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What caused a passenger jet to disappear in Asia? There are a lot of theories, but so far few answers.
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That mystery leads of today`s edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS.
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Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 took off early Saturday morning from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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It was carrying 239 people to Beijing, China, but had vanished from radar and tracking records at around 35,000 feet.
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There was no distress signal, the weather was clear.
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With nothing found as of last night, rescuers expanded their search area.
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They are looking for clues in the Gulf of Thailand, between Malaysia and Vietnam.
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As they are searching from air and sea, Interpol is investigating on the ground.
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This is an international organization with ties to police from more than 180 countries.
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And it`s investigating whether people on the flight with stolen passports might have had anything to do with its disappearance.
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It`s one of the biggest mysteries in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
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How in a post 911 world did two passengers board an international flight with stolen passports?
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Even more surprising, they were in plain sight, among the names listed in Interpol`s lost and stolen travel documents database.
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One, since last year, the other, since 2012. Both stolen in Thailand.
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And it appears the two passengers who used the passports of an Italian and an Austrian citizen, bought their tickets together.
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When you book your ticket, the airlines isn`t able to actually make an inquiry with Interpol or even the local police about whether you`re wanted or whether the passport has been reported stolen.
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The country - the government does.
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And according to Interpol last year alone, passengers were able to board planes without having their passport screened against Interpol`s databases more than one billion times.
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The database and Interpol headquarters in France contains an astounding 40 million records of stolen travel documents.
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You know, the member countries, the 190 members that belong to Interpol are not charged a fee for accessing any of those databases.
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o, if the country has sufficient resources and technical capability to wire into - to Interpol`s virtual private network that`s running 24 hours a day.
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And, you know, they certainly would be able to access that database and check it - it`s just up to the wheel of the country to set it up and do it.
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Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said, now we have a real case where the world is speculating whether the stolen passport holders were terrorists,
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while Interpol is asking why only a handful of countries worldwide are taking care to make sure that persons possessing stolen passports are not boarding international flights.
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Edward Snowden says he has no regrets about leaking classified government information to the public.
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Yesterday, he asked people at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, to help fix U.S. government surveillance.
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Snowden is a controversial man. He`s a former worker for the National Security Agency, the NSA.
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He`s now living in exile in Russia because the U.S. government wants him to face felony charges back home.
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It says Snowden broke the law when he leaked secret information about the NSA.
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Specifically, that the spy agency collects American citizens phone and Internet information.
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The U.S. government says its programs help protect Americans by preventing terrorist attacks.
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Snowden supporters see him as a whistleblower who`s protecting Americans rights to privacy.
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His teleconference yesterday was the first time he`s directly addressed the American public since he fled the country.
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He asked developers at South by Southwest to make secure networks for users,
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so that no one including the government can easily access Americans information.
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I`m one of the Great Lakes of North America.
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In fact, I`m the only one located completely within the U.S. I`m connected to Lake Huron by the Straits of Mackinac.
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I`m Lake Michigan, and I border that state as well as Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.
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And almost anywhere you look at Lake Michigan, you`re going to see ice, more than 93 percent of the lake is covered.
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That`s the most ice Lake Michigan has seen since 1979.
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All the Great Lakes have had a winner like this, and the snow and cold have helped their water levels, which have been below normal in recent years.
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But one downside - how do you get boats through this? Lake Michigan is important for shipping, everything from grain to coal to iron ore.
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We are onboard the Mobile Bay, which is a Coast Guard cutter and an icebreaker and check out this ice.
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It is absolutely incredible.
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They are trying to open up the shipping lanes for the Great Lakes shipping season,
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which is just getting under way this week, and you could see the chunks of ice. They are just incredible.
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And this is an area actually - that you`re looking at right now that they`ve gone through already and broken up.
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It refreezes. They break it. They refreeze it.
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Commander John Stone is with us.
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And Commander, you`re saying in some areas you`re looking at four feet, which is just an incredible amount of ice.
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Even this thing is having the tough time getting through.
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That`s correct. So, on the Great Lakes, we are seeing over 90 percent coverage through all the lakes this year, and in some places, upwards of over five feet fitting this.
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We are out today the way they do it when they get into the really thick areas as to stop, go backwards, stop go backwards - like when you get your car that stuck, it`s just rolling back and forth.
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That`s correct. The ship can break about 2.5 feet of ice continues, but once it gets over that, we are (INAUDIBLE) through the ice.
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You didn`t need to see all that to know about the impact this winter has had - the snow, the cold, the ice.
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It hasn`t hit everywhere.
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California still baking under drought conditions, and the weather hasn`t helped much with that.
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California still baking under drought conditions, and the weather hasn`t helped much with that.
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But it has helped in the eastern part of the country where some farmers are hoping the precipitation will keep falling as temperatures rise.
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Through all the bitter cold and blowing snow, through the misery and madness,
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the long running winter has brought long-awaited water.
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And the head of the Maryland Farm Bureau, Chuck Fry says after some dry years that`s a big relief.
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Whether it`s a dairy farm on the East Coast or whether you live in D.C. or whether you live your food comes from the farm, and it`s all hedged upon that water.
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And winter water counts . Absolutely counts.
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As a rule, every 20 inches of snow will melt into just one inch of water and that may not seem like much,
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but a year ago well over half the country was in drought conditions.
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Now, the dry spots are down to around 35 percent, and that`s mainly in the west, places like California.
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They are not going to even get to normal by the time the wet season ends later this spring.
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In simple terms, it comes down to this: with enough snow and enough rain,
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a farm like this can more than double its output of corn and soybeans and so much else.
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So, as John Sewell prepares for planting .
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I hope it does this in the summer time. Not snow, but precipitation.
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If this keeps up. Yes. If this keeps up that`d be fantastic. That`s what we all hope for.
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I hope amid the high waters that winter is leaving behind.
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Tom Foreman, CNN, Tuscarora, Maryland.
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When you`re traveling through the Wild West, you`ve got to be on the look out for Bandits like the ones at Clear Creek middle school.
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That`s where the Bandits are online in Buffalo, Wyoming.
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Right next door, in the bee-hive state of Utah, the buzz is all about the Warriors, happen to be party a day at Weber High School in Pleasant View.
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And over onto East Coast, beware of the Buccaneers - Allatoona High School in Akward (ph) Georgia, you guys are piratical.
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Here are some seriously old news: scientists say it`s a 150 million years old.
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This could have been the largest predator ever to roam Europe.
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It was discovered in recent years in Portugal, but just identified as a new species.
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It was named Torvasaurus Gurneyi.
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It is thought to have been 33 feet long,
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about four or five tons and it had a set of at least 11 teeth that could have chewed through just about anything smaller.
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It`s believed to be a little older than the well-known Tyrannosaurs Rex, not quite as big.
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And if you`re wondering how it wandered over to Portugal - many scientists believe all land was once connected on a supercontinent named Pangea.
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In theory, dinosaurs might have been able to just roam wherever.
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OK. This probably won`t revolutionize the way you order pizza.
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But it looks kind of fun in this YouTube video.
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Pizza Hut and a design agency baked up this idea.
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It`s a concept meaning it`s not in full production yet.
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It`s basically a touch screen table. You sit down, play around with everything from sized to crusts to toppings, place your order and maybe play games while you wait.
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It`s still a table, so it might be tough to keep it working and to keep it clean.
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Some might think the idea is cheesy, others might call it weak sauce, or maybe half-baked.
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The idea maybe a pie in the sky, but it`s kind of fun to see the process Pizza by Piece.
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We`ve been on the cross of this technology for a while.
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You know what - for something your order and as far as Pizza Parlor innovation goes - it`s topping (INAUDIBLE).
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I`m Carl Azuz. I`m going to lunch. We`ll see you tomorrow.