Brazil Nightclub Fire: 232 Dead, Hundreds Injured

Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.

Witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members started the blaze in Santa Maria, a university city of about 225,000 people, though officials said the cause was still under investigation.

Television images showed smoke pouring out of the Kiss nightclub as shirtless young men who had attended a university party joined firefighters using axes and sledgehammers to pound at windows and walls to free those trapped inside.

Guido Pedroso Melo, commander of the city's fire department, told the O Globo newspaper that firefighters had a hard time getting inside the club because "there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance."

Teenagers sprinted from the scene desperately seeking help. Others carried injured and burned friends away in their arms.

"There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic, and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead," survivor Luana Santos Silva told the Globo TV network.

The fire spread so fast inside the packed club that firefighters and ambulances could do little to stop it, Silva said.

Germano Roratto/AFP/Getty Images

Another survivor, Michele Pereira, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage when members of the band lit flares that started the conflagration.

"The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward," she said. "At that point, the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak, but in a matter of seconds it spread."

Guitarist Rodrigo Martins told Radio Gaucha that the band, Gurizada Fandangueira, started playing at 2:15 a.m. "and we had played around five songs when I looked up and noticed the roof was burning"

"It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks. It's harmless, we never had any trouble with it.

"When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher, the singer tried to use it but it wasn't working"

He confirmed that accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other members made it out safely.

Police Maj. Cleberson Braida Bastianello said by telephone that the toll had risen to 233 with the death of a hospitalized victim — he said earlier that the death toll was likely made worse because the nightclub appeared to have just one exit through which patrons could exit.

Officials counted 232 bodies that had been brought for identification to a gymnasium in Santa Maria, which is located at the southern tip of Brazil, near the borders with Argentina and Uruguay.

Federal Health Minister Alexandre Padhilha told a news conference that most of the 117 people treated in hospitals had been poisoned by gases they breathed during the fire. Only a few suffered serious burns, he said.

Brazil President Dilma Roussef arrived to visit the injured after cutting short her trip to a Latin American-European summit in Chile.

"It is a tragedy for all of us," Roussef said.

Most of the dead apparently were asphyxiated, according to Dr. Paulo Afonso Beltrame, a professor at the medical school of the Federal University of Santa Maria who went to the city's Caridade Hospital to help victims.

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Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) won’t seek reelection

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a five-term senator and one of his party’s most outspoken liberals, will not seek reelection in 2014, presenting Democrats and Republicans with key tests of their midterm electoral strategies.

Harkin’s surprise announcement Saturday makes him the third senator up for reelection this cycle to announce his retirement. Sens. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) have said recently that they will not seek another term.

The race to succeed Harkin likely will be one of the most competitive Senate contests next year and key to either party’s chances of controlling the chamber. Democrats hold a 55-seat majority but will be defending 20 of the 34 seats up for grabs, mostly in rural and western states; Republicans need to gain six seats to retake the majority.

Harkin’s departure “immediately vaults Iowa into the top tier of competitive Senate races next year,” said Rob Collins, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Acknowledging the challenge his party faces, Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement, “I appreciate that Senator Harkin has made this decision so early in the cycle, giving us ample time to recruit a strong Democratic candidate for this seat.”

Harkin, 73, said in an interview Saturday that the recent death of his friend, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), was a factor in his decision to retire.

“It begins to bring home that life is fleeting,” he said of Inouye’s death. “I’ve had the privilege of 40 years in the House and Senate. I thank my Iowans for the privilege, but it’s somebody else’s turn.”

Harkin said he plans to remain active in policy debates and also spend more time with his wife, Ruth. He said he will finally learn how to dance and maybe participate in RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, a seven-day event that is one of the state’s quirkier traditions.

Harkin was first elected to the House in 1974 and won his Senate seat in 1984. He was a champion of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, ran unsuccessfully for president in 1992 and was a key supporter of President Obama’s health-care law.

As for potential successors, both parties have several prospects.

Republicans, eager to avoid the missteps of the more outspoken conservative candidates nominated in recent years, may coalesce around Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds or U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, who represents Des Moines and is a close friend of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). But U.S. Rep. Steve King, a staunchly conservative tea party favorite and frequent cable news guest, has openly discussed a Senate campaign.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley is expected to be a front-runner on the Democratic side but has also talked of running for governor in 2014. Other potential Democratic candidates include Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, and his wife, Christie Vilsack, who unsuccessfully challenged King in 2012.

Aaron Blake and Sean Sullivan contributed to this report.

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Sailing: Olympic sailing champion visits Singapore

SINGAPORE: Xu Lijia, the 25 year old who became the first Chinese to win a gold medal in the dinghy class after finishing first in the laser radial class at the 2012 London Olympics, is in town.

The Chinese athlete shared her experiences with local sailors at a talk, which attracted 500 participants. The talk also saw the launch of the Character Development Through Sailing programme.

The Shanghai native, who won bronze in the same class at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, said that it was not just about winning, but also enjoying the journey.

She had to beat many odds including injuries, physical limitations and the lack of a proper support structure for the sport in China.

"It is about promotion, promoting this sport not only in Singapore, China but... in whole of Asia. I hope that Asia can become stronger and stronger and (compete) with the European countries," she said.

- CNA/jc

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Prescribe generic drugs: MCI to doctors

MUMBAI: The Union government and regulatory bodies appear to be serious in ending the pharma-doctor nexus and curb unethical marketing practices. In its latest effort, the Medical Council of India has directed doctors, hospitals and medical colleges to prescribe generic medicines as far as possible. Generic medicines are more affordable versions of branded medicines sold by companies.

In its directive dated January 21 to the principals of medical colleges, director of hospitals and presidents of all state medical councils, the MCI has said that every physician should, as far as possible, prescribe drugs with generic names and ensure that there is a rational prescription and use of drugs. All doctors registered under the MCI act have been asked to comply with the directive.

Over the past couple of years, there have been a slew of efforts to curb unethical marketing practices followed by pharma companies, end the use of branded drugs and bring down the prices of medicines.

MCI chairman K K Talwar said, "The directive is a bid to educate the medical community, including doctors and make them aware about the increased availability of generic drugs and to make them more affordable as well. We need to instill confidence in people about the use of generic versions."

Though the government has opened the retail store, which market generic medicines, "Jan Aushadhi" in certain states, availability of quality generic medicines is a huge concern.

Doctors are of the view that the focus should be on the quality of the drugs prescribed. Says Dr Anoop Misra chairman of Delhi-based Fortis Centre of excellence for diabetes: "For the benefit of patients and to get the best possible results, highest quality drugs with best possible pharmacological properties should be used by all doctors. If the quality of generic drugs is up to high standards, doctors should prescribe generic medicines."

Industry experts, however, said the move may not benefit patients as it may not lead to a significant price reduction. Says Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, secretary general D G Shah: "If the government is able to ensure the quality of generic medicines, then it will be beneficial. Patients do not know about the quality of medicines and will have to depend on chemists. It may lead to a chemist-pharma nexus from the much-discussed nexus between pharma companies and doctors".

Last year, in a bid to promote generic medicines, the health ministry ordered states to stop issuing licenses in brand names. The move has not benefitted patients much as companies continue to market the medicines in brand names. Also, concerned with increasing complaints of unethical marketing practices, the department of pharmaceuticals initiated an exercise to introduce a code of conduct for the pharma industry, which is yet to be finalized.

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Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty Images

If you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders.

Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns of snow wider at the base than at the tip and can range in height from 3 to 20 feet (1 to 6 meters). The picture above shows the phenomenon in central Chile. (See pictures of the patterns in snow and ice.)

Nieve penitente tend to form in shallow valleys where the snow is deep and the sun doesn't shine at too steep an angle, said Kenneth Libbrecht, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena who studies ice crystal formation.

As the snow melts, dirt gets mixed in with the runoff and collects in little pools here and there, he said. Since the dirt is darker in color than the surrounding snow, the dirty areas melt faster "and you end up digging these pits," explained Libbrecht.

"They tend to form at high altitude," he said. But other than that, no one really knows the exact conditions that are needed to form penitent snow.

"They're fairly strong," Libbrecht said. "People have found [the spires] difficult to hike through."

—Jane J. Lee

Published January 25, 2013

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Newtown Families March for Gun Control in DC

Jan 26, 2013 4:59pm

(YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Near-freezing temperatures didn’t stop several thousand gun-control activists from bearing their pickets today, carrying signs emblazoned with “Ban Assault Weapons Now” and the names of gun violence victims in a demonstration organized as a response to the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. last month.

Walking in silence, the demonstrators trudged between Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument over a thin layer of melting snow. They were joined by politicians and some families of the Newtown victims.

March organizer Shannon Watts said the event was for the “families who lost the lights of their lives in Newtown, daughters and sons, wives and mothers, grandchildren, sisters and brothers gone in an unfathomable instant.”

“Let’s stand together and use our voices, use our votes to let legislators know that we won’t stand down until they enact common sense gun control laws that will keep our children out of the line of fire,” she told demonstrators.

Watts founded One Million Moms for Gun Control after the killing of 20 first graders and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in December. In a profile with the New York Times, Watts said her 12-year-old son had suffered panic attacks after learning of last summer’s Aurora, Colo., theater shooting, leaving her at an impasse over how to talk to him about the latest tragedy.

Also among the speakers was a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, Collin Goddard.

“We need to challenge any politician who thinks it’s easier to ask an elementary school teacher to stand up to a gunman with an AR-15 than it is to ask them to stand up to a gun lobbyist with a checkbook,” he said.

The demonstration comes amid a push by progressive lawmakers to enact stricter gun control measures as a response to the trend of recent mass killings, although any hypothetical bill would likely face strong opposition in Congress.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., was among the demonstrators today.

“The idea that people need high-capacity magazines that can fire 30, 50, 100 rounds has no place in a civilized society,” he said. “Between the time we’re gathered here right now and this time of day tomorrow, across America, 282 Americans will have been shot.”

The congressman was quoting statistics compiled by the Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence.

INFOGRAPHIC: Guns by the Numbers

Last week President Obama proposed a sweeping overhaul of federal measures regulating gun ownership, including a universal background check system for sales, banning assault weapons,  and curbing the amount of ammunition available in weapon clips.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Thursday found 53 percent of Americans viewed Obama’s gun control plan favorably, 41 percent unfavorably. The division was visible today, as a handful of gun-rights advocates also turned out on the National Mall to protest what they believe would be infringements on their Second Amendment liberties.

ABC’s Joanne Fuchs contributed to this report.

SHOWS: Good Morning America World News

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Apple loses world's most valuable company crown

NEW YORK: Apple shares extended their losses Friday, ending a miserable week for the California tech giant as it surrendered its position as the world's biggest company based on market value.

Apple ended down 2.36 per cent at US$439.88, giving it a market capitalisation of $413 billion -- while oil giant ExxonMobil rose 0.36 per cent to US$91.68 with a market cap of US$418 billion, to edge into first place.

The shares of both firms zig-zagged during the session, with Apple at various points regaining the top spot before falling back.

Apple first overtook ExxonMobil in August 2011 as the most valuable company in the world based on the value of its stock.

A year later, Apple dethroned longtime rival Microsoft as the most valuable company in history based on the value of its stock at US$622 billion.

But the company took a bruising this week after Wednesday's gloomy forecast accompanying its record quarterly profit announcement prompted pessimism over the tech giant's slowing growth trajectory.

Apple's profit was US$13.1 billion on revenue of US$54.5 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended on December 29, with sales of iPhones and iPads setting quarterly highs.

But despite those figures, investors soured on Apple after it forecast that revenue for the current quarter would range from US$41-43 billion and that it would have a gross margin of 37.5 to 39.5 per cent, lower than expectations.

Analysts remained cautious about Apple, which had seen a meteoric rise last September to over US$700 a share but it has slid 37 per cent since then. The company shed some US$60 billion on Thursday and around US$10 billion more Friday.

Some express concern that Apple has lost its edge in innovation since the death of Steve Jobs, and is losing ground to rivals such as Samsung, which leads the mobile phone market, and to others using Google's Android operating system.

Jinho Cho at Mirae Asset Securities said Apple will likely increase carrier subsidies in 2013 and launch "an entry-level iPhone" to compete better in emerging markets.

"These moves by Apple should lead to stiffer competition for greater carrier subsidies among smartphone makers, thus driving down handset industry-wide operating margins," the analyst said.

Colin Gillis at BGC Financial said Apple is facing new challenges.

"While we are incrementally more positive on the stock, we also mention that competition is increasing for the company," he said in a research note.

"We see competitors are using price as a lever to get traction in the market. Apple may also run into difficulty posting both the volumes and maintaining its prices over the next several quarters."

- AFP/jc

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Backroom dilemma on rape law report

KOLKATA: She is one of the 15 young lawyers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes - analyzing and interpreting legal provisions that could be used to nail rapists and impose the maximum possible penalty on them.

Shwetasree Majumdar cherishes the experience with the JS Verma Commission report to help strengthen rape laws in the country. The 33-year-old Kolkata girl, now based in Bangalore, says she got passionately involved in framing the report as soon as she got a call from commission member Gopal Subramanium.

The National Law School graduate, who runs an intellectual property law firm, said working on the report took a lot from her emotionally and was one of the biggest challenges she has faced.

"It was very personal. Here was a chance to be part of a real, tangible comprehensive and legitimate exercise to bring change - it was imperative that the report be academically sound, just, fair and legally defensible. And when the civil society narratives started pouring in, many of which shaped how individual provisions in the law were ultimately crafted, it was hard to remain neutral and non-judgmental," she said.

"I felt shock, outrage and anger and every time I heard a narrative of systematic violence on women, children and the poor and I worked a little bit harder. I can say that I have not been this motivated and driven about any task in a very long time. I put my work, my family - everything on hold over these last few days," said Shwetasree, who worked for a fortnight on the report.

It was back to her law school days, burning the midnight oil and reading large volumes on comparative jurisprudence. "The high profile nature of the task meant we were under tremendous pressure. We were operating under strict rules of confidentiality and keeping our deliberations and work secret. We were also conscious that we could not let emotions cloud our sense of reason and approach each issue in a logical and balanced manner - not easy, given the recent events," said Shwetasree.

But in the end she was disappointed that the decision to turn down death penalty was all that got highlighted while none bothered to focus on the rationale for it. The team of lawyers and commission members did a good job, believes Shwetasree who worked on criminal law amendments, medical and psychiatric protocols.

"Taking a moral stand either way on the death penalty was the toughest challenge. On the one hand there was this overwhelming public outcry in its favour and on the other, there was voluminous literature and opinion on why it was not a deterrent. Whatever you chose you alienated someone and surely, as we expected, the rationale behind the decision was ignored," she said.

Personally, she isn't in favour of death penalty for rape since she doesn't believe that there is a link between death sentence and deterrence. A quick, effective and hard hitting punishment is far more important, she feels.

"Even if it could have a marginal deterrent effect, the effect could be felt only if you had high rates of execution, that were mandatory as well as being speedily enforced, which is fraught with its own problems. Also, in reality, although it is possible to award the death penalty for murder in 'rarest of rare' cases in India we are well aware that such cases are few and far between," she argued.

Shwetasree studied at St Teresa's Secondary School in Kidderpore before moving to Bangalore to study law. A regular visitor to Kolkata - her parents still live in their ancestral house in New Alipore - the lawyer said she was worried that free-thinking individuals were being suppressed by "misogynistic politicos" in the liberal city.

"When I first moved to Delhi and would listen wide-eyed to friends talking about the North Indian obsession with male children and was met with surprise whenever I said I was an only child and a girl, I felt proud. Some of my best friends from school were also only children and girls and not being boys was inconsequential," she said.

"The Kolkata I lived in was safe, it respected its women and Bengali women were known for their spirit and for being free thinkers. They still are. But what has changed is the environment in which they live in now. I hang my head in shame every time I read a misogynistic remark from a politician or any other person in a position of influence in Bengal. This is not the city I knew. And it disturbs me deeply," the lawyer sighed.

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Pictures: Inside the Lives of Albinos in Tanzania

Photograph by Jacquelyn Martin, AP

Being an albino can be a death sentence in Tanzania. Since 2006, 71 people with no pigment in their skin, hair, or eyes have been killed there. Another 29 have been attacked.

The genetic condition is believed to have been born in this East African nation. Today, 1 in every 1,400 Tanzanians has it (the world average is 1 in 20,000). Nevertheless, misinformation abounds. Some locals believe albinos are ghosts that can’t die. Others think they were born into cursed families. And—most chillingly—witch doctors want to hack off  their limbs to put in magic potions promising prosperity and healing. A complete albino “set”—ears, tongue, nose, genitals, all four limbs—can sell for $75,000.

As a result, many of Tanzania’s 17,000 albinos have been hidden away by the government. In this image, Bestida Salvatory is reunited with her 17-year-old daughter, Angel, at the Kabanga Protectorate Center. Angel, who has skin cancer, was forced to flee their home four years ago, after Angel’s own father led a group of men to attack her. Here Angel also visits her one-year-old half-brother, Ezekiel.

Published January 25, 2013

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Apple Drops Manufacturer Using Underage Workers

Apple has stopped doing business with a Chinese manufacturer after a report said it had employed 74 underage workers. According to Apple's Supplier Responsibility Report, which was released by the company Thursday, Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics was employing workers under the age of 16.

"Our auditors were dismayed to discover 74 cases of workers under age 16 — a core violation of our Code of Conduct. As a result, we terminated our business relationship with PZ," the company says in the report.

Apple has now lost its spot as the most valuable publicly traded company, one year after it first firmly overtook ExxonMobil. Even though it announced a record number of iPhone and iPad sales in its last quarter earnings, its stock price has fallen over 12 percent.

Apple says it is working hard to improve labor conditions at the factories of its Chinese contractors. It said it also discovered that one of the region's labor agencies had conspired with the manufacturer, providing children to them and helping forge age-verification documents. Apple said in its report that it alerted the provincial government, which fined the agency and suspended its business license.

Apple To Start Making Some Mac Computers in America in 2013

"The children were returned to their families, and PZ was required to pay expenses to facilitate their successful return," Apple says in the report.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Apple's Senior Vice President of Operations, Jeff Williams, said child labor was being used more than companies care to admit. "Most companies, they either don't report on it at all, or they say they look for it and found none, or they obscure the data in some way," Williams told Bloomberg. "If they're not finding it, they're not looking hard enough."

ABC News' Bill Weir visited the factory of Apple's Foxconn supplier last year and did not see any underage workers. "But while we looked hard for the kind of underage and maimed workers we've read so much about, we mostly found people who face their days through soul-crushing boredom and deep fatigue," Weir wrote about his visit.

PHOTOS: Inside Apple's Factories in China

In the 37-page Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, which can be viewed here, Apple said there had been a 72 percent increase in facility audits. According to the report, Apple achieved an average of 92 percent compliance with the goal, for now, of a maximum 60-hour work week.

Apple vowed last year to improve working conditions at its manufacturing facilities in China, vowing to work specifically on reducing working hours for Chinese workers. In March 2012, the Fair Labor Association released a report on the poor conditions at Apple's Foxconn supplier. The organization gave a long list of recommendations to Apple and Foxconn, and both Apple and Foxconn agreed to follow them.

In August, the FLA said that that Foxconn had completed 280 action items on time or ahead of schedule. By July 1, 2013, Foxconn has promised to reduce workers' hours to 49 hours per week and stabilize pay -- though the limit is rarely enforced because workers often want to work overtime and make ends meet.

Apple announced in December that it would begin to make some of its Mac computers in America in 2013.

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