Colin Kroll, HQ Trivia CEO Found Dead; in Japan, At Least 42 People Hurt After an Explosion; China is Carrying Out a Religious Lockdown
MARQUARDT: The co-founder of one of the world's most popular trivia games has died. An official tells CNN that HQ Trivia CEO, Colin Kroll, was found dead this morning in New York. Police say was found unconscious and unresponsive in his bedroom. The police were called to Kroll's home by his girlfriend after she requested that someone check on him. At least 42 people are hurt following an explosion near a pub in Japan. The fire after the blast caused a building to collapse. Officials the cause is still under investigation. According to local media, people nearby reported smelling gas after the explosion, and authorities have warned residents about the possibility of another blast in the area. Now, staying overseas, there are growing concerns that China is carrying out a religious crack down on a large scale. Last week, 100 Christians were detained on allegations of quote, inciting subversion of state power. Among them was prominent Pastor Wang Yi. Now, civil rights advocates around the world are condemning what is widely believed to be a government agenda to limit independent religious practices in China. Here is CNN International Correspondent, Will Ripley.</s>WILL RIPLEY, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Alex, due to the secrecy of the Chinese legal system and the lack of transparency, it has taken us days to confirm this information. But here is what we know. Wang Yi, a high-profile pastor and former legal scholar in China, along with his wife, Jiang Rong, and 100 Christians were detained early last week in the Chinese city of Chengdu. Now, Wang leads the Early Rain Covenant Church. This is an unregistered church in China, which is against the law there, because churches are supposed to register with the National Religion Bureau. And the purpose of that bureau is to essentially monitor what is being said in the church to make sure that it is in line with Communist Party rules. And so when Pastor Wang does something like this, I want to show this picture. He's holding up a sign in Chinese. It says pray for the nation on June 4th, referring to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. That is a red line for the Chinese government, because Tiananmen Square is something that people in China are never supposed to talk about. The Chinese government doesn't even acknowledge it happened. It is as if they erased it from history. And yet, here you have this pastor at an essentially underground church talking about these kinds of taboo subjects. And the concern amongst the Chinese Communist Party leadership is that churches like this could encourage people to go against the government. And any sort of political decent is quickly and swiftly stomped out when it comes to China. So while the police might say that Early Rain is violating a charge of operating without registering, really their crime is that they are not supporting the Communist Party ideal logy. And there is concern, growing concern that this crack down, a growing crack down on independent religious practice in China. And just Christians by the way, we're talking about allegations of systematic human rights abuse of hundreds of thousands of Muslim leaders. China says they are fighting violent extremism. Critics say that they've created essentially an Orwellian surveillance state. Think about the Tibetan Buddhists as well and all the restrictions that they have to live under. The U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom has actually classified China as one of 10 countries of concern. Because they feel that people there simply don't have the right to worship freely, even though under Chinese law, it is an atheist state, but people are supposed to have freedom of religion. However, in practice, many people say that's simply not the case. Alex.</s>MARQUARDT: All right, our thanks to Will Ripley there in Hong Kong. Coming up next, a little girl who lost out as class president is getting some encouraging words from former Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. We'll be speaking with eight-year-old Martha Kennedy Morales.