Why haven't we learned from fires?

STORY HIGHLIGHTSPyrotechnics, overcrowding, poor exits have contributed to tragic fires in recent yearsYou would think the world would have learned from past incidents, John Barylick saysConcertgoers have to be their own fire marshals, he saysEditor's note: John Barylick, author of "Killer Show," a book on the 2003 Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island, is an attorney who represented victims in wrongful...

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Record temps, heavy rain, possible flooding Tuesday

Yet another winter weather record could be set in Chicago on Tuesday.A short-lived warm-up, accompanied by heavy rains, severe...

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French seal off Mali's Timbuktu, rebels torch library

GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French and Malian troops retook control of Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on Monday after Islamist rebel occupiers fled the ancient Sahara trading town and torched several buildings, including a library holding priceless manuscripts. The United States and the European Union are backing a French-led intervention in Mali against al Qaeda-allied militants they...

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Nikkei rises as yen extends loss to new lows

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese equities rose on Monday as the yen extended losses to fresh lows, further improving earnings prospects for exporters as Japan's corporate reporting season enters full swing this week. Global investor sentiment improved on Friday due to brighter prospects for the European economy and its debt crisis as well as solid U.S. corporate earnings. Japan's...

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Team flag waves as 49ers arrive

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — With a team flag waving from an open window of their chartered plane, the San Francisco 49ers arrived at their first Super Bowl in 18 years on Sunday.The players walked off the airplane in a businesslike manner — no video recorders or cameras, no waves to onlookers. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, wearing a red wool cap sporting "49ers" on it, mouthed the words to a song on his head...

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Women in infantry: Tough challenge?

Hospital Corpsman Shannon Crowley packs for a mission as Lance Cpl.. Kristi Baker sits on her bed in 2010 in Afghanistan.STORY HIGHLIGHTSMaren Leed: Ban on women in combat has hurt operations, women's promotionLeed: Integrating women into the physically demanding infantry presents challenges Women are already in combat; she says, the "front line" and "rear line" no longer existLeed: Research into...

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Fire at crowded nightclub kills at least 200 in Brazil

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics...

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Nightclub fire kills 233 in Brazil

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked exits in the ensuing panic. Most of those who died were suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks from pyrotechnics used by the band for visual...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Bears hibernate as stocks near record highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks have been on a tear in January, moving major indexes within striking distance of all-time highs. The bearish case is a difficult one to make right now. Earnings have exceeded expectations, the housing and labor markets have strengthened, lawmakers in Washington no longer seem to be the roadblock that they were for most of 2012, and money has returned to stock...

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Azarenka beats Li, defends Australian Open title

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka had the bulk of the crowd against her. The fireworks were fizzling out, and when she looked over the net she saw Li Na crashing to the court and almost knocking herself out.Considering the cascading criticism she'd encountered after her previous win, Azarenka didn't need the focus of the Australian Open final to be on another medical timeout.So after defending...

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