Problem: The Independent is a British online newspaper. Established in 1986 as an independent national morning newspaper published in London, it was controlled by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media from 1997 until it was sold to Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev in 2010. The last printed edition of "The Independent" was published Saturday 20 March 2016, leaving only its digital editions. 

Nicknamed the "Indy", it began as a broadsheet, but changed to tabloid (compact) format in 2003. Until September 2011, the paper described itself on the banner at the top of every newspaper as "free from party political bias, free from proprietorial influence". It tends to take a pro-market stance on economic issues. 

The daily edition was named "National Newspaper of the Year" at the 2004 British Press Awards. 

In June 2015, it had an average daily circulation of just below 58,000, 85 per cent down from its 1990 peak, while the Sunday edition had a circulation of just over 97,000. 

Launched in 1986, the first issue of "The Independent" was published on 7 October in broadsheet format. It was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds. All three partners were former journalists at "The Daily Telegraph" who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwell's ownership. Marcus Sieff was the first chairman of Newspaper Publishing, and Whittam Smith took control of the paper.
1. What publication is this about?
2. What type of publication is it?
3. Where was it started?
4. When?
5. Was it always online?
6. What company ran it starting in 1997?
7. What's its nickname?
8. In 2015 which had higher circulation, daily or Sunday?
9. How much lower was daily circulation down from 1990?
10. How much was circulation down since 1990?
11. What award did it get in 2004?
12. Who gave that award?
13. What year?
14. How many people founded it?
15. Where did they work before?
16. Why did they leave there?
17. Who bought it in 2010?
18. Where is he from?
19. Is there still a print edition?
20. How does it describe itself?
Answer: 1. The Independent
2. online newspaper
3. London
4. 1986
5. no
6. Independent News & Media
7. the "Indy"
8. Sunday
9. 85 per cent
10. 85 per cent
11. "National Newspaper of the Year"
12. British Press Awards
13. 2004
14. Three
15. "The Daily Telegraph"
16. unknown
17. Alexander Lebedev
18. Russia
19. no
20. "free from party political bias, free from proprietorial influence"

Problem: (CNN) -- The stench of the burnt bodies was so potent, Abu Jafar said, he could smell it from 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away. 

"It smells awful because the regime appears to have burnt so many bodies recently," the opposition activist said Sunday from the beleaguered city of Homs. 

"Some cars arrived this morning and carried away dead bodies. We are not sure where." 

Read more: Deadly day in Syria as diplomats talk 

Jafar's account comes a day after what may be the deadliest day yet in Syria's 21-month civil war, according to opposition figures. 

Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, gave a dire warning Sunday on the rapidly deteriorating situation in Syria. 

"If nearly 50,000 people have been killed in about two years, do not expect just 25,000 people to die next year -- maybe 100,000 will die," he told reporters in Cairo. 

"The pace is increasing," he said. 

"A solution is still possible, but it is only getting more complicated every day," Brahimi added. "Had we dealt more carefully with this conflict in 2011, it would have been much easier to resolve it. There is no question that it is much harder today." 

Read more: 'Til death do us part: Marriage destroyed by war 

Brahimi met Sunday with Nabil Elaraby, secretary-general of the Arab League. 

On Saturday, Brahimi met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russia and China have used their veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block some of the toughest resolutions proposed against the Syrian regime. 
1. how far away could it be smelled?
2. what could be smelled?
3. who was saying this?
4. what city is he from?
5. what arrived in the morning?
6. what did they do?
7. do they know to where?
8. how many people have been killed in two years?
9. who was speaking to reporters?
10. did he have a guess on how many more might die?
11. is this an increasing or decreasing amount?
12. who is Brahimi?
13. when did he give his warning?
14. about what country?
15. does he think there is a solution to this?
16. is it easy?
17. when would it have been simpler to fix?
18. with whom did he meet on Saturday?
19. what is his title?
20. what organization is he part of?
Answer: 1. 2 kilometers
2. burnt bodies
3. Abu Jafar
4. Homs
5. Some cars
6. carried away dead bodies
7. No
8. 50,000 people
9. Lakhdar Brahimi
10. maybe 100,000 will die
11. increasing
12. joint U.N.-Arab League envoy
13. Sunday
14. Syria
15. A solution is still possible
16. No
17. 2011
18. Sergey Lavrov
19. Russian Foreign Minister
20. U.N. Security Council

Problem: (CNN) -- If Barack Obama could make three wishes, he would probably ask for the crisis in Syria to go away. That would help him receive another wish: Getting reelected as president of the United States. 

Unfortunately for Obama, and tragically for the people in Syria, history has brought the American presidential campaign and the Syrian revolution to the same pages of the calendar. That means Obama will do whatever he can, for as long as he can, to keep the carnage in Syria from interfering with his reelection plan. 

That means the killings in Syria could go on longer than if the uprising had erupted during a nonelection year. 

Anyone who doubts that electoral considerations have become a major factor in U.S. foreign policy should look to Obama's own words from a few months ago. Obama did not realize his microphone was on during a meeting in Seoul with then-Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, so he leaned in close and whispered, "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility." In this instance, Obama was referring to the contentious issue of missile defense. 

It's not uncommon for presidents to worry about reelection while charting foreign policy. In Robert Caro's new biography of President Lyndon B. Johnson, "The Passage of Power," he describes how Johnson made decisions about Vietnam with an eye towards the elections. Caro concluded that "the steps he took had, as their unifying principle, an objective dictated largely by domestic â€” indeed, personal â€” political concerns." 
1. What would Obama's first wish be?
2. And the second?
3. Who did Obama meet with?
4. What was his job?
5. Does he still have it?
6. Where did they meet?
7. How many more elections did Obama have?
8. What was he referring to?
9. Was that debatable?
10. Who wrote a biography?
11. About whom?
12. Titled what?
13. What did Johnson decide about?
14. Was he concerned about voting?
15. Is there a war in Syria?
16. When were Obama's comments?
17. Did he know his mike was hot?
Answer:
1. the crisis in Syria to go away
2. Getting reelected as president of the United States
3. Dimitry Medvedev,
4. Russian President
5. no
6. Seoul
7. one
8. missile defense
9. Yes
10. Robert Caro
11. Lyndon B. Johnson
12. The Passage of Power
13. Vietnam
14. yes
15. Yes
16. a few months ago
17. no