse singles.

Switzerland will have to travel to France for the final on November 21-23, with the venue still to be announced.

France sealed its passage Saturday when the doubles team of Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Czechs Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek in four sets to go 3-0 ahead.

Sunday's reverse singles saw Jiri Vesely beat Julien Benneteau 6-4 6-3 to put the first point on the board for the Czechs before Gael Monfils beat Lukas Rosol 5-7 6-4 7-5 in the second of the "dead" rubbers.

France is seeking a first Davis Cup triumph since 2001. Switzerland has never won the trophy, losing the 1992 final to the United States.

Response: Switzerland to play France in Davis Cup final. Roger Federer wins decisive singles against Fabio Fognini. Gives Swiss an unbeatable 3-1 lead in tie against Italy. France completes 4-1 victory over holders Czech Republic.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The first stage of the NATO handover to Afghan security forces began Sunday, marked with a ceremony at a police station in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province -- a small relatively stable area situated in the country's mountainous central region.

Bamiyan -- where New Zealand troops are serving -- is the first of seven areas to transfer security responsibilities, said Seddiq Seddiqi, an Interior Ministry spokesman.

"There is no particular security problem here in Bamyan," said provincial spokesman Abdul Rahman Ahmadi. "The only challenge that we worry about will be the interferences of the insurgents from Bayman's surrounding provinces."

The other six provinces to be transferred include parts of Herat, Balkh, Panjshir, Kabul, Laghman and Helmand.

A handover in Lashkar Gah -- Helmand's provincial capital -- is set for Wednesday. Helmand province is home to the small farming community of Marjah, where thousands of NATO and Afghan troops launched a massive offensive that drove  Taliban forces from the area, despite fierce  resistance and heavy losses.

Sunday's ceremony in Bamiyan came a day after a series of Afghan-led raids targeting Taliban leaders in the country's southern and eastern regions.

The ensuing firefights left more than 10 insurgents dead in Nangarhar province, while government forces captured weapons and supplies in Khost and Logar provinces, NATO reported.

"Militants were hidden in a school" and opened fire on government forces, said Nangarhar provincial spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai.

The spokesman said Afghan forces returned fire on the empty school, as NATO airstrikes pummeled the building.

CNN can not independently verify Abdulzai's account.

Currently, there are 150,000 ISAF forces in Afghanistan, including nearly 100,000 from the United States -- the largest NATO presence in the region since the U.S.-led war began in 2001.

News of the transfers have raised questions about the country's future. While some welcome the transition, critics question whether the country's security forces can repel a resurgent militancy without the same levels of foreign intervention.

Last week, the first batch of U.S. soldiers left Afghanistan, beginning a drawdown of 10,000 American troops scheduled to leave by year's end.

The full NATO drawdown is expected to take place by the end of 2014.

Sunday's transfer ceremony came as Gen. David Petraeus -- the outgoing top commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan -- prepared to formally transfer authority on Monday to incoming commander Marine Lt. Gen. John Allen. Petraeus plans to retire from the military before taking over operations as the head of the CIA.

CNN's Reshad Fazel and Matiullah Mati contributed to this report

Response: Bamiyan province is the first province to transfer security responsibilities. There are some 150,000 coalition service members in Afghanistan. A full NATO drawdown is expected by the end of 2014.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Officials monitoring the River Tiber in Rome fear it could break its banks as early as Friday evening after a spate of bad weather in Italy -- but do not expect major flooding.

A rescue boat patrols the swollen River Tiber in central Rome early Friday.

Guido Bertolaso, the head of the Italian Civil Protection Department said that there is a 20 to 30 percent chance the river could break its banks and cause disruption in some neighborhoods in northern Rome, but not in the historic city center.

Two people have died in weather-related incidents elsewhere in Italy.

"We see that the flow is increasing, but it is not reaching a level that could be dangerous for the capital city of Italy," said Bertolaso about the Tiber, deeming the situation "crucial but not serious."

Bertolaso, calling the situation "quite extraordinary," labeled the flood threat and storms as the "fifth most serious situation of the past 100 years."

"But I think it is under control and the secret is to have the technology and the kind of organization to monitor the situation and to intervene if an emergency arises," he said. Bertolaso noted that authorities have been keeping a minute-by-minute watch because of heavy storms over the past few days.

He said the water level would probably increase for a few more hours and eventually peak between 8 p.m. and midnight local time Friday (between 1800 and 2200 GMT).

"If there will be no more rain, the situation is expected to stabilize," he said.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said he did not expect a major flood and noted that only a few dwellings have been evacuated -- primarily those inhabited by immigrants and Roma, who have set up makeshift camps on the banks of the Tiber.

"I just recommend people to stay at home and not to rush to the river banks to watch the river swelling," Alemanno said.

Hundreds of volunteers and civil protection officials have been deployed around Rome to monitor the situation, the Civil Protection Department said.

Sandbags have been lined up to contain any possible river overflow, and the fire brigade is ready with amphibious vehicles.

Police have blocked access to some pedestrian bridges and river banks, while residents are being urged to use their vehicles only if necessary.

Firefighters Thursday had to rescue dozens of motorists stranded in their cars. Because of the intense rain, the streets of some northern Rome neighborhoods were already flooded by water and covered in thick brown mud.

One woman died near Rome early Thursday when her car was submerged by a wave of water and mud in an underpass. The body of a second victim was found in the southern region of Calabria after a bridge collapsed.

Response: NEW: Official: 20 - 30 percent chance that the River Tiber could overflow its banks. Italy has been hit by a wave of bad weather that has claimed two lives. One woman died near Rome when her car was submerged by a wave of water. Body of a second victim was found in Calabria region after a bridge collapsed.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- It took a lot of effort for Leo Bonten to turn his amputated leg into a fully functional lamp. For starters, he had to break the damn thing in a freak kiddie pool accident.

As one does.

Seriously. That's how it all started, thus confirming what I've always said: "Kiddie pools are not toys, and should only be used as giant, outdoor toilets."

I chose that as my high school yearbook quote over "Carpe diem."

But it really happened. In July 2012, the unfortunate Dutchman suffered a terrible break while goofing off with his cousin in south Rotterdam. Over time, the leg became infected, ignored, and more infected to the point where, in July of this year, doctors had to remove it surgically.

So, Bonten, now 53, settled in to the fact that he would be losing his right leg -- a harsh reality for an otherwise healthy and active man. But it was damaged beyond repair, and there was nothing he could do. Except, you know, maybe ask to keep it.

"It's my leg," he told me over the phone. "It's my legal right."

Sort of. We'll get to that.

Either way, he asked for it, which I'm sure lead to a rather awkward, if not spirited, conversation with hospital administrators.

"Sir, we just can't give it to you."

"Right. Well, what if I bring in my own tin foil?"

Generally speaking, hospitals use very specific protocol with amputations. For safety and sanitation reasons, they're usually required to incinerate them.

Body parts can also be buried during some sort of official funeral (and, perhaps, exhumed) with proper legal oversight. But that was an expensive option, and not one Bonten was able to afford.

Though, probably worth it just to see the face of the grave digger.

"Don't go anywhere, Dave. And hold on to that shovel."

So, Bonten wouldn't be doing that. There would be no funeral. Still, he wanted his leg, for he had a crazy idea. He would turn it into a lamp.

Sort of like the one from Ralphie's house in "A Christmas Story."

But real. And significantly more severed.

Thus, Bonten and the hospital entered a complicated period of legal negotiations, where they finally came to a mutual agreement after a strange set of circumstances.

You see, leading up to his surgery at Erasmus Medical Center, a news reporter gave Bonten a book by Joris van Casteren about a mysterious leg found by a fisherman in the IJssel River. That book led Bonten to a pathologist named Frank van de Goot, who was more than happy to help with all this lamp nonsense.

You see, as per his profession, van de Goot was able to legally obtain Bonten's leg from the hospital after surgery.

Thus, the leg was then couriered to van de Goot as specified by the law. He would inspect it. He would study it. And, ultimately, he would preserve the leg with chemicals so it could remain ... a leg.

Problem solved. Almost.

Someone still had to make it into a lamp.

Eventually, as Bonten's story became an even bigger media sensation, a designer named William Schaper Kotter decided to reach out and offer his services to complete the vision.

This thing was actually going to happen.

And now it's done. They made a lamp out of his leg.

Today, the leg sits suspended in a glass cylinder filled with a solution. Surrounding that cylinder are metal bars, symbolizing two years of physical "imprisonment" suffered by Bonten while the leg deteriorated.

Above that is an empty space. This represents the rehab period. And on the top sits a large remote-controlled LED light, flanked by two metal wings, honoring Bonten's upcoming freedom from the help of a new limb.

Which is where the story takes another twist. The issue of the prosthetic.

Bonten explained to me that the one he's getting through his insurance is not top of the line. Quite simply, he wants something better. Something stronger. Something more agile.

Because, before all this, he played soccer. He ran. He boxed. It was one silly accident that changed everything.

But a high-tech prosthetic will cost him. So, he decided to sell his lamp on eBay for â‚¬100,000 -- an endeavor that lasted not even two days before the online bidding site rejected his listing.

You can't sell human parts on eBay.

On the plus side, you CAN sell used socks. Don't ask me why I was looking. Just know that you can.

So, until somebody comes to him with an offer, Bonten will just keep it at home, where he just returned after a lengthy stint in rehab. His lamp will arrive on Sunday, and he'll finally be re-united with his leg.

"My leg is amputated," he says, fully understanding the humor and absurdity in all this. "But it gives me a good feeling that I still have it."

And if he wants to cover the foot with a dirty, used sock ... sadly, I know just the place.

Follow @JarrettBellini on Twitter. And prepare to be underwhelmed.

See more content with questionable news value at CNN Comedy.

Response: Leo Bonten broke his leg in a backyard accident in Rotterdam. His leg eventually had to be amputated due to infection. Bonten tried selling his leg on eBay after turning it into a lamp.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:Three European nations were notified about concerns over horse meat as early as a year ago, the United Kingdom's food safety agency said Sunday.

The alerts -- sent last year on February 1, February 15 and March 7 -- identified Denmark, Hungary and Italy as countries that should investigate concerns about horse meat. There were posted by the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed portal.

The UK Food Standards Agency said through a spokeswoman the alerts were just a few of many and the meat never entered the UK.

"These were three of several thousand such alerts circulated across Europe each year. These were followed up by the countries identified in the alert," Amy Cope said in an e-mail.

She said the alerts involved horse meat substitution, but officials in one of the affected countries said at least one was for questions over one horse's "passport."

Danish authorities sent out one alert after there were "uncertainties" regarding a slaughtered horse's paperwork, an official for the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration told CNN.

The horse meat was sent from Denmark to Italy and officials sent out the alert to let Italian authorities know about their concerns about the paperwork, not the meat itself, Kim Sigsgaard said.

Danish officials had no information on what happened with the horse after the alert was sent.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK said the issues of possible falsified horse paperwork and the issue of horse meat substitution are unrelated.

February 2012 is six months before what had been thought to be the earliest possible time frame where horse meat had been discovered in products labeled as 100% beef.

Swedish frozen food giant Findus had said that one of its suppliers told it contamination may date back to August.

Consumers are concerned that as food producers try to keep costs low, the safety of what they eat could be compromised.

The managing director of Waitrose, a grocery story chain in the UK, said in an editorial published in The Telegraph that meat -- indeed, all food -- is no longer a cheap commodity.

"If something good comes of the current scandal, I hope it is the opening up of a debate around the true economics of food and a determination on the part of everybody in the food industry to apply renewed rigour to their processes and testing regimes to ensure that customers can relax and enjoy the food they buy," Mark Price wrote.

The scandal spread Friday, as UK authorities revealed the results of DNA testing on beef products and raided the premises of three more UK food firms.

Of 2,501 tests carried out on beef products across the industry by noon Friday, 2,472 found no horse meat content above 1%, the Food Standards Agency said.

The 29 positive tests involved seven products sold by five suppliers, according to the independent government agency.

Another 962 tests are still under way, the agency said at a news conference.

Fifteen of the positive tests were for the lasagna products sold by Findus that first triggered the current horse meat buzz in early February.

The others concerned beef products sold by supermarket chains Tesco, Aldi and The Co-operative, and burgers made by catering supplier Rangeland.

Tesco and Aldi issued statements saying they are boosting testing on meat products to protect customers, restore confidence and ensure product quality.

Jim Smith, group technical director for Tesco, said the company will "no longer work with the suppliers who fell below our very high standards."

The Food Standards Agency declined to give details of the names or location of the three food premises raided Friday.

Investigations are ongoing, but authorities cannot rule out the possibility of arrests, it said.

Authorities across Europe have been scrambling to get a grip on the crisis over rogue horse meat in beef products.

The European Union intends to begin testing meat across all 27 member states, it confirmed Friday.

It called for testing 10 to 150 samples per country and at least five tests per country for the presence of the drug phenylbutazone, also known as bute, which is approved for horses but is not allowed to enter the food chain because it can be harmful to humans.

Unauthorized horse meat has been discovered in a variety of products labeled as beef that were sold in supermarkets in countries including Britain, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland.

The meat industry was first thrust into the spotlight last month when Irish investigators found horse and pig DNA in hamburger products. The discovery of pig DNA in beef products is of particular concern to Jews and Muslims, whose dietary laws forbid the consumption of pork products. Jewish dietary laws also ban the eating of horse meat.

Response: Denmark, Hungary, Italy notified last year about possible issues. Danish officials said they were concerned about paper trail surrounding one horse. The discovery of horse meat in beef products has put Europe's meat industry in disarray. Irish investigators found horse and pig DNA in hamburger products in January.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- The man leading the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 says the search is the most difficult in human history, but modern technology greatly increases the chances of finding the missing plane.

The four underwater signals that search teams detected are still "the most promising lead" investigators have in the search for the Boeing 777, Angus Houston told CNN's Anna Coren on Monday.

But are they all pings from the plane's data recorders?

A Wall Street Journal report Monday said authorities increasingly believe only the first two signals detected are relevant to the search. And a U.S. Navy source told CNN that Navy officials assisting in the search are sharing the signal data with U.S. agencies and consultants for "re-analysis," adding that searchers have more confidence in the first two pings detected.

Houston told CNN it's still too soon to rule out any of the signals.

"Analysis on all four detections is continuing," he said. "At this point in time, it is too early to discount any of the acoustic detections."

The pings have played a key role in shaping the search for the plane, which went missing March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people onboard.

Houston told CNN the hunt for the plane is even more difficult than that for Air France Flight 447, which disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009.

"The big difference between Air France 447 and MH370 is that the last known position, in terms of MH370, is at the top of the Malacca Straits, and then the aircraft continued to fly for an extended period after that," Houston told CNN's Anna Coren on Monday.

"Whereas Air France, they had a very good last known position, which then turned out to be very close to where the aircraft was eventually found."

But he said searchers are performing "groundbreaking work" with satellite analysis, which has helped isolate the search area in the Indian Ocean.

"Without that, we would be essentially searching the whole of the Indian Ocean, and I think the chances of finding the aircraft in those circumstances would have been slim," Houston said. "I think by having this defined search area ... I think eventually we will find the aircraft."

Houston is the chief search coordinator for the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, based in Australia. He said his greatest concern throughout the two-month search has been the families of those on board.

"To have a set of circumstances where you don't know what's happened to your loved ones in circumstances such as this, it's just a terrible, terrible emotional trauma of all of those involved," he said.

"And beyond that, the wider public has a great interest in what happened here because we all fly in airplanes, and we all fly long distances over water, and a lot of people want to know what happened and why it happened."

Hunt for MH370 gets deeper, broader, pricier

About criticism of Malaysia

Since the plane disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board, the Malaysian government has been criticized for its response and accusations that it has not been transparent.

Houston said he believes Malaysia has been forthcoming.

"I think some of the commentary about what the Malaysians have done, I don't think is as fair and objective as it might have been," Houston said. "People are looking for answers, and there are no answers at the moment. That's the difficulty."

'It just disappeared'

Houston said he understands why many families are frustrated by the lack of information.

"Initially, the aircraft -- well, simply put, it just disappeared. And I guess in this day and age, that surprised a lot of people," he said.

But such a disappearance is quite possible if the transponder or anything on the aircraft that transmits signals is turned off.

"I think that's something that we, as a world community, have to correct as soon as possible," Houston said. "We need to have jetliners that are equipped with some sort of tracking device that can't be turned off, that can be tracked all of the time. And with satellite technology available, I think that can be done in the near future."

On the same day that Houston spoke, a satellite communications company said it would begin providing a free global airline tracking service.

Inmarsat, the company whose satellite had the last known contact with Flight 370, said it proposed the service to the International Civil Aviation Organization ahead of the ICAO's conference on aircraft tracking this week.

"This service is being offered to all 11,000 commercial passenger aircraft, which are already equipped with an Inmarsat satellite connection," the company said in a statement.

It said the tracking would cover "virtually 100% of the world's long haul commercial fleet."

CNN's Rene Marsh and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

Response: NEW: Angus Houston says underwater signals remain "the most promising lead". "Groundbreaking work" with satellite analysis will help find the plane, he says. Houston defends Malaysia's response to the missing plane. Inmarsat offers free global airline tracking to all 11,000 commercial passenger planes.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:After years of speculation and rare case reports, a study suggests that stimulant medication -- mostly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- may have played a role in a handful of cases of sudden, unexplained death in children and adolescents.

Untreated ADHD can lead to  poor school  performance and increase adolescents' risk for harmful behavior.

The study authors stress, however, that parents and doctors should not refrain from treating children with ADHD just because of these results.

"The association is significant in that it's real, but that doesn't mean it's not a very low risk," says lead author Madelyn S. Gould, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and public health at Columbia University, in New York. "There probably does need to be more careful monitoring, but the bottom line is that parents should not take their children off stimulant medication they're currently on and should not be scared to have their child go on a stimulant if that's what they and their doctors decide is the best thing for their child."

The study, published this week in the American Journal of Psychiatry, is the first to suggest that the stimulants may pose a risk -- albeit remote -- in children without underlying heart problems. About 2.5 million children in the United States take such medications.

Stimulants linked to 1.8 percent of unexplained deaths

Gould and her colleagues compared medical records and parent interviews of children and adolescents who had died between the years of 1985 and 1996, including 564 who had died from an unexplained heart-rate abnormality or other causes, and 564 who died as passengers in motor vehicle accidents. They excluded cases with other known possible causes of death, such as asthma or congenital heart diseases.

Of all the unexplained cases, the researchers found that 10 children, or 1.8 percent of the group, had had stimulant medication prescribed. This compared with only two cases of stimulant use, or 0.4 percent, among healthy children who had died in motor vehicle accidents -- a group used to represent a general population of healthy children and adolescents. Health.com: Treatment options for ADHD at any age

In all 10 cases, the children were taking methylphenidate, the active ingredient in Ritalin and Concerta. A similar drug, Adderall, is composed of mixed amphetamine salts and was not included in the study results because it was first approved in 1996.

However, the Food and Drug Administration in 2006 asked the manufacturers of stimulants, including Adderall, to add a warning to their label saying the medications should not be used in children with structural heart abnormalities or other heart problems. At the time, the FDA advisory panel rejected a more stringent black-box warning about the possible risk of sudden unexplained death.

Strattera, another medication approved for ADHD in children, is not a stimulant medication.

A spokesperson for McNeil Pediatrics, which distributes and markets Concerta, says the company welcomes any data that add to the body of knowledge in this therapeutic area, but did not make a specific comment on the new study.

Michael Billings, a spokesperson for Novartis, the manufacturer of Ritalin, notes that the drug has been used for more than 50 years and is the most studied ADHD medication. Health.com: Secrets to a stress-free home

"For all of its products, Novartis reviews its global safety and efficacy through post-marketing surveillance and consistently reports new information to health authorities on an ongoing basis," says Billings. "Review of Novartis safety data has failed to detect an increased risk in sudden cardiac death associated with methylphenidate use."

Not a watershed moment, researchers say

Gould says it's important to report this association, but she is also concerned about the results being misinterpreted. "We're very sensitive to not wanting this to be some watershed moment where stimulant medications start to get used less and get used inappropriately," she explains.

In an editorial accompanying the article, Benedetto Vitiello, M.D., and Kenneth Towbin, M.D., of the National Institute of Mental Health, agree with Gould's concerns. Health.com: The Top 5 cholesterol myths

They write that the study findings "should underscore that stimulant medications are not innocuous and that their therapeutic use requires careful diagnostic assessment, diligent safety screening, and ongoing monitoring.

"However, it is equally clear that sudden, unexplained death is a rare event, this is only the first such study, it relies on small numbers, and it is not possible to quantify the risk beyond estimating that it is very small."

Indeed, since a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial isn't ethically possible in this situation, it is hard to conduct a study that's not without flaws.

Although the researchers are confident that the results are not due to any underlying factors -- children with ADHD often have asthma and heart conditions also linked with sudden death, and so these cases were eliminated from the analysis --"one can never be 100 percent sure that there aren't other unknown or undiagnosed issues," says Gould. Health.com: Slideshow: Celebrities with ADHD

James Perrin, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, says the study isn't surprising "nor particularly convincing." He says the research is flawed because, among other problems, it may have underestimated the number of children who were taking stimulants. The rate of stimulant use, particularly in the accident-related deaths, was lower than expected, he says.

"The study adds very little to what we already know, i.e., that some children who receive stimulants experience sudden unexpected death," says Dr. Perrin, who was not involved in the study. "The current study should not change the use of any medications or treatments."

More research, careful monitoring is needed

Stimulant medications currently contain a warning targeted to specific high-risk children, including those with structural heart defects, cardiomyopathy, or heart-rhythm disturbances. The medication labels also warn that stimulants may raise blood pressure and heart rate, and have been linked with stroke and heart attack in adults.

When deciding whether to put a child on stimulant medications, both clinicians and parents should weigh the seriousness of the situation, says Gould. The benefits may not outweigh the risk in cases in which attention problems may be keeping a B-student from becoming an A-student, she explains. Health.com: Yoga moves to beat ease stress, insomnia, and pain

But with more serious cases, the choice should be clearer. Untreated ADHD can be harmful in itself, leading to poor performance in school and increasing adolescents' risk for harmful behavior such as reckless driving, unsafe sexual practices, and substance abuse.

"I have two boys, now grown, so I can certainly relate to parents facing these decisions," Gould says. "If my child was having problems to the extent that a neurologist or psychiatrist was recommending medication, I would want the medication -- although, even though we didn't discuss this specifically in the study, I would want my child to have an EKG."

In 2008, the American Heart Association recommended that doctors consider routine electrocardiograms before starting children with ADHD on stimulants or other psychotropic medications, but underscored the need for future research. An EKG may help to detect cardiac abnormalities that would increase a child's vulnerability to sudden heart problems.

Parents considering stimulant medication for their children should also provide their doctor with a detailed family history, including any heart problems or sudden deaths of close family members.

Future research should focus on new ways to detect which children are most at risk for sudden death when taking stimulants, says Gould, since not all cases seem to be detectable with routine screenings. Until then, a thorough examination and careful monitoring is the best way to reduce a child's danger.

The study was funded by a grant from the NIMH and a contract with the FDA.

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Copyright Health Magazine 2009

Response: Study: Stimulant meds, often used in ADHD, may have role in kids' deaths. Authors warn parents not to stop treating kids with ADHD; risk is low. Stimulant meds currently contain a warning targeted to specific high-risk children. About 2.5 million U.S. children take such medications.


Prompt:
Explain the text in one sentence.
 Text:(CNN) -- Since March 11, the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been in various states of disrepair after being battered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

Here is the latest on the status of each reactor and what was being done to prevent further emissions of radioactive material.

Reactor No. 1

Pressure and temperature levels at the No. 1 reactor continue to fluctuate, though Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency told reporters Friday that the situation then appeared "rather stable."

While conceding that "controlling the temperature and pressure has been difficult," Nishiyama said there were indications that the pressure and temperature were both decreasing.

Authorities hope to begin injecting fresh water, rather than seawater as has been done, into the reactor's spent nuclear fuel pool.

According to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, a nuclear industry group basing its data on official government and utility information, the No. 1 unit's reactor core has been damaged, but its containment vessel was not. As of Friday, the reactor's cooling systems were still not operational.

Still, the building was "severely damaged" by an earlier hydrogen explosion.

While electricity issues remain, lighting has been restored for this and the No. 2 reactors.

Reactor No. 2

Like with No. 1, there has been evidence of high radiation levels in spots in and around the No. 2 reactor -- though not as high as that of the No. 3 unit.

Nishiyama said Friday that authorities hope to start injecting fresh water (rather than the current seawater) into the reactor's core and spent nuclear fuel pool. The water is being pumped in to help cool down nuclear fuel rods and prevent the further emission of radioactive material.

Damage is "suspected" in this unit's containment vessel -- the only such vessel so compromised, according to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum. The reactor's core is also thought to be damaged. But the building itself has only been "slightly damaged," the same group reports.

That said, the containment vessel pressure is considered "stable," the nuclear industry trade group reports.

Reactor No. 3

The water that three men stepped in while laying cable in the basement of the No. 3 unit's turbine building had 10,000 times the amount of radiation typical for that locale, Nishiyama said. The workers -- each of whom tested 170 or more millisieverts of radiation, including two with direct exposure on the skin -- were admitted Friday for four days of observation at Japan's National Institute for Radiological Sciences, a research hospital in Chiba.

He noted that the contamination likely came from the reactor's core, adding there's a possibility of "some sort of leakage." That potentially could come from a crack in the reactor core, though Nishiyama cautioned that there is no definitive answer yet on how the radioactivity got into the basement.

Despite the suspected damage to the reactor core -- something that isn't presumed at any of the other five reactors -- the nuclear safety official said there is evidence that pressure is somehow being maintained in the vessel, making it less likely there is a big gash.

"Radiation levels are high" in some locations in and around the reactor, Nishiyama said.

These issues, including the radiation in the water, are prompting authorities to consider "other routes" to address issues at the reactor without exposing workers to excess radiation. Nishiyama said that, as of Friday afternoon, there was no firm plan on workarounds.

Firefighters from Kawasaki, with assistance from the Tokyo fire department, sprayed water Friday on the No. 3 reactor and its spent nuclear fuel pool.

The building of the No. 3 reactor was "severely damaged" after an explosion caused by the buildup of hydrogen gas, reports the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum. Its core reactor is also damaged, its fuel rods are either partly or fully exposed. As to its nuclear spent fuel pool, reports are that the pool was "possibly damaged" and the water level has been low -- a reason for the repeated spraying.

Reactor No. 4

A concrete pump truck was used once again Friday to inject seawater into the unit's fuel pool.

Along with the Nos. 5 and 6 units, the No. 4 was offline on a scheduled outage when the earthquake hit, and as a result the reactor's water level and pressure are continued safe.

But its nuclear spent fuel pool was "possibly damaged," which is why authorities have said its water levels are low and why they've made repeated efforts to fill it up with seawater.

Reactor No. 5

The No. 5 unit appears safe, for now, Nishiyama said. Its capability to cool the fuel rods in the spent fuel pool is working again, according to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum.

As with units Nos. 4 and 6, this reactor was off on a scheduled outage when the quake hit and there are no major issues with the reactor and core itself. The nuclear spent fuel pool is thought to be functioning, aside from continued concerns about powering its cooling system to ensure that the fuel rods contained within remain cool.

As with unit No. 6, three holes were punched in the building earlier in order to relieve pressure and prevent a hydrogen explosion.

Reactor No. 6

The No. 6 unit appears safe, for now, Nishiyama said. Its capability to cool the fuel rods in the spent fuel pool is working again, according to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum.

The No. 6 reactor was offline when the tsunami struck, and there are no major concerns about the structure or safety of its core or containment vessel. The nuclear spent fuel pool is thought to be functioning, aside from continued concerns about powering its cooling system to ensure that the fuel rods contained within remain cool.

As with unit No. 5, three holes were punched in the building earlier in order to relieve pressure and prevent a hydrogen explosion.

Response: The Nos. 1 and 3 reactors are prime concerns at the northeastern Japan plant. Authorities are trying to determine the source of an apparent leak in reactor No. 3. An official says No. 1 seems "rather stable" after challenges with heat and pressure.