Missteps hiked Brazil night club blaze death toll

Updated 3:20 a.m. EST SANTA MARIA, Brazil A fast-moving fire roared through a crowded, windowless nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, filling the air in seconds with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked party-goers, many of whom were caught in a stampede to escape. Inspectors believe the blaze began when a band's small pyrotechnics show ignited foam sound insulating...

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'Barrier of Bodies' Trapped Nightclub Fire Victims

The bodies of the young college students were found piled up just inside the entrance of the Kiss nightclub, among more than 230 people who died in a cloud of toxic smoke after a blaze enveloped the crowded locale within seconds and set off a panic.Hours later, the horrific chaos had transformed into a scene of tragic order, with row upon row of polished caskets of the dead...

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Get cirrus in the fight against climate change

FEATHERY cirrus clouds are beautiful, but when it comes to climate change, they are the enemy. Found at high-altitude and made of small ice crystals, they trap heat - so more cirrus means a warmer world. Now it seems that, by destroying cirrus, we could reverse all the warming Earth has experienced so far. ...

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Protesters march against Hong Kong leader

HONG KONG: Around 1,000 people took to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday to protest against the city leader's policy speech, which they said offered nothing new on tackling a housing crisis and poverty.Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying pledged, among other things, to increase housing supply in the densely populated city and tackle poverty in his January policy address widely seen as an...

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At least 5 die in Chicago shootings

CHICAGO Authorities are investigating the shooting deaths of five people in a single day of bloodshed in Chicago. Police Officer Daniel O'Brien says Saturday's first killing occurred at around 2:15 a.m. on the city's west side when a gunman opened fire on two men who were sitting in a parked car, killing one and wounding the other. Investigators say a few hours later, someone opened fire on three...

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Squatter, Bank of America Battle for $2.5M Mansion

Bank of America is taking a Florida man to court after he attempted to use an antiquated state law to legally take possession of a $2.5 million mansion that is currently owned by the bank.Andre "Loki" Barbosa has lived in a five-bedroom Boca Raton, Fla., waterside property since July, and police have reportedly been unable to remove him.The Brazilian national, 23, who reportedly...

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The digital map is not the territory

WHEN Google Maps launched in 2005, the reaction in some quarters was puzzlement. Why was a search engine getting into cartography? The answer became apparent as it rapidly enhanced the service with navigation, Street View, local business listings and so on. Google doesn't just want to catalogue the online world; it wants to know where...

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Funerals for six protesters killed by Iraq troops

FALLUJAH, Iraq: Funerals were to be held on Saturday for six anti-government demonstrators killed by Iraqi troops during a rally in Fallujah a day earlier, sharply raising tensions amid weeks of angry rallies.The deaths in the predominantly Sunni town west of Baghdad were the first since protests began last month, and came as tens of thousands rallied in Sunni areas of the country, railing...

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21 sentenced to death over 2012 soccer riot

Egyptian protesters take part in a demonstration near the prison in city of Port Said on January 25.STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Forces clashed with family members of those convicted Known as the "massacre of Port Said," 74 people were killed in the riotThe violence occurred at the conclusion of a football match in Port Said last year The sentences were handed down in a packed courtroom(CNN) -- An Egyptian...

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Notre Dame president defends handling of Te'o case

SOUTH BEND, Ind. Top administrators at Notre Dame decided within hours of hearing about the Manti Te'o dead girlfriend hoax that it did not involve a crime and within two days had concluded there was no NCAA violation, according to a letter sent by the university president to board of trustee members on Friday. The Rev. John Jenkins told trustees that despite "the unrelenting scrutiny of hundreds...

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