CNN 2012-05-27

 From Ms. Macarthur`s class in Illinois to the CNN Newsroom here in Atlanta, welcome to all of our viewers from around the world to CNN Student News.

 
First up, we`re looking at a historic election for one of the world`s oldest civilizations. In Egypt, voters began casting their ballots 2 for president yesterday, and for the first time, no one knew ahead of time what the results would be.
You might remember that former leader Hosni Mubarak, who ruled the country for 30 years, was forced out of power during a political revolution last year.
 
Now Egyptians are voting for a new president, some of them waited in line for hours yesterday to do that, around a dozen candidates are on the ballot 1. There are some concerns about what might happen when a new president is named.
Some Egyptians have questioned whether the military, which has run Egypt since Mubarak resigned, will hand over power. Military leaders insist they will. Also, Egypt doesn`t have a new constitution yet. So the powers of the president and parliament haven`t been clearly defined.
 
Still, some observers say the election is an achievement and one expert said that since Egypt is kind of a trendsetter in the Arab world, what happens in that country could influence other nations as well.
 
The U.S. presidential election is less than six months away. According to several new polls, the race is just about even. We know the Democratic nominee 3 is President Obama.
The presumptive Republican nominee is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt 4 Romney. He got closer to being the official nominee when he won this week`s primary elections in Kentucky and Arkansas.
CNN took the averages from three polls that asked registered voters which candidate they support right now. Forty-seven percent backed President Obama, 45 percent support Governor Romney.
 
 
 
Is this legit? Someone who owns stock in a company is called a shareholder 5.
This is true. That`s because ownership is based on holding shares of stock.
 
Some shareholders 6 are suing Facebook and the banks involved in its initial stock offering. They claim that important financial information wasn`t made public.
Last Friday Facebook started selling stock in the company. When that happens, you expect the stock price to go up. But by the end of the day on Friday, it was back around its initial price and this week it dropped below that. That means some investors 7 have lost money on Facebook.
Some private investors were given the chance to order shares through banks before the public was able to buy any shares. Now this is where we get to that lawsuit 8. The people suing say the banks knew that Facebook`s financial outlook was worse than expected. The lawsuit alleges 9 that the banks shared that information with some clients but that they didn`t make that public.
 
 
Now it`s not clear if that happened, and if it did happen, it`s not clear whether that`s illegal. Facebook says the lawsuit has no merit, and one of the banks said it followed the same procedures that it does for any initial stock offering.
 
Our next report today is about a different kind of lawsuit that could set a legal standard. It has to do with a car accident and texting while driving. But one of the people who`s involved in this wasn`t on the road when the crash happened. Deb Feyerick explains the situation.
 
 
The accident happened in New Jersey 10 along this winding 11 country road. Motorcycle buffs David and Linda Kubert were out for a Sunday drive.
 
Went around a curve and I saw a pickup 12 truck coming right for us with -- I saw the young man with his elbows steering 13, his head down and he was texting. Next thing I know, he hit us.
 
 
Both David and his wife lost a leg in the head-on collision. Cell phone records show the driver, 19-year-old Kyle Best , was texting a girlfriend, Shannon Colonna virtually at the moment of impact. In a potentially precedent-setting case, the Kuberts are suing them both, saying the girl knew her friend was likely driving home, especially since the two texted each other almost every day.
 
 
If Shannon Colonna knew that Kyle Best was leaving work -- and I believe she did -- and she was texting him, then I believe she`s just as responsible.
 
Although not physically 14 in the car, the Kuberts` lawyer argues Colonna`s texting put her in the car electronically, saying she helped trigger the disastrous 15 crash.
 
It is as if you are putting your hands over the eyes of the driver, preventing that driver from seeing ahead of him.
 
Kyle Best pleaded guilty to careless driving, failure to stay in the lane and improper 16 use of a cell phone. The couple is suing for an unspecified amount in damages.
During a deposition 17, Colonna testified, in her words, she may have known her friend was driving, but her lawyer argues the suit should be dismissed, because, quote, a `message sender` has no way to control when, where or how a `message receiver` acts after the message is transmitted.
David Kubert lost not only his leg, but his job and insurance after the crash.
 
It could have been prevented. It was not an accident.
 
A judge is set to rule Friday whether the Kuberts can move forward and sue both texters -- Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.